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Touchline • Issue 16 • 5
Normally a friendly
and laid back sort,
some fire lights
behind a Kiwi’s eye
when presented
with a steep drop or
boiling rapid. ”
This month in Touchline we would like to share some of the
top extreme sports in New Zealand: many long established,
some in their infancy. Given New Zealand’s strict safety codes,
these are safe sports: but they certainly don’t feel that way
when you are jumping from a bridge, cliff or helicopter.
Bungee Jumping: This is the granddaddy of new generation
extreme sports. It was actually here in New Zealand, on the
shores of Lake Wakatipu that the first commercial bungee
jumps were staged. That was back in 1988, and since then the
sport has exploded around the world. Today, the centre offers a
jump of almost 300m, where the jumper comes within 10m of
the rock-strewn ground before being yanked back by the latex
cord.
River surfing: Another sports that can be found in Queenstown,
this involves nothing more than shooting down a river on a
body board. Safety equipment begins and ends with a helmet.
White water rafting has its dangers, but in the pummelling
rapids you still have a tough rubber raft protecting you from
the boulders the line the river. In river surfing, not so much.
Caving/Spelunking: Where you have mountains you have caves,
and New Zealand is blessed with many cave networks. Not for
Zorbing involves rolling
down a hill inside a giant
ball
© WILL ELLIS