Here in Rotorua, New Zealand, we find the birthplace of possibly the most ridiculous pastime ever - Zorbing. Invented here in 1967, Zorbing involves nothing more than climbing into a giant PVC sphere and being chucked down a hill.

Yes, that’s it. Sounds cool huh?

In our thumbnail you can see several zorbuses (or should that be zorbii?) gathered at the top of the hill, and there also seems to one being hoisted back to the top using the, er… zorb-lift, just like in this image.

More on Zorbing and links to where you can try it at Wikipedia

Thanks to Mike P.

For the GGSS team (and many other people), today is the last working day before we get to take some much needed time off for Christmas.

So in the only way we know how (and with the help of a field in New Zealand), we’d like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas!

Things will be quiet around here for a little while, as we both intend to take a few days off, spend time with our families, exchange gifts, stuff ourselves silly, and stand about in front of the TV swinging our arms manically!

But don’t despair loyal readers! We’ll doubtless be back for a few posts before the New Year, and until then (whether you celebrate Christmas or not) I’m sure you’ll agree with the admirable sentiments of another nearby field.

Have a great festive season everyone!

Thanks to Stephen Maslin.

The Kawarau River and Bridge in New Zealand both have notable claims to fame.

The river, which runs between Lake Wakatipu and Lake Dunstan, played its part in the Lord of the Rings films as Middle Earth’s Great River Anduin.

The Bridge, 43m above the river, was the site of the world’s first commercial bungee jumping when way back in 1988 a Mr A J Hackett thought that people might actually pay him to jump off a bridge. Here’s a Youtube I found of someone doing just that.

Thanks: Talullah

There’s some really cool Spiral artwork on a farmland near Snells Beach, New Zealand. The 80m wide artwork represents a Koru and is made of clay covered in grass. A recent New Zealand Herald article has more about the piece and how some Google Earth users tracked down the artist.

Thanks: woowoowoo & Croaky