Kim seems to have a revolving door stream of visitors. As we leave today, David is flying down to join him here.
After picking up Dave at the airport after 0900, we called by A J Hackett’s bungy jump site at Kawarau Bridge. They had said on the phone yesterday that they were fully booked but to try just in case. They are running $88 deals for jumps, down from their usual price of $205.
We arrived at 0930 to find the door closed, despite the opening time of 0930. It opened soon after. Enquiring at the counter, they had placed a dummy booking for 1000 to make life easier for staff preparation. The manager agreed to let me have the first jump.
I paid up (with absolutely no refund for change of mind) and got weighed. My weight (76kg, WTF!) was written on my left fist while my number (#1) on my right fist. Pretty soon, I was on the bridge and then the platform. There was no build up to it.
I got strapped up with a harness, a towel around the ankles, and the bungy cord around my ankles too. The instruction was to jump as far forward as possible, heads down.
When the time came to jump, I wasn’t really afraid. Those of you who know me will know that heights don’t scare me. But I was afraid of being afraid. I wanted to get it done ASAP, especially when they had fit me in. It would be rude to hold the other customers up.
I walked off the platform and dropped feet first. Exactly what I wasn’t supposed to do. Things righted themselves as my head did end up at the bottom and my feet at the top. But I guess it wasn’t the jump with the most flair. Perhaps I’ll do better next time.
How did I feel on the jump? Well, the drop was fast but it was over quickly. The brief weightlessness on the rebound was cool. Being upside down is nothing new for yogis. The spinning and pendulum-swinging was a little unpleasant.
As my pendulum-swinging lessened, I grabbed on to the pole offered to me by the crew on the river and was lowered onto their dinghy. They delivered me to the river bank for my climb up to the visitor centre. I was happy with my experience and we made our way back to the car.
The lady at the entrance/exit checked whether I had collected my free t-shirt and certificate. I knew nothing about this and returned down the spiral ramp to get them. I skipped their professional photos as they were expensive. Besides I don’t think my jump looked that hot!
Strangely I didn’t feel like I had an adrenalin high for the hours that came after. Perhaps it was because there was no build-up in the first place and it all happened so quickly.
Back in Queenstown, Kim had some video conferencing meetings over lunch. David, Jo and I walked to town for lunch and brought Kim a burrito.