Jan 31 - Brekkie & a Luge Run

What decadence! The wakeup call wasn’t until 7:00 a.m. I slept like a log from 10:30 p.m. until 6:59 a.m. Perfect. Only Doug could have made that a better sleep. Less than two weeks until we fix that.

We climbed on the bus at 7:45 a.m. and headed to a nearby mountain (hill if you live near the Rockies) and took a gondola car up to the top. Below us was a mountain-biking course with jumps and hills and ramps. I think being an orthopaedic surgeon in Rotorua would be a good career choice. There is also zip lining and tree canopy walks too. This is the land of enjoying the outdoors. We saw beautiful little Bambi-like deer amidst all the mountain biking tracks. Man and nature living in harmony.

At the top of the hill/mountain, we had a sumptuous breakfast while enjoying the glorious views out to Lake Rotorua. I had pancakes with what labelled as maple syrup. This girl from Lanark County, the maple syrup capital of Canada, can attest that it definitely was NOT maple syrup. Decent coffee for once. I’ve learned to scout out the big mugs so I can dose it with lots of thin milk which, incidentally, is NOT making me thin. Sigh….

Fed and watered, it was time for some excitement - luging!!! Most of use tackled the Scenic Route - long and not too winding. The steering is like a bicycle and the braking is easy - pull towards you. It was a great long (uneventful) run. Back to the top on a chair lift. Loved it so much, I splurged for a second ticket and took the Intermediate run - more curves and corners with a couple of nice long stretches where I let it rip. Doug, you would have been SO proud of me being a speed demon!

Back on the bus and off to our next adventure - see the next footprint!Read more