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Published: September 6th 2008
Today was a mix of emotions; waking up and realising that you are only a few hours away from voluntarily throwing yourself from a perfectly good platform is a very strange feeling. Breakfast was thrown down quickly by Mark and Dale but Ollie was in a more reflective mood and struggled slightly. The tension continued to build for the next few hours as we walked to the Bungy Shop and checked in. After being weighed and stamped on our hands we waited for the bus.
The bus ride was 45 minutes of near silence as 22 people thought about what lay ahead. On arrival we were fitted with harnesses in front of the building and then weighed again and our weight written on our other hands. Of course my harness had a problem and after the guy fixed it he whispers "I hope that holds you!!", just what i needed.
After all of this we were led out the back of the building to the sight of a suspended platform 134m above a river. The only acces to it is via a gondola that takes 6 people at a time. With the heaviest jumpers going first Ollie was going
before Mark and Dale. The gondola swings out into the void and Ollie was definitely feeling on edge. When you reach the platform you wait your turn and have your legs fitted with straps, which to be honest do not feel very secure!
Once Mark and Dale arrived it was Ollie's turn and he was not happy at all. You walk into the jumping area whilst the previous person is being winched up and sit in a dentists chair. The bungy cord is then secured to your legs and harness, you stand up and shuffle awkwardly to the edge, you hear the shout behind you...3....2...1...GO and you jump off the platform.
134m seems a long way when you are standing looking at the platform, it seems even more when you are standing on the edge of the platform, but it disappears in 8.5 seconds once you are on the way down. The feeling of just falling is like nothing else i have ever experienced. I can't describe it but we have posted some videos for you all to look at. Note how scared Ollie looks!!
After Ollie was winched up it was Dales turn, and then Mark's,
both seemed a lot less scared than Ollie was. Once you reach the top there are two types of people, the people who have jumped, with wide grins and shaking slightly, and the people who haven't jumped and are definitely not grinning, but are also shaking!
This is one of the most incredible experiences we have had. Next up...Skydiving.
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