Ogo

One thing the Kiwis have invented here in this secluded little corner of the world is the sport of rolling down a hill in a giant inflatable plastic ball. The inventors originally called the enterprise 'Zorbing', but when their business relationship went sour, one of the partners cut his losses, went to another part of town, and made a longer, better track with better plastic balls and called it 'Ogo'. Danna and I were sold after hearing “giant plastic ball”.

We got to the hill, and opted for the water filled ball on the curvy track. We were driven to the top of the hill, and the employee filled up our ball with about 2 litres of water, and told us to run and dive into the small hole (which was probably about 60cm in diameter). I went first with about as much grace as a fish out of water, and Danna quickly followed me in with a similar lack of dignity. As the employee zipped up that little hole, she told us to stand up and walk as far as possible to gain momentum. So we stood up, and within two steps, we were both on our backs as the hill took over the task of rolling us down. Danna immediately erupted into semi-hysterical giggles that lasted all the way down the 5 minute track. Rolling down the hill felt like a mix of being on a water slide and being in a washing machine. To start, we were laying next to each other with our heads comfortably above our feet. Within the first minute, the ball flipped us around so we were rolling down head first. I thought that was bad, but then the track really took over and we lost all control. One turn and we were facing each other, another and Danna's knee connected with my head. At one point I somehow had Danna pinned underneath me. We finally rolled down to the bottom and Danna's peals of laughter continued as the employees came over to unzip us and told us to climb on out. I heard an explanation of Ogo once that said exiting the ball is like coming out of a birth canal, and I really can't give you any better description than that. The sealed ball really heated up on the way down, and so I dropped out of the ball, wet and dripping, dizzy and a bit disoriented, onto the beautifully cool grass.

I love you, you crazy Kiwis. So much fun.