The 8 Second Scream that Rocked the Canyon

I made my way south after catching up with Abi and Ray and met up with Kathryn just outside of Christchurch. We then hitched down to Queenstown only to get held up in Tekapo for the night. We tried unsucessfully to hitch out early and finally got a ride because of your dancing skills to the Backstreet Boys (seriously, this spanish guy changed direction to pick us up) about halfway and caught a ride with Helen and Reg for the other half, a lovely Aussie couple who treated us to coffee and wine tasting and ice cream. We would tell people that I was planning to bungy in Q-town, and I was horrified by stories from Kathryn (whos an optometrist) about detatched retinas from bungy which was only backed up by more stories from the person we were hitching with. But I went through with it anyway! I booked the bungy from the hostel, and while I have heard that you can bungy naked for free, I didn't think the hostel guy was going to be able to confirm or authorize that, so I didnt ask. Shame. I must say, bungy jumping was just as fun as skydiving. I talked Kathryn into doing the canyon swing, and off we went on a bright, crisp Autumn morning to jump off a cliff. Our launch point was a little room suspended by cables above the middle of the canyon. We all piled in and made our way out of the jump point. I ended up going third, and I was by far the loudest. The first guy let out a little "Woo!" as he jumped, and the second guy who went just saluted us all as he went. Then it was my turn. As soon as I was standing on the ledge looking down at the 440 feet or so I was about to dive myself headfirst into, I started to wonder what the hell I was thinking. I was too busy mentally calculating the probability of my eyes popping out to listen to the guy behind me giving me instructions. It was quite cold, so I was also silently thanking God that I had all my layers on and was not naked, even if it would have been free. I tuned back into reality just in time to hear "...2.....1....go!" I hesitated for one more second before leaping out into an epic swan dive, screaming at the top of my lungs the whole way down. Hey, if I paid $250 for this I was going to make some noise, its no fun if you dont. The adrenaline rush was great! The canyon walls zipped past as I fell for 8 seconds before the bungy shot me back up. I pulled a cord that repositioned me into a sitting position as they pulled me back up. I still had my eyeballs, that was a good sign, and there was no feeling of whiplash or anything. The second I got back on that platform I wanted to go again. I could have for only $70, and I almost did, but I thought I might want the photos so I resisted. I did get the photos. I can't decide which one I liked most. Both skydiving and bungy are a unique kind of thrill. I do know that I want to do them both again though!

After bungy we decided that sitting in the rain would be no fun so we rented a cheap car instead to get to Christchurch, and then took a bus up to Blenheim. I parted ways with Kathryn and met up with Millie, Sebastian and Basti for a couple of hours before shooting up to Motueka to see Katie and Kayleigh and then off to Wellington the next day. It's been one heck of a whirlwind adventure, and Ive loved every minute of it.   -K