Let me introduce you to the new "sport" of dam dropping.

Now the very name is enough to put a normal, sane, feet-on-the-ground sort of person (such as I am) immediately on the alert.

The procedure is described as a "form of river surfing, more commonly know as river sledging" and it involves going "over an 8 metre drop down the dam retaining wall, descending powerful rapids and surfing the standing waves" ... on a plastic or foam sledge.

Yep ... You hurl yourself off the spill wall of a dam on a bit of plastic.

Bet you a million quid you can't guess what nation thought up this little treat.

Oh ...

Yes, you're right ... the Kiwis.

The same folks who introduced the world to the delights of tying a rubber band around their ankles and throwing themselves from suspension bridges have come up with yet another way to keep the medical profession gainfully employed. They just love their extreme sports!

Not content with convincing crazy tourists to pay good money for the privilege of being turned into a dangly toy on a string or trusting their lives to a piece of foam, the Kiwis have also dreamed up a couple of other doozies.

One I saw involved strapping the unfortunate victim ... er ... tourist into a harness inside a huge plastic ball. Once its inmate was tightly confined, the ball was rolled to the edge of a hill where it was given a bit of a shove so it hurtled to the bottom, bouncing off the sides all the way down. For extra fun, you can choose to have a bucket of water added to the mix and get a nice tumble rinse on the way.

I can see you don't believe me ... OK, ye of little faith, click here to see a zorb: http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/nz/zorbing/

Fun?

That's nothing ... What about strapping yourself and two mates into a cocoon while a crane hoists you 40 metres above Mother Earth, then pulling the ripcord to send you and the aforementioned mates plunging landwards at speeds of up to 130km/hr? And then swinging back the other way and then the first way and then the ... Well, you know enough about elementary physics and kinetic energy to get the picture, and let me tell you it's not a pretty sight. (This little pastime goes by the innocuous name of 'swooping.')

What amuses me about these operators is the way they tout the magnificent views you get from the platforms ... Who's going to give a damn about the rolling hills, snow-clad mountains and sweeping vistas when they're fighting to keep their breakfast where it belongs and not adorning the spectators ogling from below?

Who wants to be next?

Not this little black duck, that's for sure. In fact, the less firma the land the more terra I feel!

J M Stewart is a freelance writer and editor. Sign up for free, weekly writing tips that have been delivered every Friday since 1998: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com J M Stewart's travel site http://www.traveltoaustralia.write101.com provides intending travellers with all they need to know to visit, live and work in Australia. Drop by now to see if you're eligible for an Australian work visa!