New Zealand Adventures 



Bungy Jumping 

No trip to Queenstown, New Zealand  is complete without experiencing the Bungy Jump by A. J. Hackett. In their website they describe the origin of this event as follows: 
                           
                The Bungy Origins

Bungy began with a small group of adventurous people in Vanuatu. For centuries, they would fearlessly fling themselves from huge towers with merely a few vines tied around their feet. They called it ‘land-diving’, and legend says that it started when a mistreated wife threw herself from a tall tree, saving herself with the vines while the husband fell to his death.

The event was reconstructed annually, only by women. Eventually men would join in to prove their courage, and the tradition is upheld to this day.



Then in the 1980's two young men, Hackett and Henry van Asch worked on developing the bungee cords as we know today and developed the sport into an enormous business.  Their first plunge was a sneaky one taken at the Eiffel tower, leaving all the Parisian police stunned. They were arrested but let go. They would become  world pioneers of commercial Bungy Jumping . To learn more about this company visit :

AJ Hackett Bungy Jump 
 https://www.bungy.co.nz/
        
We booked two rides with them: one was at the Kawarau bridge and the other at Nevis. Both are exciting rides with Nevis being the biggest and scariest. 
In Kawarau you can do the Zip  ride and the Bungy Jump. However the jump on this site is not as deep as the one in Nevis. Its still fun and worth doing it. In the video clip at the end of this blog you can see the swing and Bungy jump at this site. 


Jumping Of Kawarau Bridge



Taking the Zip ride  at Kawarau Bridge  


 The next stop is the Nevis site which is high above in a  gorge . The jumping off point is situated in a suspended platform high above the gorge and it is reached by taking a cable car. The platform is manned by some incredibly trained personnel who, harness and secure shackles. they do rigorous check which is done by two separate technicians. Once your turn is up they lead you to a chair where they attach the Bungy cords and weights. That it! its now time to take plunge of a lifetime. They remind you to just lean off the edge and go over. No macho jumps or you might swing awkwardly and ruin everything! 



Nevis Bungy Jumping platform 



There was a feeling of dread when I was at the edge of the platform but once I leaned forward and started to fall, my mind became calm and the feeling of dropping fast was exhilarating. The wind rushes by, and your eyes are focused on the approaching stream below. There is pretty sharp jerk when you reach the bottom and the straps dig into your thighs, but as you bounce back the pain eases. You are instructed that as you bounce back up you are to try and release a strap at your feet so that you turn upside. It takes a few rebounds before you manage to do that. I did see a couple of people who were not able to release the strap that were upside down as they were pulled up. 

Check out the YouTube video below:

https://youtu.be/GregpF61Sa0

That was our morning session of fun.. now it was time to return to Queenstown and have more thrills in the Lake!


Shark ride -HydroAttack Jet Boat ride 


When you get back to Queenstown head over to the Harbor front to catch what I consider the most exciting ride. Its called the Hydro Attack. Book early as the rides get filled up quickly for the summer season. The rides can either leave directly from the jetty or they take you out into the middle of the lake to avoid the congestion of the other boats. We were lucky to be taken out into the middle of the lake giving the operators plenty of space to do their maneuvers

This ride is in a boat that is shaped like an F16 jet fighter cockpit and the ride in it is very exciting indeed. You will find the YouTube link below to see the exciting ride. 






 

The Jump




Enjoy the ride



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB9lvHXbP7Y




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