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Published: December 7th 2006
We spent the morning relaxing at 12 mile delta, next to lake Wakatipu. It was warm and sunny again.
In the afternoon it was time for one thing; something we were both nervous about: The Canyon Swing. This is the World's highest swing at 109 metres above the ground, including a 60 meters of free fall as you jump (or step) off ledge. We'd opted for this instead of a bungee jump - as we thought it was a little different; it swung too! ...and it would just be as scary as taking the initial jump from a bungee...
Phil's blog...
I'd been pretty nervous about this since we booked it to be honest, and I was having one of those "not - feeling - very - confident - days" which was NOT a good start! After a short minibus ride from Queenstown we arrived at the Canyon Swing. A tiny ledge crept out over the deepening gorge. It looked high and scary! But when I saw what we had to do - I suddenly felt happy about it. I felt fine. I was gonna go for it. I was going to jump voluntarily. We walked to the preperation
area. Three Americans lads jumped one by one. It looked easy. An America girl jumped. It must be easy. It was Shelleys turn; she jumped too after a little battle with nerves (as did the other jumpers). I've got no excuse now. I've got to do it if Shelley has! I walked over to the ledge with my full body harness. They tied me in. I looked over. OH MY GOD! THIS IS SCARY! THIS IS VERY SCARY. A sheer massive drop lurked below. At the bottom: boulders. Panic set in. I couldn't do it. I can't do. Get me out of here! After much persuasion I still couldn't do it. The more I thought about it the scarier it got! I was freaking myself out big time! I should've just jumped quickly before I got worked up about it. My throat was dry; swallowing was getting difficult! After 10 minutes they unhooked me, and I took a 5 minute breather and had a bottle of water. I couldn't believe what was happening to me! I went back determined. I stepped to ledge. Sh!tted myself again. The instructors persuaded me to lean back while they held me so that i could get "comfortable". What did the instructors do!!?? THEY LET ME GO!
WOW THAT WAS BRILLIANT! A quick free fall at some rediculous speed and a massive swing out over the river - it was great! Lots of panic about "nothing" - "nothing" being a massive scary drop! Good fun! Probably the most scared I've ever been! Another day, and I might have been fine - atleast saying that helps me feel better about it!
Shelley's blog
Well, I was surprisingly calm about this one, unitl I got there and saw a man jump off with a bin on his head, then I started to s**t myself! Three lads went first, then a girl went who was hoping I would go before her, but no chance. She took a while to jump and got very nervous about it, but did it and loved it when she came back up again, then it was my turn. The lads working there are really good at trying to take your mind off it, but it did'nt work. It felt like they took ages trying to make me jump but after seeing the dvd it only took a few minutes. After almost crying, i had a moment when I knew i could jump so i told them to count to 3 and then I went. I have never screamed so much in my life. It was very very scary but lots of fun at the same time! Once the free all was over I stopped screaming and after a minute of swinging they pulled me back up again. I loved it and was all set to go again, unitl I watched Phil. Then that made me scared again!
Afterwards...
...we left Queenstown; our aim was to drive for about 1.5hrs on our way to Fiordland as we had a cruise booked for the following afternoon on Milford Sound.
Internet Links...
Canyon Swing Official Website
Lake Wakatipu
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Linzi
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Quotes
You 2 are real GI Jane and Tarzan now! You have passed the training ready for Jungle life! Adios Amigos, Asta la vista!