For my daughter's 16th birthday this year, she decided, rather than having a party, to take her best friend (and her parents of course) to Rotorua for a weekend of adventure. One of the goals on her own bucket list was to conquer her fear of the Luge. In return, apparently, I had to conquer my fear of the Skyswing.
Why was I afraid of the Skyswing, you might ask. I have already walked around the Sky Tower, jumped off the Sky Tower, and completed a skydive. What was a little skyswing? The thing is, I HATE the feeling of falling, when the pit of your stomach comes into your throat. I have done the Rainbows End Fear Fall and did not like it. But the other things I have mentioned, don't make you feel like you are falling. So I was really nervous that this was going to give me that sensation (PS It didn't).
So first up, I, of course, tried to use my shortness to my advantage - was I too short to do it - no, you need to be very very short to get away with that (as you can see above)...damn, I was going to have to do it.
After a couple of goes on the Luge, it was time for me to face my fear and head over to the Skyswing. As we approached I saw a Dad and his two little girls doing it - surely if they could do it, I could, right? Then a mother and daughter combination before us went, and the mother looked like she was having a mini heart attack, which did nothing for my fears at all. It was about this point I started to feel a little sick in my stomach and afraid I was going to cry!
My daughter and her friend went first, not sure if that was a good move to watch my daughter plummet from the sky and hurtle past where I was standing on the ground watching BEFORE I had to do mine. Live and learn!
Next it was my turn. I just had to put one foot in front of the other and get myself into the chair. OMG - I was actually going to do this. My stomach was churning, I thought I might cry (a thing I do when I'm really scared), but I looked down to see my daughter smiling and waving and proud (and laughing at me just a little bit), so I knew I had to keep my end of the deal. Next thing I know we are going up, and up, and up, and up, and up some more.
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| Almost at the top - really wanted to come down from here and not keep going ;) |
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| Made it to the top, at the top you need to pull the chord yourself in order to release and drop down. I had to get my husband to do that!! |
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| Coming down!!! |
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| Swinging up and over the edge to see the amazing views |
I think you can see from my facial expressions when I switched from I'm going to throw up or cry to actually this is quite amazing ;)
To give you a really good idea of what the Skyswing was like - you can check out the video :) Be aware there is some mild swearing in here as we go up - maybe from me ;)
So I actually did it! I really did! One thing to remember, which I am glad I did, even if you are totally scared, keep your eyes open and take a moment to enjoy the absolutely beautiful view you get to see from swinging out and over the edge :) And what better way to celebrate a Skyswing but with a yummy mint hot chocolate from the cafe afterwards - mmmmm...
Two questions I always ask myself at the end of a bucket list experience like this one:
Am I glad I did it?
Hell yes, I worked past the fear of falling and discovered I didn't get that sensation and actually enjoyed the ride.
Would I do it again?
Yep - definitely. It's probably not a thing that you really need to do more than once, one of those, once I've done it, I've done it kind of activities. But if someone wanted me to do it with them, or I had the opportunity to do it again, I certainly wouldn't turn it down.
So that's my Skyswing adventure for you. If I have actually inspired you to want to give it a try next time you are in Rotorua you can check out the details at Skyswing Rotorua - we did the Skyline Combo package that gave you the gondola ride, 5 luges and the Skyswing for $89 per adult. At first I thought that was a bit pricey, BUT we actually spent quite a large part of the day there for that price, so I think it was totally worth it.
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