Today is jump day – the day Dan has been looking forward to and fearing ever since he booked his three bungy jumps in Christchurch.
The day started with check in and weigh in at the Bungy Station followed by a short ride up a steep mountain to ‘The Ledge’ bungy jump. We met three others on the minibus that would be doing the Thrilology the same as Dan, so we knew we’d be spending the day with Justin, Owen, and Rich.
Rich decided to jump first and choose to do a run and jump into the forest below. Dan was next, and although he looked reasonably scared, he did the same as rich and just ran and jumped off ‘The Ledge’ with a scream and some slight swearing. He swears he never screamed on the way down, but I soon put him right when I showed him the video I took of him (screaming like a girl).
OK, so I screamed like a girl, but it was the most bizarre feeling I have had, falling and the second scream was when the harness trapped certain parts of me. It was like two walnuts being smashed with a hammer a pretty good reason to scream if you ask me!!
After everyone had jumped and purchased official videos and photos, they laid out a breakfast bbq for us with sausages, eggs, and bacon – yum!!!
Once we had filled our bellies, we headed back down the mountain to check in for the next two jumps and canyon swing. There was only a 20-minute wait until we were back on the minibus heading to the Kawarau Bridge Bungee. This jump is the most well known and was the first established jump site in New Zealand. When we arrived at the site, it seemed very busy, and the staff was all out watching the jump currently going on. So naturally, we had a nose and waiting to jump there were two naked guys tied together, ready to jump and be dipped in the river (freezing). We found out after that it was the result of them losing a bet, and fair play to them for doing it as that water would have been sooooo cold.
So once the guys had checked in again, they wondered along the bridge to be harnessed up while I stood on the viewing deck. Dan went third this time and yet again he screamed, but it wasn’t so girly this time! Everyones jumps looked good and even though this jump was shorter than ‘The Ledge’ it was over a freezing, fast flowing river, so a lot scarier.
Ok, so the bridge jump is over water and with your legs strapped together you kinder waddle over to the platform this now was a long way down in fact I was getting a little worried. You are meant to jump head first but this really does go against human nature, so I kinder pin dropped it, and yes I screamed, but this time the walnuts were safe!!
We then had a 90-minute wait until we would be picked up to go to the Nevis!!! The wait was painful and long, but we passed the time by watching a film on how Bungee Jumping came about and watched other jumpers and just chatted away. When the bus arrived we got on, and Dan started to look quite ill, I held his hand for the duration of the ride, and by the end of it, it was disgusting, he was soooo sweaty and nervous, I was quite worried for him.
We arrived high a top of a mountain and saw what we would be facing. Luckily for me… NOT…we would be doing the ‘Nevis Arc’ first. We had decided to do this as a tandem, which I was glad of as I was soooo scared!!! We walked across the bridge out into the canyon to reach the pod for the Canyon Swing. I was starting to get very nervous, it was extremely high, and my legs started to wobble.
We got all harnessed up and strapped in and then got told to sit down over the canyon – I felt sick with fear. So we’re dangling over the canyon, very scared, and I’m holding on soooo tight that my muscles and hands are hurting. Then it was three…two…one and he pressed the button, and we were released into the abyss of the canyon….I screamed the whole way down and for the continuous swings after that. It was so exhilarating and insane, but soooo scary. My legs were still like jelly for a further 20 minutes afterward. I was confused as to why Dan wasn’t saying much and why he didn’t seem that scared. The only response I got was ‘I have to do that again, on my own, and actually jump myself’ he was right, that was something to stay silent about and contemplate.
So we got harnessed up to get in the cable car to get across to the Nevis Pod.
This was extremely scary in itself, we had to be latched on to the cable car, which would travel out in to the centre of the Canyon on to another small pod which, in my opinion, did not look safe, it rocked while we were on it and it had a glass floor so you could view the people jumping.
I think in the photo I was describing how tight my bum was…hmmmm
So Dan’s name was called – he would be next to jump – he looked as white as a ghost, and I actually thought he was going to throw up.
OK so now we are talking the biggy, I am getting harnessed up and feeling quite ill it was bloody high. I then got called up, and I got in the big dentist chair where they bind your feet together and tell you about a release mechanism!! I was not paying much attention and had to ask him to repeat it three times before I pretended I knew what he was on about.
So now I am on the platform which is about the size of a shoe box and the assistant is telling me to focus on the horizon then it was 3 … 2… 1… BUNGEEEEE!!! So on the “W” of one I was off!!!
8.5 seconds of freefall was the most amazing rush!! you get a great ground rush, and well nothing will ever come close to it!!
After Dan jumped, we headed back to base to pick up our photos and DVDs and then we went straight back to the hostel as we had arranged to meet up with our fellow jumpers for a few beers. So back at the hostel it was BBQ Friday, and so the hostel provided us with hot dogs for free – we couldn’t be bothered to cook so this was fine for us, I had three, Dan had five!!! We then got changed really quickly and headed down to the Buffalo Club where our evening would begin.
We met the three guys we spent the day with and started to drink. We then decided to join the pub crawl that was starting and well, the evening just got messier. Four shots, and two free drinks later, plus at least a drink in each bar and you end up with five very drunk people dancing on tables and singing along at the top of their voices. It was a good night, and for the first time since being in Queenstown, we weren’t cold, thanks to the beer jackets!!!
We passed out around 4 am after being kicked out of the last pub – good night had by all!!!
