Yup, you read that right – ziplines – and yes I did! It was absolutely amazing! We’ve been talking about ziplining for a while now. We were just waiting for the right place. We found it here at Rotorua, New Zealand. We chose Canopy Tours as it involved some hiking as well as tree ziplines. They just forgot to mention that the hiking was on swing bridges high up in the treetops. Yikes! Our group of 10 consisted of 8 adults all about our age and two girls aged 5 and 7. Just for the record, the children had no fear. The rest of us were a bundle of nerves. We walked into the forest and started climbing some stairs and a general incline to our first zipline. The forest was beautiful. Very green and thick with birds singing while we walked along talking quietly amongst ourselves. During our tour we found out that this company, Canopy Tours is also involved in the conservation of this forest. They have a program that is eliminating pests from the forest. These mainly consist of opossum and rats. These predators had killed off all the birds and were also killing trees. The program has been in effect for about 8 years and you can see the difference within the forest already. Part of our fee goes towards the maintenance of this conservation project.

Anyways, back to the ziplines! As you may imagine, we were all super nervous. I was wearing the GoPro on my helmet because Richard thought it would be fun to hear me scream. The waiting was probably the worst part but after you actually walk off the platform, the rest is easy. Richard has added a number of videos showing the lines (there were 6 in all) and all I can say is: it was so much fun! And the views! Can’t wait to do it again! The swing bridges on the other hand were absolutely petrifying. Don’t care if I don’t try them again!

Sit back, enjoy the video and take in the beauty of the forest! Have a great day and if it is not on your bucket list yet, make sure you add it. You won’t be sorry!

Col’s Very First Zip Line Ride: 

The Coolest Of The Rides:

One More:

The Following Are The Rest Of Our Rides And A Few Snap Shots.