Queenstown

Somewhere between February 15^th and the 19^th I learned that Queenstown, often referred to as “The Adventure Capital of the World”, is just that.  After an 8.5 hours bus ride from Christchurch to Queenstown on Tuesday, Shelby and I got off the bus and jumped head first into this adventure city…. Literally!  We walked over to the A.J. Hackett Bungy store where we signed up for The Ledge/The Nevis Bungy combo and then checked into our ”sanctuary rooms” (which is an all girls dorm room) at Base Queenstown Hostel.

(The above picture is at Lake Tekapo)

After a less than restful night of sleep, dreaming about breaking cords and falling out of loose harnesses, Shelby and I woke up early to go to the top of “gondola hill” as the locals call it.  This hill is just outside the main hub of Queenstown and is home to the famous Ledge Bungy.  The gondola didn’t open until 9 am, so being the competitive person I am, I thought I would race Shelby up the hill by taking the hiking trail to the top.  As you can imagine, not working out for several months and a rather steep hill don’t mix too well.  By the time I arrived at the end of Tiki Trail 45 minutes later, I was wondering if my legs would be able to push me away from the platform at all.

(This is from about half way up.... notice that I'm above the clouds)

An hour later, I found out that they would.  After filling out a “toe tag”, and being weighed (multiple times to make sure it was correct!), Shelby and I made the walk of doom with two other girls and a young man from France.  After the first girl chickened out, it was my turn and I was top of the world.  For your first jump they suggest running and jumping arms out as far away from the platform as you can so that’s just what I did.  The main crew member counted down from 5...4...3...2…1 and I took two steps, jumped and screamed!

 

(Here's what I was jumping from....)

If you haven’t Bungy jumped before, it’s an amazing feeling.  It’s like playing the trust game with a cord, you know the game where you have your back turned to someone and you have to trust they’ll catch you as you fall backwards….. times a thousand.  In that last critical moment, if you think about it, you’ll chicken out because who in their right mind would jump off a platform hundreds of feet above the ground, placing all there life in the hands of tiny little elastic strings?  Well I did. And I survived. And I loved it. 

(AND THERE'S ME DIVING OUT!)

After being brought back up to the platform, the Bungy crew told me they were doing a special where the 2^nd jump was 20 NZD and the 3^rd was 10 NZD.  Anyone who knows me will tell you I love a bargain so I jumped on it!  For my second jump, I ran to the edge of the platform, jumped and turned back towards the platform with my finger guns up as I fell, doing what the crew call “The Matrix”.  For the third one I didn’t actually jump but instead, I laid down on the platform and two of the crew members threw me over the edge.  It was an absolutely amazing experience!

(This is as the two Bungy Crew people threw me off the platform)

While I thoroughly enjoyed The Ledge, I was becoming more and more nervous for the Nevis, the tallest bungy jump in Australasia, but I refused to chicken out.  At nine the next morning, we boarded a A.J. Hackett bus that took us about 25 minutes out of Queenstown up a private, VERY STEAP, road.  Now everything about this bungy jump is scary.

  (That little building thing behind me is what I jumped off of!!!!!!)

1. They are so afraid of someone falling (while not attached to a cord), everyone has to put on a harness before you can even cross the building to go outside to take pictures on the hill.

2.  This “hill” is actually several mountains with a gigantic rift in between them.

3.  You have to ride in a basket that’s held on a cord to get out to the bungy platform and the crew member who runs it is very adamant about freaking people out.

4.  The bungy platform that hangs on this very thin cord over the middle of the gap has glass pieces in the floor so you can see all the way down.

5.  The bungy platform sways back and forth.

Now I don’t know about you, but I have had a “slight” fear of heights since I got hurt jumping out of the hayloft in my grandparents barn between my sister and my cousin years ago.  As I watched the first person, a forty-something, successful businessman jump, I knew if something went wrong with this jump, I would have a lot more than a black eye to explain to my mother…. If I survived.  Before I could get any more nervous however, they sat me down and attached the ankle cuffs to my legs.  From there I was moved to the “preparation chair” where the connected me to the bungy coard with a rather small ring, linking my feet together as well.  After a quick smile for the camera, they helped me waddle over to the short plank.  I said one last prayer, looked out the mountain ahead of me and with the help of my good buddy mark, made it to the ledge.  5…4…3…2…1! And I jumped/leaned over and fell off the plank.

Now I know this may sound stupid but I only screamed for a split second and then realized that it would be a while before I hit the bottom.  The Nevis allows you to fall 143 meters (that’s over a football field long!), and you experience 8.5 seconds of free fall before being jerked back up by the bungy cord. 

 But anyways! I am now safely home at Lincoln Uni getting ready for the education side of thisgreat adventure.