New luge adventure in New Zealand

It is being billed as 'New Zealand's coolest ride' and the opening of the new luge track in the small central Otago town of Naseby is adding to New Zealand's many winter attractions.

The first snow and ice luge track to be built in the southern hemisphere, the 360m, ten-curve Naseby luge is a natural unbanked track with a base of hard packed snow covered by a layer of ice.

This sets it apart form the more common Olympic luge run on artificially refrigerated bobsled tracks in Europe.

Natural luge tracks can be used for a number of different recreational activities, including ski snow sleds and self-steering rubber bobsleds as well as racing luges speeding around the track at 70kph.

The idea for the luge track came from the local ice rink chairman, Jock Scott.

"We started thinking what else children used to do in Naseby through the winter and the answer was easy - sledding, and it went from there really," he told the Southland Times.

Mr Scott also said it had been hard work "getting enough snow base on the track to then smooth and coat with ice to create a surface".

Naseby also boasts New Zealand's first international and Olympic standard indoor curling rink, the only dedicated indoor curling rink in the southern hemisphere.