Zorb

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to find a giant version of those plastic hamster balls and roll around in it? (C’mon—admit it!) Have you ever thought about finding a way to get inside a giant water balloon? I know that all of us have thought about climbing inside a washing machine and turning it on—a few of us have even tried it. Well there’s a way to get all three dreams come true at once in Rotorua, New Zealand. It’s called Zorb.

A Zorb is a ten-foot diameter plastic ball with a smaller, six-foot sphere inside it. The plastic is soft and rubbery and the space between the spheres is filled with air so that the whole thing is like a giant cushion. Or, if you’re into egg analogies, it’s like a giant soft egg where the white is air and the yolk is the cabin. That’s right—you climb into it.

Oh, but first they put about ten gallons of water into it, just to make things exciting. Then you run and jump through a tubular portal to the inner sanctum of the Zorb. They zip your portal closed and then open the gate. With one step in the right direction, your Zorb sets off down a grassy hill.

The brochures said that if you can remain standing up for the whole trip down you get a free t-shirt. I’m always game for a free t-shirt, so I thought, as I pushed my giant squishy hamster ball off the platform, I’d try to stand up through the whole zig-zag course.

Yeah, right. That idea lasted all of about five feet. In two steps the sphere had started down the incline. The plastic is translucent but not transparent, so you can’t see where the next bump or turn is. In two steps I was down on my bum, sloshing around in the water inside the Zorb-yolk. What a ride! It’s like being on a warm waterslide except that the waterslide is moving instead of you. I slipped, slapped, splashed, and spun all the way down this 100-yard hill. Awesome!

We haven’t been excited about many of the extreme adventures in this part of New Zealand. But I was definitely up for this one. It’s 45$ to do it, plus clothing and towel rental, but it’s definitely worth the money. You can also go down two at a time—then they send you rolling down a straightaway to go ass-over-tea-kettle with the partner of your choice. Sara wasn’t up for it, though. That’s alright: she got some cool pictures as I rolled my way down on a solo Zorb excursion.

I now have a new title: Zorbonaut!

~emrys