Light as Air

To experience the new ‘light as air’ Crocs ABF – Almost Bare Foot – slides, we flew to Rotorua by helicopter from Helilink at Auckland’s Mechanics Bay in Parnell for a day of adventure!

I’ve never been in a helicopter before. To say I was nervous is putting it mildly. But my mother’s tales of a rocky ride in a "glass mixing bowl" had not put me off- I was excited to give it a go and take the helicopter ride to Rotorua for the Crocs ABF launch.

To experience the new Crocs ABF – Almost Bare Foot – slides, we flew to Rotorua adventure park Agroventures in two helicopters from Helilink at Auckland’s Mechanics Bay in Parnell for a day of adventure!

The day was in aid of launching their new slide which is purportedly the most comfortable shoe you can buy and as ‘light as air,’ hence the flight. And also, to bring us round to seeing how stylish Crocs can be and educate us that there are 250 styles – not just that clog!

Setting off from Helilink’s base at Mechanics Bay. Sarah Gauntlett of KiwiMummyBlogs.co.nz, Rich from getfrank.co.nz, Megan from Thread.co.nz, Nick D and Oliver Driver from George FM.

Flying over Auckland harbour.

Patchwork quilts below in the Waikato. The senery was simply stunning. The flight took 55 minutes and we flew over the Hauraki Gulf, the Hunua Ranges, Matamata farmland, and beautiful virgin native forests.

The Agroventures adventure park seen as we approach from the air. They’d gone to a lot of effort putting Crocs branding around the building that we could see from the chopper.

A team photo on the FreeFall Extreme.

Oliver Driver takes a dive like an international cricket team.

Fletch goes on air.

Lucy Slight gets a blow-wave, suited up in the FreeFall vertical wind tunnel.

In other adventures, we got to do the death-defying bungy-style swing, the Swoop.

Airborne in the Swoop.

And Fletch and Vaughn took a spin in the Agrojet.

Elise Wilson from New Idea and Lucy Slight from Girlfriend magazine in their Crocs ABF slides.

Emma Darwen of Goode PR and Alice Milosevic, Marketing Specialist Crocs Australia and NZ.

Me modelling the Crocs ABF in white, accessorised by the helicopter in daffodil yellow.

The view of Auckland harbour and the city in the background.

Landing at Mechanics Bay.

And are they comfortable? Yes. Do they look good? Yes!

Usually I get blisters from new shoes, I have from Havaianas and from Camper slides. I wore the Crocs ABF slides all day and didn’t have any foot sensitivity or irritation, they are so comfortable. It’s the way they’re shaped with reflexology-type pressure points rather than a flat soled slide.

I’ll be rocking my ABS slides this summer. Just on the ground, not at 1000 feet.

Story and photographs, Megan Robinson, 19 November 2010.