On a high over bush canopy tour

It was a bright morning as I prepared for my Rotorua Canopy Tour.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect as I drove to Rotorua, but I did know we were about to embark on an adventure into the bush and my childhood love of flying foxes was about to be reignited.

Every camp, every park our family ever went to, I made the most of the flying fox.

It was probably about then my parents should have known I would develop a love for anything involving fast movement or height - or both.

I made it on time, took an iPad from reception, and sat on the couch to enter my details. I always have this strange excitement mixed with nerves as I wait to see what I have A - gotten myself into and B - what strangers I am about to embark on this journey with.

In most of my adventures I meet tourists from all over the world. This tour was probably the most mixed in nationalities - a solo German, a family of Americans, a European couple, and British couple.

It was a particularly cold day so I opted for an extra jumper (provided) and pulled on a variety of clothing to keep me snuggly through the tree tops.

I had chosen the early morning tour, by early I mean 9am. There is something incredible about the way New Zealand bush smells after a heavy dew early in the day.

I started to relax, having been on many camping expeditions with my family over the years. I was feeling at home.

The bush we were about to sail through on flying foxes was a 500 ha DoC forest, and with the tour leaving from the tour headquarters in Rotorua, the mystery of where the actual location was added to my excitement.

As we made our way along the trail the guides explained the bush to us, including native species of trees and birds. I love heights, and I love the bush, but the first platform had my heart beating just a little harder than normal. Usually, I'm the one to jump at the opportunity to go first. This time, however, I let one of the others take the first leap. Okay, I said to myself, all you have to do is step.

I was hooked onto the line, stepped down off the platform and sat in the harness. Just like that I was taken back to my childhood days of riding the flying fox. There is something quite spectacular about being in native New Zealand bush, high up in the trees, breathing in cold morning air, zipping through the forest and around trees.

We made our way through the course, each of the zip lines became higher, until we reached the Tui Song line, a 220m long line from a 22m high platform in the canopy of a 500 year old rimu tree.

It was like a scene out of The Hunger Games (before they all start killing each other!) and I realised just how incredible our country is!

The three-hour tour, including a conservation trail where I thought I'd know everything and realised how little I knew about the work being done to eliminate pests, was surprisingly good fun and entertaining.

I could see why it is a number one ranked activity in the North Island on TripAdvisor.

I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants a relaxing but exciting and breath taking way to experience New Zealand at its best, even for those who have lived here and been through the bush - not many would have seen it like this!

For more information including tour times, visit canopytours.co.nz.