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Published: December 26th 2008
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CLICK HERE to Watch our Bungy Videos on YouTube !!!! Queesntown, New Zealand. The mecca for all that is reckless abandon.
Looking in between your feet through a metal grate at a raging aqua colored river, carving a rocky canyon 100 meters below. Strapped in to a harness equipped with carabiners and tie downs as your only lifeline. Legs convulsing uncontrollably. Heart beating through your chest. Two "certified" operators joke around and nudge you nearly off the suicide drop. This is all part of the game. This is Queenstown. Welcome.
We arrived here in the a.m. and headed to the booking office for our first extreme adventure. The Shotover Canyon Swing. Not even an hour into our stay in QT and we were loaded into a rickety van heading up the Kuwara river gorge to the swing. The Canyon Swing operators are classic in the way they act. Joking about how unsafe it is (even though all of these places have 100%!s(MISSING)afety records) just to make you that much more scared is all part of the experience. We loved it. After getting fitted with our harnesses, it was quickly apparent that Meg and I were a hit with the crew. They decided to seriously
mess with us. I opted to go first and chose my jump style - the Pin Drop. Standing parallel to the ledge, hands behind my back, leaned forward and looking at my feet. As I inch perilously close to the edge, the operator jerk nudges my arm and pulls me back like a bullying older step brother. They tell me keep looking down and jump to my left, keeping my eyes on the ground a hundred meters below the whole time. No more waiting around. I give one last "later" and make the jump. Sixty meters of free fall, insanely close to the canyon walls and the swing mechanism kicks in. The 200 meter arc of the swing actually increases your speed to 150 kph as you fly over the water. The canyon erupts with screams and laughter from a 12 year old girl. Oh wait, that was me. A 25 year old dude. Happy as a schoolboy going to Disneyland. I want more.
Meg's turn. She has the look of utter terror mixed with sheer jubilation. Spot on. The operators take pride in messing with the female "victims" and this was apparent. Multiple jabs at her shoulders, fake
countdowns, all while leaning backwards over the edge. The clip unlatches and there she goes. Falling in a high speed pendulum toward unknown doom... Not really, it was all safe as can be, the crew just make their money by trying to scare the jumpers.
We both opted for one more jump at a discounted price, giving us the chance to try a different, scarier jump style. The videos on YouTube speak for themselves.
With our veins still bulging with adrenaline we got back into town and decided to walk it off with a nice "little" hike up the Skyline trail to the top of the main mountain overlooking Queenstown. What we found at the top exceeded our expectations by a longshot. Not only was it an incredible view, there were extreme activities to be done. Of course! This is Queenstown for Pete's sake! A cement luge cart track immediately called out our names. A short chair lift to very top of the track and we strapped on our helmets. These carts were more fun and much faster than they looked. Zooming through straightaways and banked S-turns, Meg held the lead. Flying around a confused Asian woman, I start
to gain on her tail. I take the inside of the final turn and yell something profane and not suitable for children. Victory! SLAM! There she is, rear ending my plastic soap box derby cart. Meg gives the slow Asian a look and mutters under her breath something to the effect of "way to live out the stereotype, lady." We had to get at least two more rides in.
This day could not get any better, we thought. We were wrong.
A sign with an arrow pointing to "Bungy." Yes.
We had already signed up for the 134 meter Nevis Bungy for the next afternoon. This one was only 40 or so. "Only" is a strong word considering the platform itself was perched at the top of the mountain with a mere 400 meter vertical view to the city centre and the enormous lake Wakatipu. A great warm up, we thought. We were already brimming with confidence from the canyon swing, so this was no problem. We strapped in and were ready to go. Meg opted to go first (actually I volunteered her) and I caught hell from the guys running the show. A perfect swan dive, the guys
said it was the best jump of the day. I went next and gave a sloppy wanna be swan dive, flailing about like an uncoordinated flightless kea parrot (indigenous to New Zealand).
"Just your average Sunday," Meg concluded. And we retired for the evening.
Next morning we found ourselves at the Nevis Highwire bungy. A sketchy gondola ride (Meg had to tell me the famous 'throw up in the gondola' story for the tenth time) took us out to the platform, a suspended structure high above yet another raging river.
Yadda yadda yadda. Best thing we've ever done. 8 seconds of freefall really does something to you. Something awesome. I now feel like I can conquer anything because I jumped off the Nevis Highwire bungy. Not that I was scared; because it is a serious life accomplishment. Not everyone can or will do something like that in their lifetime- and we did, willingly.
Moving along.. The next day we drove down to Fiordland National Park and did a two hour cruise through the Milford Sound (fiord).
Fiord- an inlet carved by a glacier.
Sound- an inlet carved by a river.
Milford sound was incorrectly named by early
explorers, it is a fiord. And it is breathtaking. There is an old Maori quote - "When men are gone, the land will remain." This quote is exemplified to the fullest at Fiordland NP. Massive iron ore color rock rise up to the sky like giants, cut by glacial movement like a hot knife through butter. Waterfalls careen into the dark blue waters and unique plant life flourishes with the constant barrage of rainfall. This was New Zealand at its finest. The last leg of the drive but the start of the adventure...
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non-member comment
Awesome!!
Jake, Great job with the blog. The two of you are quite an inspiration for others to set goals and experience life changing events. (I saw the ropes being used..HAHAHAH!)