Day 70 – Suicide with an elastic band

Well I’ve gone and done the one think I swore I’d never do; jumping off a perfectly good bridge with an elastic band tied to my ankles!

This morning we drove out to the site of the world’s first bungy jump, the Kawarau bridge. Its a pretty place and the bridge spans a narrow valley with stunning blue waters running below. The staff we met were all really friendly; probably something to do with the drinking they’d done the previous night to celebrate the companies 20th birthday. I gave everyone I met a sobriety test!

After getting weighed I got to wait and watch two other people go before me, I was fine at this point. Sitting down I got chatting to the supervisor as he strapped my ankles together with a towel and straps. He was a Brummy and after finding out I was near enough a Yam Yam he said I was going to get wet. Being ushered to the edge of the platform made the nerves kick in. I was instructed to look forward and I heard a man counting down behind me. I have no idea how I did it but I jumped. The first few milliseconds scared the @#%* out of me. A second later I hit the water, in all the way up to my socks. then I recoiled a few times before being lowered to meet the boat. What an experience – nothing like what I’d expected, most noticeably not as violent.

Tom being a bit lighter than tubs here had to wait to jump from the other side. This gave me time to get the camera and him time to get more worked up. He looked like a pro jumping off but only got his fingers in the water.

With a head full of water we headed back into town. After a spot of lunch we booked up a kayak trip for Milford sound and headed to the mountain gondola. Having just forked out a little more than expected we took the cheap option and walked up to the top. I would recommend this to anyone over the $22 as the walk through the woods was beautiful. Just wish I had a mountain bike to enjoy the single track on the return. some damn good views of the town and lake from the top.

Returning to town we found a cafe with free WIFI and got up to date with email and finances. Going to see another film, Body of Lies later.