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Published: January 29th 2010
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Queenstown - Monday 4th Jan
Over breakfast I asked Doddy how he was feeling about doing the Nevis Bungy and he replied “Yes, I’m definitely doing it”. So after breakfast we popped across the road to find out availability. Doddy was just a minute or so behind me and by the time he had arrived I had found out they had availability for that day and we could book there and then. Upon telling Doddy this I received the response “What? Today? Whoa, I don’t know if I can do it!” and then proceeded to stand on the top step in the reception, put his arms out to the side and throw himself off (from about a foot high!) With a little gentle coaxing from myself and the receptionist (who had done it twice) he agreed and we booked in for a 1.30pm jump.
We returned back to the hostel with butterflies in our stomach and practiced what we would do when up on the platform which mainly consisted of counting backwards from 3 and making sure we jumped as soon as we said 1. With about 1.5 hours to go we thought we better have some lunch and
I can safely say its the first time I’ve ever seen Doddy not able to finish all his lunch!
The time flew by and before we knew it we were at the Bungy Centre checking in where we had to be weighed three times to ensure they got the right tension on the bungy cord. We had decided to do the Nevis Bungy which at 134m was the highest bungy in Oceania and gave you 8 seconds of freefall. Neither of us had done a bungy before and there were smaller ones we could have done but we both agreed we’d probably only do it once so why not do the biggest! After checking in, I, along with a very nervous Doddy sat down on the beanbags with the rest of our group. After about 5 minutes we were called to the mini bus which would take us the 45 minutes to the Nevis Gorge where we would make the jump. I really started to get nervous now and my sweaty palms and butterflies in my stomach were really doing their thing.
The final part of the journey was up a steep, winding, gravel track and even looking
over the edge of that made my stomach turn. As soon as we arrived we were put into our harnesses and weighed once more and then taken outside ready to get the cable car across. From here we could see the bungy which looked even higher than it had done on any of the videos. We were given a quick briefing and then in small groups we boarded the cable car that would take us across to the bungy platform. The cable car did nothing for our nerves with its metal grated floor that looked straight down onto the valley floor below, all 134 metres of it and I had to keep reminding myself that this was the easy part and the jump was still to come!
Once on the bungy platform we were greeted with load music and a member of staff ready to strap the harness type thing to our ankles. The bungy is operated by weight with the heaviest in the group going first and I can say for sure that it was the one time in my life that I wished I were heavier! One by one the others in our group went, each with
the same look of fear before they jumped and elation after they came back up. Soon enough it was Doddy's turn to sit in the chair and be tied by his ankles to a piece of elastic. When securely attached he shuffled to the edge, had to shuffle some more to make sure he was right on the edge, wait (what seemed an eternity) for the wind to drop and then he was gone, plummeting to the ground before the bungy kicked in. I could hear him clapping and cheering at the bottom so I knew he must have enjoyed it but I couldn’t focus on that too much as I knew I was next!
I sat myself in the chair and began thinking why am I doing this? Which also wasn’t helped by the staff member who fixes you to the bungy telling you not to pull the cord that says ‘do not pull’ and to make sure you do not go upside down, yeah all very funny when you’re about to jump 134m! I then shuffled my way to the platform edge and managed to muster a smile for the camera. It’s a funny feeling when you’re stood
up there, everything about the situation is telling you not to jump, but sure enough 3-2-1 and I had jumped and was falling, and what an amazing feeling! I counted to 6 seconds before the bungy kicked in and gently pulled my back upwards. It was amazing, hanging upside down, bouncing up and down. Before long I turned myself the right way up and was pulled up to the platform with the same ‘that was amazing’ expression I had seen on everyone else.
We watched a few more jumps and then headed back to the office where we could see the DVD and photos of our own jump. It was great to watch it over again, especially as we were so pumped with adrenalin we could have done it all over again. Then back onto the bus for a much more enjoyable and relaxing ride back to Queenstown.
We each bought a copy of our DVD and have uploaded them on the Youtube so you can see them by following this link:
Bowks
Doddy
or just type 'Bowks does the nevis' and 'Doddy does the nevis' into www.youtube.com
Back at the bungy centre
we saw all the nervous looking people sat on beanbags, just like we had been a few hours before except we could now say that we had done it and got the T-shirt to prove it!
We went to a bar to have a celebratory drink and then to an internet café to upload our DVDs onto Youtube so we could sho everyone our achievement! We then both Skyped our families so we could watch their reactions when they saw what we had done. Their reactions were priceless! Comments went something along the lines of “Oh, you’re up very high…you didn’t jump did you? Oh you did you stupid boy/girl!” But both sets of families were relieved we’d told them about it afterwards and not before!
That night we were both very tired from all our nervous energy and went to bed dreaming of our bungy!
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Matt Herwin
non-member comment
3-2-1 bungee
I remember your excitment all too well when you contacted me and said "go on youtube", the video clips were fantastic, what great memories both of you are experiencing whilst on your travels. You're a great couple, keep having lots of fun. love from myself and Cheryl xx.