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The day of the bungy...
The last thing I remember is rushing downstairs as I was late for the bus off to my jump. I know I'm tall, and shower heads come up to my armpits in most countries, but I wasn't prepared for the low ceilings of our hostel stairwells. All Bec heard was a loud thud, then a louder thud as I hit the floor. If I wasn't late for my jumped I might have complained, but I was a man on a mission; albeit a stupid one. As it turned out, our friends Marty and Paddy had selected the noon jump, so I switched from my ten o'clock time slot and had a couple hours to rest and get a short exam from my favorite PA.
To be perfectly honest, the bus ride up to the Nevis jump was the scariest part of the whole day. Gravel roads wrapped tightly against the mountain side with no railing, at break-neck inclines. Tires skidding in the loose gravel, we barely made it up. We had to pay extra for Bec to come along, and she was sorry enough during the ride up, but even more surprised when she was fitted for a harness and told she could come out on the cable car with me for the jump.
The Nevis jump is off a large cable car, suspended about 140 meters between two mountains over a river. A smaller gondola-type basket shuttles four people at a time out to the cable car, which is the size of a one-car garage. Everyone is in full-body harnesses and is hooked into saftey lines the whole time. The jumpers go in order from heaviest to lightest (Paddy went first : ). Padded velcro strapps are wrapped around your lower cavles, but only to hold you in the upside down, verticle position. The body harness does the work. The "on-deck" jumper sits in a dentist-like chair with foot stirrups as the final checks are made on the connections. Remember our friend Jackson from the first bungy in the river? I went directly after him. He was hoisted up just as I was in the "on-deck" chair and he came up convulsing in terror, bright purple and muttering, "I...can't...feel...my...hands." You'd think that would have scared me. It did a little. Waddling over to the edge like a penguin, my feet tied together, I got my first glimpse of the depth of the jump. 1, 2, 3, BUNGY! They yell, and I plummet downward looking straight out. The freefall was surprisingly calming, the rush of the air got louder and louder as I free-fell for 9 seconds. At first, I didn't make a peep, then I started to enjoy myself and let out a yell. The bungy is so long, the bottom of the bounce is quite soft as it slowly recoils. On the top of your second bounce, you release a red cord at your ankles, and are flipped head up, as the cord is slowly retracted and you rise back up to the cable car. I love it so much, I wanted to go immediately again; Paddy actually did. We bought a DVD of my jump, so I can always remember how dumb that was. The bus ride back was eccstatic as everyone shared their experiences, Jackson included.
Later that day we strolled around Queenstown, had a bite of lunch and got ready to head out to the Red Rock bar to meet up with our friends. The bar night was great. It seemed everyone from the bus was there that night. Bec found a cozy spot by the fire and I played some really rotten pool. Between bars, we found a late-night pizza parlour and chowed down.
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