Half Around The World In 80 Days

As at many other times in New Zealand the weather was now playing havoc with my travel plans and I was getting tired of being cooped up indoors. I was developing a strong urge to jump off of a cliff or tall building to end this monotony. Luckily, Queenstown panders to such gloomy desires by being the world centre for Bungy Jumping. For the uninitiated, this involves typing a big elastic rope around your ankles, jumping off of very tall things to plunge towards the ground below and then being pulled back upwards by your elastic bungy cord. I thought I might at least try it once just to say I had done so.

There are many jump sites around Queenstown and my chosen one was 'The Ledge' on a hill overlooking the town where you jump from a platform 43m (107 feet) above the forest floor but in close proximity to a sheer cliff face. As I sat on the jumping platform being kitted up for this, the fear going through my mind was unbelievable. However, when I got to the edge and looked down into nothingness, I knew that I should go first time as I had seen many people give up at this point. And then I was gone, with the wind whistling by my ears and the ground racing up to meet me with extreme speed. Most of the jump passes in a blur but there are oceans of adrenaline pumping through my veins and my heart is racing with the insane excitement of it all. As some cool young fellows jumpers said 'What an Incredible Rush, Man'. After surviving that I swear I will never be tempted by such madness again.

Still looking happy before the off at The Ledge

No turning back now as gravity does it's thing.

See it happen at The Ledge (142k gif)

Waking up on the day after jumping The Ledge my heart is still racing at the excitement of it all and I have yet to grasp the madness of this activity. Thus I decide that rather than stopping at one jump, I will go for the biggest thrill that Queenstown has to offer. This is a very new jump site called The Nevis which is the highest jump in NZ at 130 metres (440 feet).

As AJ Hackett say in their own brochure, 'just getting there is half the adventure'. First off there is a 45 minute bus ride out into the wilderness where we witness at first hand some of the flood damage to the roads and see the ferocity of the flood-charged rivers. The we switch from the bus to four wheel jeeps for a scary dirt road ride up a steep mountain side. When we get to the top we are greeted with views of the Nevis River Gorge way below with a precarious looking gondola suspended by cables high above the water. After kitting up in a sophisticated climbing harness, you have to endure a shaky cable car ride out to that gondola in the middle of the valley.

Only when you get to the gondola and look down through the glass floor do you realise how far there is to fall. The other jumpers appear as tiny specks when they are at the bottom. However, just like yesterday I know that this is no place for fear and I surprise myself by jumping first time. This jump is the embodiment of any nightmare I ever had about falling; they say you are in free fall for 6 seconds before you bounce back up on the bungy cord. When you finally come to rest, you are left dangling in mid air for a few minutes before they haul you back up to the gondola. This gives you ample time to convince yourself that you are still alive and it has indeed been fun. It's not something I will forget in a hurry.

That is a long way down

'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea ?'

'I hope they tied that knot OK'

Almost back up in the gondola. You see it really was fun.

See it happen at the Nevis (145k gif)