We started the morning by heading out to Skyline luge. Here we took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain where they had several tracks set up for you to ride down on a little three wheeled engineless go cart type thing. We got going pretty fast through the banked turns and steep straightaways and thankfully we all made it through with minimal injuries. It was fun to race down the tracks together and share the experience as a group. It was also raining the entire time we were doing it, so that added an interesting twist. Everyone got soaked but I can honestly say that if it wasn't raining it wouldn't have been as much fun.
For a bit of a break from fun we went downtown to do our own thing for lunch. A big group of us went to McDonald's where we struggled to connect to free wifi. Finding free wifi has been less frequent than I thought, but it's a good thing as it keeps me off my phone more and with others instead.
In the afternoon we went to Agroventure. This place is an adventure seekers paradise, with activities like a skydive simulator, bungee jumping, jet boating, and several others. We were allowed to do two activities, and one of them was required to be shweebing, which I'll describe later. The other activity I chose was the skydive simulator. I had always wanted to try that so I was excited when I saw they had one. It turned out to be way harder than it looks but was still a blast. The feeling of floating in the air by a giant fan was surreal and is hard to describe. Being caught up in the moment I forgot all the tips they told me and instead just tried my own techniques which pretty much failed. Nonetheless, it was still an experience that I would recommend and definitely try again.
The other activity we were required to do was shweebing. The shweeb is virtually an enclosed recumbent bicycle hanging from a monorail. The idea behind the shweeb is for it to become a way of public sustainable transportation around cities. It's a pretty cool idea that incorporates both fun and practicality. At Agroventures they have two tracks set up that allow you to race against each other and the clock. They keep track of the best times from countries all around the world and different age groups. I have the privilege of sharing with you all that I broke the American record for fastest time and am now the national record holder for the shweeb. This title earned me a free tshirt and a VIP pass to the park to go on all their rides - a $250 value!
Figuring that I probably wouldn't be visiting Agroventures anytime soon I decided to cash in on some of the activities that I hadn't done yet. The first was the agrojet, a 450 horsepower jet boat that whips you around a little lake. A professional driver and I went around doing sharp turns and fish tails which was something I had never experienced in a boat before so that was pretty cool.
The other activity I chose to do which was certainly the highlight of the day was bungee jumping. I couldn't think of many other opportunities to bungee for free so I decided to go for it. I had always wanted to do it and I'm so glad that I did. The rush was incredible and honestly the worst part of it was hanging upside down at the end waiting to be lowered to the ground. So much blood rushes to your head and sort of messes with your eyes, but it was worth it! I didn't hesitate one bit standing at the edge of the platform ready to jump, because I knew that if I did I probably never would have jumped. Check my Facebook for a video of my jump.
A big part of this trip deals with teaching us about sustainability, and you may have noticed that most of the activities I did today share a common characteristic of having little environmental impact. The shweeb for instance is both great fun and a challenge and uses absolutely no environmental energy other than what it took to build it. The luge and bungee both operate entirely on gravity and using the skydiving simulator is better for the environment than having to fly to jump. Seeing how much NZ incorporates sustainability into their everyday life and tourist attractions really challenges me to take a look at my life. I certainly try to partake in sustainable practices back home, but realize theres plenty more I can do to leave a better mark on this world.
The fun day ended with our entire group going downtown for dinner and entertainment. After dinner a bunch of us went to a bar called Mo's where we took advantage of NZ's incredibly overpriced drinks and sung some karaoke. From there we went to the Lava bar which was recommended to us by all the locals, and I even ran into the guy who took me bungee jumping. A night out on the town was a perfect ending to all of the days festivities.
Life is so great right now. I'm really enjoying meeting new people and developing new friendships with people from Calvin. New Zealand is an amazing place and I can easily see myself coming back some day. Our days are jammed full of events that keep us busy and I'm happy with the slow speed at which the trip is passing by.
I'll end this entry by saying happy birthday mom! I miss you and hope you enjoy today and do something nice with dad!
The shweeb
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