Transcending Borders With Seeds in Our Hands

Faint yells could be heard in the background as we pulled into the world famous A.J. Hackett Kawarau Bungy Jump Center just outside of Queenstown. We went into the center to watch a video on the history and secrets of bungy jumping. It was neat to be in the place where commercial bungy jumping, as we know it today, started. I didn’t realize that the Maori had been doing bungy jumping as a rite of passage for over a thousand years. They showed video of a Maori man jumping off a huge wooden tower with some sort of vines attached to his feet. Let’s just say that the vines are not as bouncy as a bungy cord is. It was painful for me to watch it. They showed clips of A.J. Hackett jumping off numerous heights, including the famous jump from the Eiffel Tower (for which he got arrested). By the time the film finished I literally had a bit of nervousness just from watching all the bungy jumping up close.

There were only two people who wanted to do the Kawarau bungy jump but after the first two went about six more ended up going. Two of the girls did a tandem bungy jump with our bus driver Philipa. We all stood on a viewing platform, cheering them on because they were standing up to their fears. Like A.J. Hackett said in the video, bungy poses no threat to the body from the neck down; it’s just allowing your neck up to go through with it.

So I did it.

…Just kidding. Love you, mom!

I let my mind get the better of me and was content to watch the others jump. They could choose to either just reach the end and bounce back up or actually dunk their head in the river as they came down. I walked up on the bridge near the platform where they were jumping to watch them strap the people in and get them psyched about the jump. I looked down at the river from the bridge and it actually didn’t look like it was that far. However, I knew that when you are on the edge of a platform it’s a looooooong way down. The Kawarau jump is 43 meters compared to the Nevis, the tallest bungy jump in the world, which is 143 meters high. I wish I could watch the people do that jump tomorrow but I won’t be in town. They take you out to the jump platform in a small trolley that is suspended above a gorge. The Nevis is an 8 second freefall. When you watch a video of it, it looks like the person is falling for an eternity.

There are tons of ways to get your fix in Queenstown, the self-proclaimed “Adrenaline Capital of the World.” Philipa told us that you can spend over $22,000 New Zealand Dollars in 2 months and still have more adventure and extreme sports to try in Queenstown.

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