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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“The millisecond my feet leave the platform, I regret my decision. I am weightless, I am free...I am falling.” |
Okay, so because I am unfortunately writing this particular journal entry post-travel, I am going to focus on the most important adventure in queenstown.
Bungy Jumping.
That's right. Throwing oneself off a platform, connected to a structure only by a hopefully sturdy rope of bungy cord, in the hopes of increasing adrenaline to the body and not reaching the ground/water before the cord reaches its full length.
I wish I could post videos on this site, because I have a DVD of my jump. It's scary to watch, even for me.
Let me start this by explaining that the art of bungy jumping as a sport was invented here in New Zealand. Hackett Bungy is the first company to make a commercial business out of it, which is only fitting due to the fact that it was A. J. Hackett who initially popularized the sport back in the 70's and 80's. The particular bungy jump that I performed has only been in existence since 1999. It is the tallest bungy jump in New Zealand, and purported to be the second tallest in the world. It is 134m high, (440ft) from a small pod-like platform suspended in between a gorge over the Nevis River just outside of Queenstown. You reach the site by boarding a shuttle at the AJ Hackett store in town, and drive for 45 minutes until you get to a remote site, and then drive up a terrifyingly steep incline to get to the top of the cliff area. There, there is a building in which you may go to the bathroom, put on your harnesses, and pet a tiny little jack russel puppy, which was by far one of the cutest puppies I've seen in my life. (okay, girly sentiment is out of my system. to continue...) There we are briefed on the rules of bunjy jumping. We learn a few interesting facts, like, more females jump from the nevis highwire than males. Also, we were strongly warned that wimping out on your dive and going feet first was a really BAD idea, and you can get limbs tangled in the cords that way. The only way to jump is to do an all out swan dive, pushing as far away from the platform when you jump as you can. This in mind, we climbed aboard and headed out to the pod. Tal came along for the ride, but definitely not to jump. Her adventure was taking the tiny gondola with metal grating as a floor, out to the pod in the middle of the gorge, which was quite admittedly a scary ride.
When we got inside, I had a bit of a wait ahead of me, as they order the jumps by weight, and there were quite a few guys in our group. Let me tell you, it is certainly a disconcerting thing to watch people throw themselves off a platform and scream all the way down, even if they eventually are lifted back into the pod no worse for wear. When it was finally my turn, I gave my camera to Tal, and got fitted for the ankle cuffs. They sit me down in a dentist-like chair to hook me up to the bungy cord, show me how to use the flip-me-right-side-up release, and walk me over to the edge of the platform. The guy immediately starts to count down, 3...2...1...and I'm yelling, WAIT, HOLD ON, LET ME BREATHE A SECOND! I look down, and it is a LOOOOONG way down. All of a sudden it feels like there's no platform and I get a strong sense of vertigo. I close my eyes for a brief moment and panic while muttering, "oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god..." and the guy says, "oh hun, he's not going to help you now."
Gee, thanks buddy.
So I calm myself. I think, this isn't the way this is supposed to go down. I am supposed to be fearless, and intrepid, and laugh in the face of danger! So I take a really deep breath, look at the camera Tal is pointing at me, and I wave. I blow a kiss. And I take a giant leap off the platform, arms wide, like I am about to catch a thermal on the wind and fly across the gorge. Instead, I plummet.
The millisecond my feet leave the platform, I regret my decision. I am weightless, I am free...I am falling. I am falling very fast. The ground is growing bigger at an alarming rate. What the hell did I just commit suicide for????? I love living! Then dear god why oh why did I just end it all??????
I scream for the first three seconds, then the fear chokes my breath from my lungs and I just watch as my impending death gets closer with every second I fall. I fall for 8.4 seconds, by the way.
Thankfully, as I approach (as if it's done in a calm, deliberate manner) the Nevis River, the cord begins to stretch, and the moment I feel the stretch, I know I am going to live. I feel my velocity lessening, until I actually stop, about 15-20 meters from the river, and begin the inevitable pull back upwards. I bounce twice before I pull the flip-me-right-side-up release, and as soon as I do, and I'm attached to the cord in a normal, seat-harness way, I let go of nearly every muscle in my body, and I just hang limply in the air as they begin to slowly pull me back up to the platform. I am jelly, personified. I am shaking, I am breathing heavily, and I am alive.
When I reach the platform again, I have a giant smile on my face, and the adrenaline is back to making me feel good, rather than making me feel like I'm about to die. It's an incredible rush, like nothing I've ever felt before. I've been skydiving, and I cannot tell you how much more difficult this was. Skydiving was a lot of fun. Bungy Jumping was scary as hell, and I'm not entirely certain I would pay to do it again any time soon, but I am definitely glad I did it. It's an experience I'm not likely to forget.
previous travel blog entry
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