I’ve been wanting to go zorbing for ages now and when work kindly got me a voucher to go do so I was very excited. However I’ve been having difficulty getting a booking for a venue close to London on a day that works so in the mean time when this offer on Groupon came up with Zorb-It London I jumped at it. To be called “London” was a bit deceptive – the venue was at Guy Lodge Farm, closest rail being Crews Hill Rail (half an hour out of King’s Cross) and another half an hour walk or short taxi ride. It was a nice enough day for a walk so Laney and I did so.

When we got to the venue, perfectly on time (early even), we were told they were running late! We couldn’t understand how they could be since each run ended up taking not very long at all! I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from a zorbing run but it certainly wasn’t this:

It seemed so basic and flat. How were we going to pick up any speed in our ball? And how long exactly was this roll going to last?? After watching a few runs it was our turn.

I’ve never really thought about the logistics of getting into the zorbing ball but I certainly wasn’t expecting that we would be required to run and dive into it! I had the benefit of watching Laney go first. She didn’t have enough commitment and ended up getting stuck with her legs still sticking out – so the dude had to push her in!

Having seen her get stuck I had no choice but to really commit. I was very worried I would miss the hole!

Inside I saw that Laney had been strapped in. She had the hard task of being on top so she had to hold herself up. I could see she was exhausted from doing that as she was struggling to stay in place. Still happy though! You would think that as you are in this bubble that you could relax and just let gravity take its course but the dude kept telling us to try and stay upright. Finally we were ready and pushed to the top of the “hill”.

A push and we were off. I could see where some of the momentum came from now – the dude actually pushes you for a long time down the hill before leaving you to go. He must be really fit from all that running and pushing!

In just under a minute our zorbing experience was over! Hard to describe how it felt in the ball – of course you have the sensation of spinning around and around. I had my back going down the hill so it felt unnatural the way I was rolling. I felt like I kept bumping my head too. Honestly – not the most pleasant of experiences! Getting out was another interesting event – you had to crawl out and it was not easy in the dizzy state we were in. As I emerged the guy shouted out “and she was born again”. And yes, it did feel like I was being born again … it certainly wasn’t the most graceful of dismounts!

So, was zorbing everything I’d hoped it would be? Hmmm … not really. It seemed like a lot of effort just for less than a minute’s enjoyment! If only the hill was bigger and the run longer. I’m glad I can now tick it off my list though.