Rotorua

The adventure capital (and thermal spa to soak it off) of the North Island of New Zealand

Agroventures - Agroventures is the most thoroughly Kiwi of theme parks: Each of the five "rides" is a technologically advanced way to spike your adrenaline though the roof and/or test the limits of most iron of stomachs—from Bungy jmping to pendulum Swooping, triple-G jetboating to skydive-like freefalling, plus an odd, futuristic bike racing track called the Schweeb...

Rafting the Kaituna River - I've never been much of a Class V rapids fan. I'm content to thrash the moderate whitewater of a Class III river—which is, really, what most of the Kaituna is: a fun, 90-minute Class III river jaunt. But then, right at the end, there's Tutea Falls, the world's highest commercially raftable waterfall. At 7 meters (23 feet), not even Class V+ covers it. This one's off the charts completely...

Off-road training and Monster 4X4 - I know New Zealand is the land of crazy adrenaline sports, but when they told me to drive my Suzuki 4WD up to the edge of the cliff and then, rather than hit the brakes like a normal person, to hit the accelerator instead, I thought things had perhaps gone a bit too far...

ZORB - ZORBing is where otherwise sane, respectable human beings pay good money to act like hamsters, rolling down the hill inside giant inflatable beach balls. As fun as it is utterly ridiculous (so long as you pick the "wet" option)...

Mountain Biking - Who knew you could travel all the way to New Zealand and find a magnificent forest of young redwood trees? Of course, since it is New Zealand, the forest is threaded with mountain bike trails, both scenic and single-track technical...

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This article was last updated in October 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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Copyright © 1998–2012 by Reid Bramblett. Author: Reid Bramblett.