Queenstown
Here we are in Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of the world! Iff is currently snowboarding all day, so he'll post something about that later on.
I'm not tempted by snow danger, but I am so drawn to freefalling. I was sorely tempted to do the Nevis bungy jump, the highest bungy jump in the world I think, but I was too scared of the glass gondola ride to get to the jumping point. (Is it odd that I'm not afraid of the jump itself, just having to be on the see-through platform spanning two really high canyon walls?) The slightly lesser-known canyon swinging seemed the perfect idea...a big freefall but from a much safer-looking platform. So with Chris shaking his head and worrying about my sanity, I signed myself up for it.
It was awesome!!! I was in a group of 6 people up for this adventure. We got taken out to the lovely Shotover Canyon, watching a DVD during the ride of the different ways one can jump off the platform. They rate each of the different jumps with 1 to 5 pairs of pants for scariness! I was strangely calm about it all, having previously been so nervous about the freaky Nevis platform. The crew there are hilarious, using humour to put people at ease. They belted all six of us up, and then we just had to wait in turn. I was third to go, and I was feeling fine until it was time for me to jump. We were at the top of a deep canyon, and the canyon walls were covered in sharp rocks, with a lovely river at the bottom. It looked so peaceful until it was time to jump into it. Here's me before I actually had to jump, feeling as happy as I look:
It was possible for them to pull a rope to release me into the fall, but I really wanted to jump off myself; my choice of departure (simply called "forwards") was rated with 3 pairs of pants. Easier said than done; it was a long drop! I asked them at least a few times if they were sure the ropes were ok, and I counted down from three several times in my head, but my brain just wasn't ready to let me do something so counter-instinctive. Finally, though, I took a huge breath, counted down from three and just went for it. I jumped off, plummetted quite rapidly for 60 meters and then swung in a 200 meter arc back and forth between the canyon walls. WOW. Here's the video:
Far too soon, I was hoiked back up to the platform with tears of joy (honest!) streaming from my eyes. They brought me back onto the platform, and I immediately decided I'd have to do it again!
The second time I went, I wanted a scarier jumping style; the first one was only 3 out of 5 pants, after all! A lady working there recommended the "gimp boy goes to Hollywood" jumping style. Intriguing, and 5 pants! So I went for it. The first time I went, I was so scared and amazed at this new activity that I didn't appreciate the scenery or properly enjoy the ride. This time, I was guaranteed to appreciate the scenery...I'd be hoisted up above the platform facing up, wrap my legs around the rope attaching me to the other lines, lean my head back as far as possible so I was looking down at the ground, put my arms out above my head and pointing at the ground, then signal the crew to release me. This was the scariest thing I've EVER done, just getting into that position. When they told me to release my death grip on the rope and stretch both arms out and towards the ground and arch my back as much as possible (pointing my whole body at the ground), I found it so scary one of the guys had to reach out and press up on my back so I'd feel safer letting go and stretching out towards the ground.
I can't stress enough that I was scared witless. So as soon as I got into position and caught my breath, I told them to let me go. The cheeky monkey pretended he couldn't hear me, so I yelled at him to do it, and off I went. In that position, I watched the ground come up to meet me, felt every bit of the plummet and the speed of it. I was screaming, but I was paying attention to everything happening. When I finished the freefall bit and went into the arc bit, I was hooting with joy. Suddenly I saw some goats on a ledge of the canyon wall; I stopped hooting and said to myself, "Oooh, goats." Then I quietly appreciated the lovely river and canyon before they winched me back up; it was such a lovely place on a cold but gorgeous sunny day. Absolutely brilliant. And 5 pants!!! Here's the video:
I am now an adrenaline junkie. I might just do that Nevis bungy jump after all when we circle back to Queenstown in a few days...
I'm not tempted by snow danger, but I am so drawn to freefalling. I was sorely tempted to do the Nevis bungy jump, the highest bungy jump in the world I think, but I was too scared of the glass gondola ride to get to the jumping point. (Is it odd that I'm not afraid of the jump itself, just having to be on the see-through platform spanning two really high canyon walls?) The slightly lesser-known canyon swinging seemed the perfect idea...a big freefall but from a much safer-looking platform. So with Chris shaking his head and worrying about my sanity, I signed myself up for it.
It was awesome!!! I was in a group of 6 people up for this adventure. We got taken out to the lovely Shotover Canyon, watching a DVD during the ride of the different ways one can jump off the platform. They rate each of the different jumps with 1 to 5 pairs of pants for scariness! I was strangely calm about it all, having previously been so nervous about the freaky Nevis platform. The crew there are hilarious, using humour to put people at ease. They belted all six of us up, and then we just had to wait in turn. I was third to go, and I was feeling fine until it was time for me to jump. We were at the top of a deep canyon, and the canyon walls were covered in sharp rocks, with a lovely river at the bottom. It looked so peaceful until it was time to jump into it. Here's me before I actually had to jump, feeling as happy as I look:
It was possible for them to pull a rope to release me into the fall, but I really wanted to jump off myself; my choice of departure (simply called "forwards") was rated with 3 pairs of pants. Easier said than done; it was a long drop! I asked them at least a few times if they were sure the ropes were ok, and I counted down from three several times in my head, but my brain just wasn't ready to let me do something so counter-instinctive. Finally, though, I took a huge breath, counted down from three and just went for it. I jumped off, plummetted quite rapidly for 60 meters and then swung in a 200 meter arc back and forth between the canyon walls. WOW. Here's the video:
Far too soon, I was hoiked back up to the platform with tears of joy (honest!) streaming from my eyes. They brought me back onto the platform, and I immediately decided I'd have to do it again!
The second time I went, I wanted a scarier jumping style; the first one was only 3 out of 5 pants, after all! A lady working there recommended the "gimp boy goes to Hollywood" jumping style. Intriguing, and 5 pants! So I went for it. The first time I went, I was so scared and amazed at this new activity that I didn't appreciate the scenery or properly enjoy the ride. This time, I was guaranteed to appreciate the scenery...I'd be hoisted up above the platform facing up, wrap my legs around the rope attaching me to the other lines, lean my head back as far as possible so I was looking down at the ground, put my arms out above my head and pointing at the ground, then signal the crew to release me. This was the scariest thing I've EVER done, just getting into that position. When they told me to release my death grip on the rope and stretch both arms out and towards the ground and arch my back as much as possible (pointing my whole body at the ground), I found it so scary one of the guys had to reach out and press up on my back so I'd feel safer letting go and stretching out towards the ground.
I can't stress enough that I was scared witless. So as soon as I got into position and caught my breath, I told them to let me go. The cheeky monkey pretended he couldn't hear me, so I yelled at him to do it, and off I went. In that position, I watched the ground come up to meet me, felt every bit of the plummet and the speed of it. I was screaming, but I was paying attention to everything happening. When I finished the freefall bit and went into the arc bit, I was hooting with joy. Suddenly I saw some goats on a ledge of the canyon wall; I stopped hooting and said to myself, "Oooh, goats." Then I quietly appreciated the lovely river and canyon before they winched me back up; it was such a lovely place on a cold but gorgeous sunny day. Absolutely brilliant. And 5 pants!!! Here's the video:
I am now an adrenaline junkie. I might just do that Nevis bungy jump after all when we circle back to Queenstown in a few days...
posted by Trace at
6:39 pm
3 Comments:
Iff = Jessie.
I did a bungee/freefall type swingy thing in Vienna about 10 years ago. It was really cool but we just got hoisted up in a crane above a concrete path so not as spectacular as a canyon. The moment the crane unclipped me and the freefall started was really scary. I reckon moving slowly away from the ground was the worst bit though - I guess it'd be like the ride up to the bungee you were on about. It probably equates to about 10 pants! I'm not sure I'd do it again. But respect if you do the full bungee - I reckon it's probably about 50 pants.
Oh did I mention.......
Iff = Jessie.
By
Anonymous, At
4:07 am
Bekerk. Cluck, cluck, cluck.
By
Iff, At
2:35 am
Trace, my respect for you (already considerable) has increased 10-fold. Or else I think you're completely insane. I came out in goosebumps just watching the video. Well done!! Look forward to hearing about Iff doing a bungy....
S xx
By
Anonymous, At
10:25 am
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home