Extreme Adrenaline

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What is it with Kiwi’s and their love of extreme sports? What drives these people to jump from a bridge with a cord wrapped around their feet, to roll down a hill in a giant ball, to speed down a narrow river canyon on a boat, to throw yourself into a raging river with only the front half of a kayak for flotation. How did they come up with these ideas and then who was the first one to say ‘ok, I’ll do the test run.’ Well, I was soon to discover the lure of extreme sports myself!
Upon entering New Zealand I knew that this is where I wanted to skydive. Earlier on I had decided to do my jump over Lake Wanaka, a beautiful lake bordered by Mt Aspiring National Park, which contains the second highest peak in nz. I figured this would be the place to jump because I could see beautiful mountains and lakes while freefalling to my possible death! No better way to go, right? On my fourth day in Wanaka, the weather cleared and I booked my jump! It was unbelievable! Three of us plus our tandem guides where packed into this itty bitty little plane that circled up and up and up. We let a few people off at 12,000 ft then continued to rise. When we reached 15,000 ft, my tandem guide and I inched our way toward the open door the best we could being strapped together. I was then instructed to swing my legs out of the plane and tuck them under. And then the fun began. On the count of three we tumbled out of the plane, doing a few back flips. I was delirious! It was wild to just fall out of a plane! My stomach was doing flips of its own and I was screaming uncontrollably with excitement! After a few seconds that lasted an eternity, he righted us and we fell for another 60 seconds. During this whole time I was hooting and hollering but at the same time struggling to breathe because the wind was so strong. It was like sticking your head out of the car window when going really fast, but imagine your whole body feeling the force of that wind. My eyes were watering despite the goggles they gave us and I think I was drooling a bit as well. Hopefully none splattered onto my guide above me! We freefell for about a minute before he pulled the shoot and then we glided down for another 5 minutes or so. During the freefall my mind was still trying to grasp everything that just happened so I didn’t really enjoy the scenery until the shoot was pulled. The day was a beauty, without a cloud in the sky and I could see snow topped Mt Aspiring as well as Mt Cook about 90 miles away. Beneath me I could see Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea stretching off towards the mountains. In the opposite direction was Queenstown on the edge of Lake Wakatipu and the mountains in that area as well. It was just amazing, I loved it! I would have done it again in a heartbeat!
After my exhilarating jump, I headed back to my hostel where I met up with another backpacker and we decided to hitch hike to the other side of the lake and climb Mt Roy. After a two-hour climb zigzagging our way up the mountain, we had breathtaking views of Lake Wanaka and Mt Aspiring. It wasn’t quite as nice as the views from 15,000 ft, but pretty impressive considering we got there by foot.
This whole area was just beautiful and I loved it here! Wanaka is a lovely little town located at the southern end of the lake. There are heaps of hiking trails, climbing and mountaineering adventures, river activities and biking tracks. There is also a puzzling world where I spent an afternoon looking at all the optical illusions and bending my mind around difficult puzzles. I also went to Cinema Paradiso, the local one screen movie theatre that serves fresh baked cookies and home made ice cream at intermission. Inside there are couches instead of movie chairs and even an old VW bug convertible you can sit in while watching the movie. Quite a good setup!
After reluctantly leaving Wanaka I headed to Queenstown, the official adrenaline-activity capital of NZ. This is where I did my bungy jump! After browsing through the seven different options, I chose the highest bungy jump- the Nevis Highwire- at 134 meters. They shuttle you out of town and up a steep mountain where you see the cable car suspended over the river canyon. To get out there, you take a little gondola where your stomach drops just looking down at the river incredibly far below you. Once in the cable car you get to watch other people jump and even see them fall through the glass floor. When my turn came about, I got fitted with all the special straps around my ankles, then had to inch my way to the jumping platform hoping I wouldn’t trip and accidentally fling myself off the edge. Upon stepping out onto the 1x1 ft platform, I had a moments hesitation where I thought ‘what am I doing?’ as my mind took in the distance to the river below. But after the count of three, I just ignored my nagging mind and jumped out in the perfect swan dive. It was so exhilarating as the wind rushed past me and the ground quickly expanded to take over my horizon. It was a short fall, 9 seconds, but I got more of an adrenaline rush from this than from skydiving. I think the part of having to throw myself off the ledge made it more exciting even though the freefall sensation was much longer in the skydive.
But either way, I loved doing both and finally understood the draw of extreme adrenaline activities. I was hooked, just liked the Kiwi’s and other tourists who come to get this kind of rush. And what a rush it is!!

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