If you ask a random person what the most iconic extreme sport is, most would probably say bungy jumping. Seriously, jumping off a ledge with only a rope tied to your legs and being centimeters from your death is not for the faint hearted. For the average person, it’s probably their closest encounter to death. No surprises then that bungy jumping is frequently seen as the rite of passage for adrenaline junkies. For all the technological developments there have been in the past decade, haters still say that bungy jumping is still a tremendously high-risk activity. Is bungy jumping really that scary? How does it compare to skydiving and roller coasters?
Verdict: Fucking scary. Full stop. But once you’ve done it, you feel unbeatable and may even want to try it again. The feeling of falling downwards is, literally, breathtaking and simply unlike skydiving or roller coasters. Because of the risks, do it with a reputable operator that has a good track record.
Bucket list rating: 5/5
Cost: 4/5
I didn’t dare tell my parents before I did my bungy jump. Whereas skydiving seems to be commonly accepted by most people as something to check off on bucket lists nowadays, for some reason, there is still some taboo against bungy jumping amongst my family and friends.
I vividly recall my friends scaring the shit out of me when I even mentioned bungy jumping to them. “One small error or miscalculation and you’re dead.” “Even if there aren’t any operational errors, the recoil could break your neck.” “Even if your neck is not broken, the high speed you’re coming down at could distort your eye socket”. These were just some of the things barraged at me when I floated the idea of bungy jumping. Tack on your typical “bungy jumping accident” search on Google, and you have some serious fear factor going on.
Anyway, I’m no scientist, so I won’t bother refuting any of these arguments. The fact is – I’ve decided to make the jump, so there’s no stopping me. The only question is how extreme I’m gonna go with my stunt. While I can be a little ballsy at times, I admit that I’m not veryballsy. After doing some extensive research on different bungylocations, I decided to do it in New Zealand at Kawarau bridge – the place where AJ Hackett started the first commercial bungy.
Shamelessly though, I’m going to admit Kawarau bridge was probably the easiest option for me. It’s operated by world-renowned bungy operator AJ Hackett and it’s probably one of the tamer jumps in the world standing at 43 metres. If I ever grew my more balls in the future, I could always try the Macau bungy jump (the highest in the world at 233 metres) or even the Pucon bungy jump in Chile (jumping into an active volcano).
On the day of the jump, I rocked into AJ Hackett’s office in Queenstown – looking nervous. I was weighed and then transported on the “jump bus” to AJ Hackett’s jump center next to Kawarau bridge. The jump center was freaking cool. They even had a large TV screen showing “live” the jumps that were taking place outside.
Getting rather excited but nervous, I quickly ran to the bridge to start queuing up for my jump. As I was getting re-weighed, one staff member (Sarah) slyly told me not to look down the bridge while I waiting, as my anxiety would get worse. Easier said than done. Given that I had to wait ten minutes until my turn, I literally had nothing to do than watch how others jumped.
To ease my nervousness I started distracting myself how I should jump. Even though I was actually shitting my pants, I reminded myself that, in this day and age, I neededto jump in style for the cameras. For bloody social media. I started stressing. Superman? Reverse? Butterfly? Breaststroke? Fuck it. I’m just going to freestyle. As in the swimming kind of freestyle.
As I was practicing my awesome freestyle strokes, Sarah then popped out of nowhere again. After I told her of my grand plan, she challenged me to look at the camera with a cool stance during my recoil. Piece of cake I thought.
When my turn finally came, the staff wrapped my leg in a towel and a harness. They then asked if I’d like to touch the river for my jump – though not guaranteeing that it would happen. I hesitated. While this sounded like a pretty cool idea, in reality, this meant that the margin of error was even lower! Fuck it, I thought. I’ve come all the way here; I might as well try the whole package. I indicated to the staff that I’d like to touch the water.
With my feet bound tightly by the harness, I was pushed slowly to the edge of the jumping platform. Any confidence I had left quickly evaporated. I felt like I was walking the plank in a pirate ship. Things got even worse when I reached the edge. I knew that I should just go ahead and jump without looking down the edge. But I couldn’t resist looking down the edge. Fear immediately gripped me.
“Three … two …” I heard the staff starting to countdown. Fuck it, I thought. I’m going to do this my way. I jumped before the staff counted one. Adrenaline rushed through my head and my pupils dilated. I couldn’t believe I actually jumped and am falling. The initial drop was a shock because of the sudden change in speed, but it felt different to skydiving or a roller coaster ride. Unlike skydiving, you’re actually much closer to the ground (i.e. your potential death) and therefore you’re naturally more anxious. Unlike roller coaster rides, the jump downwards, while scary, didn’t make my stomach jump.
Once the initial shock subsided a second later, my senses came back. I immediately started paddling freestyle like mad to make up for my stylistic points. While the initial shock had subsided, it was still nerve wracking to continue falling down. Luckily for me, the fall only lasted around five or six seconds as the Kawarau bridge was merely 43 metres tall. Unfortunately, though, I didn’t get to touch the water when I reached the lowest point.
After reaching the bottom, I immediately bounced back up from the recoil. I recalled Sarah’s comments and tried to adjust myself so I could pose in front of the side camera. But it was no use. I simply kept on spinning as I bounced up and down in my recoil. Some people suggest that the recoil is also a bit scary. To be honest, I was too dizzy from the spinning to even care.
As I settled down, a raft at the river picked me up and took me to the riverbank. The staff asked me how my jump was. I smirked.
Additional information
| When to do it? | Anytime with good weather |
| How to book? | Purchase with AJ Hackett online or at their shop in Queenstown |
| How much does it cost? | Photo prices |
| How to get there? | Shuttle from the AJ Hackett shop |
| How long does it take? | Around 2 to 3 hours |
| Is it difficult/safe? | See above |
| What to wear? | See above |
| Language | Staff speaks English. |