When in New Zealand, do like the Kiwis…and Jump!

Wednesday, July 25

As New Zealand is the adrenaline capital of the world and the home of the very first bungee jump, we figured we had to do it on this trip. So, we signed up for the original jump on Monday, and today, that’s what we got to do.

We were quite lucky today – we got to sleep in! (all the way until 7:30). We got up, repacked all of our clothes that had been layered on the past two days, and checked out of the hotel by 8am. We then headed to the bus stop, absolutely froze waiting in the shade, and finally got on the bus by 8:30am. By 8:45, we were in downtown, checking in for our 9:15 departure to the bungee site. There, we filled out a form with our name and the jump site of our choice, and were subsequently tagged in red marker on our hands the necessary information for the bus drivers. As we had our luggage with us, we headed across the street to leave our bags at the information site while we went to the bungee site. 

At 9:15, 7 of us loaded into a van and drove the half hour to the Kawarau Bridge – home of the very first bungee jump. Here are some pictures of the bridge.

Here is the ledge we jumped from:

The viewing platform people could watch from:

A picture of the bridge from a different angle:

The canyon we jumped in (with a jumper at the bottom being released from the bungee):

And the view looking down at the boat from the top of the bridge - 43m is a long way down.

Once we arrived to the site, we headed into the main building and checked in. We emptied our pockets, stepped on a scale twice, and had our weights written on our other hands, again in particularly bright red pen. 

We then signed away our life on a piece of paper and were told to head out to the bridge. We presumed this meant we were going out to be suited up, watch some videos, maybe even go through a tutorial on what we were going to be doing next.

Nope.

We headed out to the bridge, where the guides gave us leg harnesses to pull up to our waists and told us to wait. The first guy who walked out with us was strapped in first, and within three minutes, he had already jumped off the bridge and Stephen was getting suited up next. Here are some pictures of the process (though not of us).

The cage you step through to go off the platform:

 

Sitting down being strapped in:

Stephen was the second person to be harnessed in – a process in which you sit down, they wrap a beach towel around your ankles for padding, wrap a strap around the towel approximately ten times, attach the strap to your harness, and your harness to the rope with a huge carabineer. The leg harness was just a redundant backup, your decent was controlled by the strap tied around your ankles and the cord it was hooked to.

The cold was unbelievable – everyone was visibly shivering – which was good as it secretly masked the fear of what we were about to do. Once you’re strapped in, they walk you to the edge of a 3-ft long platform, tell you to wave at the camera, and when they count down to one, you jump. It’s at this moment you realize you’re over 120 feet above a river and about to plunge down into it.

Stephen's description of his jump: The speed of everything really does prevent you from thinking twice. 3 minutes after stepping on a scale and signing a release form, you're geared up and inching your way to the edge of the platform. Then you get your first real, unobstructed view over the edge (the "oh shit" moment) and 3 seconds later, you're told to jump. No time to think, you jump. It's exhilarating and terrifying all at once for about 5 seconds as you freefall. Then the bungee cord starts to slow your descent and you feel the blood rushing towards your arms and head as you launch back into the air. From there, it's just one big (upside-down) swing, smiles for the camera, and a sense of accomplishment. I've been skydiving before, but the two don't compare- skydiving is actually kind of peaceful. This was pure adrenaline.

My description of my jump: I was doing just fine when the told me to hop into the cage - I was just really cold. I sat down, they wrapped me in the towel and harnessed me in, and then told me to hop forward to walk to the edge. I was doing great, up until I got to the very edge. I believe my first words were "Holy shit" as I looked down and realized how unbelieveably high up we were. The guy who roped me in told me to smile at the camera on my left (Stephen was apparently right next to the operator - I definitely had no idea he was there) and that he would then count down and I would jump. I then asked "Will you push me?" He said no. I then decided "Okay, I guess I'll have to jump" and three seconds later, I launched myself off the platform. Stephen's favorite part was that I screamed right as I jumped off, and the second I hit free fall I was silent. The feeling was incredible - I was free-falling straight down toward a river. The bungee started to tighten as I reached the bottom, and all of a sudden, I was springing back up as I'd hit the bottom of the rope and it was recoiling. A few seconds later, two men in a raft were telling me to grab the pole so they could lower me down and release me from the harness.

My pictures:

 

Over a ten minute period, we  had signed away our lives, been harnessed, jumped 130ft off a bridge, and were successful bungee jumpers. It was awesome.

We then spent the next hour watching other people jump, buying all of the required memorabilia (pictures, digital pictures, and the dvd of our jumps), and then hopping back on the bus to return downtown. There was a small hiccup on the return ride as our bus started to smoke and the smoke began to enter the main cabin. Here we are on the side of the road waiting for another bus to come pick us up.

Turns out the radiator cap had gone missing, so steam was just free-flowing. Once we got back downtown, we headed to get lunch, once again at Fergburger - it was convenient, delicious, and the tourist thing to do.

The long line to get in:

A size reference to get an idea of just how big these burgers were:

Stephen and his burger:

My tofu burger:

After lunch, we went souvenir shopping before heading to the airport. Here is one item I had to try on, but alas, did not purchase:

It was really fuzzy. After we'd purchased some quality NZ goods, we headed back to the information site where we had checked our backpacks and hopped on the bus to the airport. By 2:30, we were checked in to our flight to Sydney and trying to spend the last of our NZ money at the airport shops. We managed to spend every last dollar (it was only about $15 NZD) and headed to our gate. 

After coming down from a strong adrenaline rush, Stephen fell asleep in the terminal and I worked on crosswords.

Though our flight took off almost an hour late, we still landed around our original time, about 5:30 Australia time. This time, we felt so experienced - we knew how customs worked, we knew how to get to our hotel (via the silent train), and we made it to the hotel by 7pm. We checked in, and as Stephen is a Platinum member at the hotel, he was offered the choice of either more points, or a stuffed animal for staying at the hotel. We picked stuffed animal - a kookaburra. He's so soft!

We then headed into Sydney for a quick bite to eat and then returned to the hotel to go to bed, as we were exhausted from an adrenaline-filled day and the time zone changes. Tomorrow we explore more of Sydney!