Day 5 in Brisbane

Another nice day in Brisbane! As "usual" I started off with a walk down Queen St. Mall and down South Bank. After getting ready and making some oatmeal in the hostel's kitchen, Peter met me and we headed across the street to the transit centre to catch a train to Coomera. Once we arrived in Coomera, Peter called the folks at Zorb, who drove to the station to pick us up. Moments later, we're pulling into a gated area and through a huge shed, and as we pull in, I see someone rolling down the hill in a Zorb :-)

I first saw Zorbing on season 5 of The Amazing Race. One team member had to get inside the ball and walk across a very slight decline. Today, Peter and I got to see a few people roll down the hill before we made a final decision on what type of Zorbing we wanted to do. Check out the site, and you'll see Hydro Zorbing and Harness Zorbing. The Hydro seemed less frightening, so I was going to pick that, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay for two rides. *However*, the good people at Zorb currently have several monthly specials, and one included a 2-person Hydro ride and then a single ride of choice for each individual. The deal sounded perfect to us, and we'd each only pay what was equivalent to a ride and a half.

So up the hill we went in an incredibly old car with one of the staffers who was very funny and towing a ball in the trailer attached to the car. When we got up to the top, they sprayed us down with warm water (since it's winter) and put enough in the ball so we'd roll down the hill once inside. We were told to "Superman dive" into the small hole, and after we both got in, we waited for the signal to start crawling forward. Seconds later we were rolling down this hill in a giant plastic ball, water sloshing all around us while we changed positions quite a few times. When we arrived at the bottom, we got out of the Zorb, feet first, and water gushed out with us.

Next, we had to decide whether we wanted to do a single Hydro or Harness. I opted for the harness and went first, and man, was that a different experience!! After diving into the ball, I strapped in my ankles, put on shoulder straps, buckled my waist, and grabbed onto the hand grips. The staffer counted down and pushed me off of the platform, and my stomach did a few twists and turns my first two revolutions down the hill!! At first I was afraid I was going to feel sick to my stomach within seconds, but after the second revolution, the sick sensation went away and I felt great. The head over feet sensation was incredible, and I can't even describe what it felt like to roll down that hill in the Zorb for 7 or so revolutions. Once at the bottom, I unbuckled everything and climbed out of the hole. Peter opted for the single hydro afterwards. Once we were ready to go, we were pronounced as a Zorbette and Zorber and taken back to the Coomera train station. Pictures will be posted (along with the dozens of others I've taken) when I return home :-)

I'm at Peter's now, and he's graciously letting me wash my clothes and check email (thanks Peter!!) before we have dinner. Tonight after I get back to the hostel, I'll be packing up, because tomorrow I visit QUT's Career Center and then I'll be staying with a staff member through the rest of my time in Brissie.

Cheers!