Skyline Gondola, Luge Run & Dumb Blonde

So, I'm an idiot and deleted all the pictures of the Skyline Gondola and the Luge run.  I am kicking myself very hard.  Stunning landscape, beautiful nature walk, pictures of family on the gondola and luge carts.  Everything.  I'm feeling quite sick at the moment and can't believe how dumb blonde I am right now.  And I hate that saying.

Kyle bought a package deal with the gondola ride and luge run together.  We could buy the package with 6 or 8 luge rides.  We bought the 6 ride package knowing one of us would get to ride down the Luge twice. The gondola will seat about 6-8 people but it was just our family.  You rise high above the ground and go to the top of a mountain where all the attractions are located.  The first thing we saw when we got off the gondola was the sky swing.  You go from 0-150 kilometers per hour in 2 seconds.  The operator straps you into the giant swing, which seats three people and looks nothing like a swing you would find on the playground. Then the winch pulls you up to the top of a tower, and you, the swingee, are responsible for pulling the cord that will release the swing, causing you to swing out over a cliff.  It looks like you go so fast that the wind pulls your cheeks back. We did not go on the swing, but we watched as one brave woman did it by herself.  She didn't even make a sound.  I wonder if the wind just ripped it away or if she held her breath.  It looked amazing and I think I held my breath, and I was watching from the ground.

The kids wanted to go on the Luge right away, but I told them we were not going to go right back down the instant we got to the top.  There were several nature walks we could take so we took the scenic walk.  Beautiful ferns, flowered grass, stunning view of a lake. So bummed its gone.  Then we headed down to the Luge.  You find a helmet from the 3 bins of helmets available, get on your luge, choose your track and off you go.  You could choose from three tracks; intermediate, advanced, or scenic.  You pushed the handles forward to go and pulled back to stop.  Sam was a bit nervous to go by himself so I went with him.  We chose the scenic track, as did Analee.  Kyle and Jacob took the intermediate track.  It was So. Much. Fun.  There were side tracks you could take that would link back up with main track.  The scenery was truly stunning.  Once we got to the end, we found Kyle and Jacob waiting for us.  Kyle said our run was about twice as long as their's.  We rode a ski lift back up to the top, and since we all had so much fun and we all wanted to do it again, it was easy to talk Kyle into buying more rides.  Down we went again.  This time, Sam drove his own luge.  He, Kyle and I took the scenic route and raced each other.  Analee and Jacob went down the advanced route.  They were the ones waiting when we got to the end.  They wanted to do it again but twice was plenty.  Then we saw a 4-D movie about the South Island. We saw it as if we were in a spaceship.  We flew over glaciers, skimmed lakes, plunged down waterfalls, and raced along behind a jetboat that was shooting the rapids.  I want to do that some day.  Then it really was time to leave.  We got back on the gondola and rode down to the bottom.  We went back to two of the souvenir shops we saw yesterday and bought some souvenirs to bring home.  Each of the kids got a necklace and ring.  Jacob got two necklaces instead of the ring. I got a beautiful Paua shell and Rhodium bracelet and a mug. Kyle hasn't gotten anything yet.  But we still have Matamata, Hamilton, and Auckland to explore.

Then we went back to our motel to rest and relax before our Maori village experience.  But that is another post.  One I know I saved the pictures from.