It’s the ultimate solo sport — if you can call it a sport. Zorbing, which involves rolling downhill in a transparent plastic orb, hamster style, at up to 50 kilometres an hour, was invented and first offered to the public on a grassy slope in Rotorua. Since that inaugural descent nearly two decades ago, the Kiwi town has turned into something of an extreme sport hub. Zip lines and bungee platforms litter the surrounding region, while ever-more-bizarre diversions give Zorbs a run for their money. The world’s first shweeb, for example, incorporates one-person, pedal-powered pods (pictured) that race along an overhead rail system in Rotorua’s Agroventures Adventure Park. The world’s second shweeb, meanwhile, is rumoured to be coming to Niagara Falls, in 2015, although two-person pods may be better suited to the Ontario town’s heavy honeymoon traffic.