Things to do in Queenstown – Part 2

Or ‘what to do in Queenstown with a spare $100 in your pocket’.

So when I was getting ready to go on sabbatical back in August my friends at work had a bit of a whip round and got me some great travel things to take with me.  They also had some cash left over which was supposed to be some ‘emergency money’ just in case.  Well this money has been burning a hole in my pocket for ages so I thought I would put it to good use in Queenstown.

After the jetboat ride this morning Mrs M and I popped into Queenstown and made our way up on the Skyline gondola 400m above Queenstown so I could do the Ledge Bungy.

Having looked at the Kawarau Bridge Bungy yesterday I decided that I didn’t fancy standing on the edge of a bridge with my feet laced strapped together ready to fall off.  So instead I find myself stood on a wooden platform hanging off the side of a cliff 400m in the air getting put into a full body harness. 

It is more scary on the ledge than looking at it

This all seemed a very good idea the other night after a couple of beers when Mrs M and I looked at some of the A J Hackett videos and I debated which ‘jump style’ would be best.  As I am now actually here, with my heart rate a good bit faster than it was an hour ago, it doesn’t seem like such a good idea!

OK lets go

Once I am all strapped up and ready to go and with some last minute advice from the bungy crew (‘first time bro, just take a big jump and enjoy yourself’), all that remains for me to do now is to pluck up the courage to run and jump off the edge.  Three, Two, One, Bungy………….

Queenstown looks great from this angle

The 'flying haggis'

And off I went, unleashing the ‘flying haggis’ to the world of bungy for the first time.

To start with it wasn’t too scary (a lot like coasteering on Phil W’s stag a few months ago), but after what seemed like ages I was still falling and that’s when I had a little bit of a panic as I was sure I should have stopped falling by now.  Then the bungy kicked in and I quickly stopped falling then rapidly bounced back up to almost where I started.  

Nervous I might hit the ledge again

What followed was a couple of minutes of me bouncing and laughing on the end of a 47m bit of elastic dangling from a platform above Queenstown.

Soon a rope was lowered down and I was winched back to the platform and that was the end of my first bungy experience.

It was now time for lunch and a beer (or two).

Mr M