Taking the plunge.Yes, that's me taking what seemed like the leap of faith. Feet tied, strapped in a harness, I went through a round of obligatory chickening-out, "I don't want to do this". And Timmy said "Believe me, you do". He was cute, and I didn't want to look uncool. So, I stared at the bridge straight ahead on that chilly spring morning, and jumped. Into Euphoria.
I know Bungy jumping is not fashionable anymore, but hell, I did it, I took that giant leap, so let me show off for a bit.
First, a bit of history, as I have learnt from the little pamphlet I got along with my photos: The people of Vanuatu have been throwing themselves off huge towers with nothing but vines tied to their legs. Some coming-of-age ritual that. In the late 70s, some crazy folks in Oxford university Dangerous Sports club got inspired by this, and they tried out a few test jumps. AJ Hackett saw one of those videos, and teamed up with Henry van Asch, to develop the Bungy into the modern ritual it is today. In June 1987, Hackett jumped off the Eiffel Tower straight into international spotlight.
The Kawarau bridge Bungy, in Queenstown, New Zealand, though not high by any standards (43 m), is still the unique for being the world's first, and is hence styled as "Home of Bungy". The other choices in Queenstown are the Nevis highwire (134 m) and the Ledge where you go up a hill and jump looking at the city below you. I don't have the guts to attempt either of those two.
The feeling of free fall, might not be new to many of you, but for me, a first time jumper, it was like: No no no no no. WTF. Eeeeee. Ah the cord. Stretch stretch strech Touch touch touch. Wooohooooo. In civilized English and in Hackett's words "You will go from nervous to completely elated in five seconds"
Oh yeah, I tried, I really tried to touch the water, but was short by a few feet.
PS: Speaking of childhood dreams, this was one: to do the Bungy jump at the original site. Yay.
8 comments:
mo, you are my hero! That's pretty sweet that you guys are in NZ - post pictures when you get home.
I'm still too chicken to try bungee. Was this a childhood dream now fulfilled? In the vein of Randy? ;-)
@div, Thankies Thankies. Will upload the pics soon.
@Yodha, It was more like wish than a dream ever since I watched something on TV a long time ago. And to be truthful, the previous rounds of chickening out (in Bangalore) were done with the following excuse: "What's the point of this, I will do it at the site where you get to touch the water."
I got vertigo looking at the darn pic! Wow. I mean really WOW. I cant jump from a stool man.
@Cynic.. Trust me, it looks worse than it actually is.
Thanks for coming by.
Super cool, Mo. Congratulations!
Thankies. I am still so damn kicked about it.
awesome man .. awesome
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