Mario Kart - it's real!

It's our last day in Rotorua. If ever you come here and are looking for an adrenaline rush, you should go try Mario Cart.

I guess because Nintendo has a copyright on the name, the folks in Rotoru call it a mountain luge, but the premise is the same. Picture from the website:

It's a lot like the video game, but of course, there are no free lives and you could easily do bodily harm. However, we thought it was a blast. (Not cheap, but then nothing here is.)

Don't mistake the smiling parents above though, i'm sure it causes heart attacks just as frequently as road rash.

In fact, if you're in need of toughening your kids up, this could be a great way to do that. Just stuff them in the sled and give it a kick. The sound of their screams will soon fade into the distance.

Above is the tracks and below is SP trying on the helmet of some unfortunate child who needed toughening up:

We didn't manage to get any pictures of us actually on the sleds (two hands requires for driving), but here we are on our way back up the mountain for a subsequent ride.

(That's PDA, not me holding on for dear life.)

Again, highly recommended, health insurance required. As for other Rotorua attractions:

1) The Saturday morning market was the best value for souvenirs.

2) We visited wai-o-tapu, it's a bit out of town, but has everything from large geysers to very smelly mud pools. We didn't go to any of the ones closer to town. Frankly, visiting one thermal park was enough.

3) Bike around the lake. This is a cycling friendly town both for road and mountain bikers. But the wind and pavement can be challenging.

4) Cook Hangi. SP cooked an awesome lamb stew last night using a giant geothermal oven. Where else can you do that?

Hangi. It's like crockpot, only the jokes are better.

Hey, SP, how's your hangi?


Tomorrow we're visiting the Gannets in Cape Kidnappers.