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Woke up really early so decided to finish reading my book (The Beach - was good!). Once I got to the end I got up then went and had some breakfast with Mike. I hadn't slept very well because I had been sooo nervous about this day... I had to do the 134 metre Nevis Bungy Jump! Glad I had convinced Mike to do it but I was so scared, I thought doing the bridge would make me less scared of Nevis but it had the opposite effect! Ask was doing the Nevis bungy with me and Mike and we'd convinced Phil to do the Nevis Arc so the 4 of us would be doing that. We went to the bungy centre to sign in and watched some dvds of people jumping, didn't help! Our bus turned up and we had a half hour journey to the Nevis valley which looked daunting enough from below! Had to move from our bus into a 4WD that was able to get us up the very steep mountain to the Nevis bungy base. It would have been an impressive drive but i was thinking about the jump! Seeing the capsule where you jump from for the first time made my tummy feel funny! It was sooo high! We got out the bus, got harnessed up and weighed and made our way to the little 6 person cable car, complete with wobbly movement and seethrough bottom, that took us to the bungy pod suspended inbetween two peeks of the valley. We got inside the pod and sat down on a glass bottom ledge which made me feel funny enough and a guy sorted out our harnesses and spoke to us about the jump. Then we just had to wait... It was in weight order, so a guy we were with went first and then Ash went. Watching them scared the hell out of me. I hadnt completely realized how high up it was until I watched them turn into ants at the bottom of the jump. Then I was really scared. There was a glass bottom area of the pod and the whole thing was rocking which didn't help. Next to go was a girl who had to have 3 countdowns before she jumped and I knew i didn't want to do that. The ledge was tiny and i knew the longer I waited the more scared I would be. So far everyone had come back smiling and i asked Ash loads of questions to try and reasure myself i'd be ok. Me and Mike weigh about the same so I didn't know who was going to be first but thought it would be one of us next. I had prepared myself so was annoyed when another group of people came across in the cable car as me and Mike were pushed further back in the queue. The longer I waited the more scared I got. I have honestly never been so scared and I actually cried with fear. Again, I couldn't exactly put my finger on why I was scared... but then when you're about to jump for 134 meters I guess you don't need to search for a reason too much! Knew I was getting myself into a bit of a state so had to really try to calm myself down, it was hard and I was just soo afraid! So glad Mike, Ash and Phil were there and carried on asking Ash questions! After a few more people jumping, Mike was called to jump! I had calmed down but watching him get strapped up scared me all over again! He was brilliant though and I went to stand with Ash and Phil to watch him jump. He made it look so easy! I couldn't bring myself to watch him drop as it reminded me how high we were, so knowing I was next, I made my way round. Going through the barrier to the jumping area was scary enough as there were no walls or anything. I sat on the chair, which was actually one of the scariest bits of the whole thing! It was really wobbly and tilted back a lot, and when the exit was behind you, it didn't feel very safe! Everyone agreed the wobbly chair made them feel even more scared, wonder if its on purpose! Sat there and waited for Mike to be pulled up. He told me it was brilliant and a lot smoother than the bridge bungy. I knew he could see how scared I was and he came to reassure me - I liked what he was saying but I didnt want any affection or I knew I'd get more upset! Luckily he had to stay behind the barrier so I could ignore him when I was feeling teary - sorry Mike! I'd never been worried about saftey but found myself asking if I would definately not hit the water... the bungy rope seemed really long, but obviously from above the valley actually doesn't look as high as it is! He reassured me, then I double checked what I was meant to do to release my feet (unlike the bridge, at the end of the jump you get pulled back up instead of lowered down, and you have to release your own feet at the bottom so you swing round into a sitting position. I was nervous about this beforehand but everyone had said it was pretty easy and not too scary. Only one person hadn't been able release there feet so he was brought up hanging upsidedown, but i was determained to do it right!). Then it was time to stand up, I was glad tog et out of the dodgy chair but wasn't too keen on making my way to the edge. You step out onto a little ledge so to both sides and in front is nothingness. I really started to notice how wobbly the pod was and thought I might just fall and not have to jump! The guy was stood behind me and I feel really bad looking back, but I would not let go of his thumb!! I asked whether I'd feel a tug when he dropped the bungy rope, he said I'd feel a little one but he'd hold my harness. I thik I'd told him there would be trouble if he didn't! Poor guy haha he knew how afraid I was though! I had wanted to check everything like that becuase I hadn't been expecting the guy to pull the rope yesterday which made me feel really unsafe suring the jump, and thats why I think i was so scared. Dropped the rope and I barely even felt it. Remembered to check what the countdown would be, it was a 3-2-1 this time and I told him I would definately be jumping first time. I did! The countodwn felt too long as I just wanted to get it over with! but I did my best jump, looking straight ahead, then the falling began and I looked down. It was soo weird! Hadn't really had a chance on the bridge to notice the falling feeling that much but this was a proper ground rush! I was falling so so fast and the ground was flying towards me, but it felt brilliant and I knew I was smilling! No screams this time either! It really did feel a lot smoother and after 8 seconds of falling (!) I was bouncing back up. Loved this bit like I had done on the bridge, then on the 2nd bounce, as I was meant to, I released my feet without a problem. Swung forward quite a lot but it was nice to be sitting. Realized I hadn't asked what to hold on to, but went for the blue bit of rope infront of me which was right :-) Enjoyed being pulled back up, enjoying the view, but didnt realize how quickly I was being lifted so had a funny moment when I looked down! Another scary moment was when the pully had come down because it jolted me and made quite a loud noise! When I got to the top they couldn't get me into the pod as I wouldn't stop spining! It was quite funny but I was relieved when I was safely back in the pod. When they released my feet and let me back through the barrier Mike got the biggest hug ever! I had loved it and was soo pleased i'd done it! good job I had paid for Nevis before doing the bridge! Definately feels like my biggest personal achievement. After my jump, my group got straight back on the little cable car back to the bungy base. We watched our videos and viewed our photos, then it was time to go and do the arc! I felt a lot ebtter about it after the bungy! It was still nerve racking though, its the biggest swing in the world and is 200 meters high, higher than the bungy! it starts with a freefall and then you swing across the valley, back and forth until you come to a stop then they pull you back up! It was only me, Mike, Ash, Phil doing it and only 1 other couple in the booth who were watching. As Phil hadn't done the bungy we made her and Ash go first! they got strapped up and were hung over the valley, Ash was facing backwards and Phil was sat next to him facing forwards. It did look scary, and when they dropped they fell sooo quickly! again, I had underestimated how high it was and by the time they had got to the bottom I honestly could make them out! They were a tiny dot in the distance, and had swung really really far! Were swinging for a while, lasted a lot longer than Nevis. When they came back up they said they had loved it though so I was feeling more excited than nervous. Me and Mike got strapped in - the guys in the booth were proper jokers and didn't trust them wehn i was stood near the edge - one of the pretended ot push me and i thought i was going! We then took our places. Mike was in a sitting position then I sat ontop of him with my legs wrapped round like a Koala bear. Then we left the platform and were hanging above the velley ready to drop! I was facing backwards so could see everyone in the booth and Mike had the view of the valley. I felt safe wrapped around Mike, but nervous when they gave Ash the button to release us! I knew he wouldn't do a proper countdown! He got to 1 then we didn't go and he said the remote was broken. I 100% thought he was just trying to scare us but he wasn't , it really was broken! So the guy was going to press the release button instead. I knew he could see me watching and wouldn't press it while I was, so I closed my eyes and as soon as i did we dropped! It made detonator eel slow! Dropped so quickly, Mike kind of tumbled over me and I went under so my back was facing down and i thought Mike was going to roll over my head! Was very weird looking up at the sky going quickly away! Unlike the bungy, where you slow down towards the end, ont he swing you gather speed and soon we were swinging, flying across the valley. It was amazing, such an adrenaline rush! Really loved it, and i was glad I had done it with Mike. I did feel however that I wish I had faced forward to get the full rush and feel of being on a swing. So, when we got to the top, I made the decision I wanted to do it again! There was a really good deal where if you swing for a second time its only $35 (about 17.50 in pounds) instead of $180 so decided we'd go for it. Me and Mike both had paid to get Nevis Arc photos anyway, so instead of getting the same lot of photos we could get one set from each swing. It made enough sense to me to do it again, not that I needed convincing! The couple who were watching decided to have a go, then it was mine and Mikes turn again! We both sat facing forward, side by side. Facing the valley whilst we were hanging was a lot scarier! Was less scared than when I'd been hugging Mike! I thought the guys would leave us hanging there for ages again, tricking us to make us scared, so when the countdown from 5 began and he dropped us on 4 it came as a complete suprise!! If you see the photos you can tell! It was absolutely fantastic though and I did prefer it to the first time, really did feel like a giant swing and the rush was amazing! Still didn't trust the guys in the booth so didnt relax until i was completely out of the harness and out of the way, but they were great and made it a lot of fun. We went back and watched the videos and saw the photos, then had to wait for them to be processed. me and Mike had left our locker key at the bungy, so while we waited for them to get that back, we missed the bus back down. It was an hour till the next one but it was ok as there was free internet and we could watch other people bungy jumping. Some more people we knew had turned up to do it so we saw them :-) We got the bus back at about 4 o clock. When we got back to town we went for a Fergburger! furgburger is a really famous one off burger bar in Queenstown and everyone is New Zealand seems to know about it. The burgers are massive and meant to be the best you can get! Most people have a trip to Fergburger on their list of things to do in NZ so we knew we had to have one! unfortunatly I couldn't really taste it because of my cold but it seemed good all the same! Very filling though! We went back to the hostle and went onto the computers to upload photos etc. In the evening the 4 of us went to a bar for a couple of drinks and when we got there a guy asked if we wanted to sign up for a pool competition. I thought "why not" and signed up along with Ash and Mike. Got our drinks then sat down to watch before it was our go..... I can honestly say I've never seen pool played as well as these people were playing. every game went so quickly, and people rarely missed their shot!! We couldn't believe we'd signed up, they all seemed professional!! Ash went first and managed to win his game so we were srealllly happy about that - the guy he was playing wasn't. When it came to my go, I got one shot in thw whole game which I missed! The guy I ws agaisnt potted all of his ballas and I hadn't potted one! Apparently, theres a rule that you have to run naked round the table if this happened to you but I made my excuses quickly!!! Mike played really well and only just lost his game! Ash did well in the next round too but just lost out. We weren't too embarrased overall but still couldn't believe how good everyone was! We did have a feeling that the guy who was beating everyone worked there though... there was definately something funny going on! Finished our drinks then went back to the hostle, caught up with some more blogs then went to bed as our alarm had to be set for 6am. Was a big day but really glad I did everything, especially the Nevis bungy!
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