A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION A LITTLE MORE ACTION

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Our campground in Arrowtown was really pretty and peaceful and only 20 minutes to Queenstown so we packed up the van and set off. At this point I'm feeling pretty calm about the whole bungi thing. The weather is quite cold and when we arrive in Queenstown it has started to snow a little. Dodging getting too wet and trying to keep as warm as possible we head straight for the AJ Hackett shop. As we walk in the first thing I was drawn to was the video screens showing the jumps and at this point the reality of what I am here for kicks in and I felt physically sick. Tim draws me away from the screens as he has obviously seen the colour quickly drain from my face and we go to talk to a very nice lady at the counter. I'm not actaully even listening to what she is saying my mind has gone blank and I feel like my brain has froze in my skull. Pulling me back to conversation Tim is discussing a package we had already looked at in brochures. We had discussed different bungi options and unfortunately the one Tim was really interested in doing called the pipeline has been closed. It was 102 metres off a suspension bridge so it was either the Kuwarau Bridge at 43 metres or the Nevis high wire at 134 metres. At this point I think Tim realises that I'm not looking to well and not making any noises of any kind in response to anything the lady is asking. As with everything it becomes mind over matter and I join the conversation about the packages that save money. We both wanted to do the shotover jet which is jetboating on the Kuwarau river. The lady tells us there is a package that had the jet boat and the bridge jump. I now think I am going to cry, yes actually cry in the middle of the shop with fear. How ridiculous is that!!! Tim then says something that kicked me up the backside, 6 words "you dont have to do it" I realised then that I really did have to do this and that once I'd paid for it there was no going back as you dont get any refunds if you dont jump. These are not the cheapest of activities and mustering up all my energy I agreed to do the bridge and jet combo. Then the final blow, the girl turns away and says "great we have spaces today" and then I feel like my knees are giving way and I want to cry again. Literally I am not exaggerating I am so so scared of doing this!!!! The next few minutes pass in a blur of payment and confirmations and then we are leaving the shop and coming back in 2 hours to first go jet boating and then go bungi jumping after. As I had not dressed to bungi jump that morning we went back to the van and got changed into our jeans etc....I dont think I said more than 3 words in the space of 30 minutes and Tim is finding my silence quite unusual and humorous. He knows I'm really scared but he also knows that I really would be disappointed with myself if I didnt jump so he's trying to keep my spirits up joking around. I dont think I even smiled in response it was a truly mad feeling.

We had a wonder around the town but in all honesty I couldnt concentrate on anything and holding conversation was difficult. In the end I suggested we went for a beer and felt much better sitting int he warmth sipping my dutch courage. The 2 hours passed quickly and in no time at all we were walking back through the doors for our jet boating. It was quite good we were doing this first as it would get some of my adrenaline kicking in. We board a bus and head out to the river which when we get there looks really pretty and once again is the beautiful blue colour we have come to expect in NZ. Handed our life jackets and waterproof jackets we hop on the boat and hurtle round the river at speeds of up to 80km. The driver is excellent and he swings the jet thought the canyons like he's in a mini!!! zipping past cliff edges and turning 360 degrees it was really good fun and over way too quickly. By the time we got off my face was frozen though as the wind chill out on the river can get up to -20 it took the 15 minutes bus journey back to thaw out!!!

So here we are back at the shop and waiting for the bus to take us to our bungi. After looking into the cost of the DVD's we opted to have both jumps filmed on one DVD which was much cheaper. The bus arrives and we board, I'm feeling okay and Tim is just buzzing with excitement. I have come to realise that Tim loves facing fear and actually can be a bit of an adrenaline junky when given the opportunity. The hackett guy introduces himself and then we set off for the bridge which is about 30 minutes out of town. There are only 7 people on our jump in comparison to the 30 - 40 people we saw leaving in the morning so it was nice it was a small group. The driver puts on some music and it was a compilation of various songs to ease our fears. There was Abba SOS, one entitled "you know your gonna die" they went on and on and it was very funny and did the trick for me I was cool as a cucumber when we got to the jump site. Although my heart did give a little flutter when we passed over the road bridge and I caught a glimpse of the bridge. I purposely looked the other way!!!!! The Kuwarau Bridge was built in 1880 and was the site for the first ever commercial bungi in th world opened in 1988. The jump is a 43 metre plunge into the Kuwarau gorge - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Our guy stops the bus and tells us the best piece of advice, "the longer you hang around the less likely you are to jump" with that in mind I was the first off the bus with Tim in hot pursuit. As we took the spiral stair case down to the bungi check in and viewing area. I stayed well away from the view area and went straight to check in. We had to sign a document for safety and then we were weighed (not as light as I had hoped, bloody lager) and a quick toilet stop!!!! Tim and I then headed out to the bridge and were the first from our group up there. From here on in it really was mind over matter, we put on our harnesses and then got split slightly as Tim went to the heavier side and I stayed at the lighter side of the platform, obviously so you get the right grade jump cord!!!. We could still see each other but I think it was a good thing for me as there was only myself that would get me off the platform. The guy called me down and sat me on the back of the platform, I could see a small asian lady whimpering on the jump platform and having little squeals as she edged out and I made myself look the other way, I think she literally crawled off in the end bless her. It was quite cool because they were playing the Fratellis which is one of my favourite albums and that was helping me keep hyped up. The guy is having idle chit chat with me, the usual where are you from etc.... I can see Tim over his shoulder waiting to be called down and he gives me a wink. The next few minutes are a little blurry, they wrap your ankles in a towel and then the place the securing straps round you feet. With all that done and the asian lady gone it was my turn and a different guy called me out. The problem is you cant walk because your feet are tied and you shuffle like a penguin - really gracious stuff!!!!! I head out and refuse to look down the guy is telling me to focus on the road bridge ahead. I am holding onto his trouser leg a little tighter than I meant to as he help me get out. I stand there and he says I have to go right to the end of the platform this is the split second when I actually said "I cant do this" I had had to look down to see where the edge of the platform was and I was now scared again. He just replied "cause you can" quite casually oh and then had to ask me to let go of him, shame!!!! 3, 2, 1 and that was it I had jumped off hurtling towards the river and after watching our DVD I realised that I can actually squeal quite loud and of course managed to swear too but I didnt care because I was on top of the world after. It is over very quick and the free fall is very different to the skydive but it was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You hang around waiting for the guys in the boat to come and rescue you and as they lay me in the boat to untie me I watched Tim jump which was great. We had to climb back up the gorge which is quite difficult when you legs are so wobbly but the feeling of achievement was excellent. We hung around a while waiting for the rest of our group to jump. One guy from our group bottled it twice and in the end jumped off feet first instead of head first but he was white as a sheet and I felt really sorry for him. Then there were two americans we had got chatting with on the bus. Father and daugter, daughter had waited ages for the guy who kept refusing to jump and I was really glad that I was not her as it must have been horrible just watching and waiting for him to go. She jumped though and her dad who is scared stiff of heights took loads of photos and then went to do his. It was really good egging each other on and cheering!!!

On the way back to Queentown I had a strange feeling because I found myself thinking about the Nevis highwire at 134 metres. Thinking "i wonder if I could do that?" That evening Tim and I talked about it and he really wanted to do it so we decided to go and book for it the next day. The problem was we knew it was fully booked for that day and it meant hanging around a bit longer than we had anticipated. On reflection the next morning we decided against it even though it would have been great it would have taken another chunk of the fun money and we had already spent so much of it in NZ. We always knew that would be the case but we still have 6 months to go. Sense prevailed in the end and we left our achievements at what we had originally set out to do. I still cant believe that we have skydived, whale watched, climbed a glacier, bungi jumped all in such a short space of time. We left Queenstown and went back to Arrowtown where Tim enjoyed watching a local game of rugby and I enjoyed having the camp kitchen to myself and cooking a lovely meal in proper facilities for once. We left Arrowtown the next day and headed for Te Anau where we would be able to sort out a trip to Milford Sound..........................................

******I will try and load our DVD at a later date as we have forgotten to bring it with us today!!!!!!*************

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Photos

The shotover jet gorges
You rocket through these at 80kmph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!