The Nevis - and other challenges
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2007
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63
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Trip End
May 01, 2008
Queenstown,
South Island,
New Zealand
Saturday, April 19, 2008
It rained pretty much the entire time I was in town. In the past two weeks it has gone from summer to winter and even I'm having trouble adapting. A few weeks ago I was sunbathing as it was unseasonally warm, now it is almost snowing and unseasonally cold. I'm getting some practical use out of my hat at least.
Aside from the cold there were two other things nagging at me; Nevis and Telus (hey,they rhyme!)
What the hell am I doing?
. Telus is my former mobile phone provider in Canada. They apparently refuse, at times, to "let" people discontinue using their services without telling them, until they, unknowingly, amass a significant enough bill to sick their creditors on you. After a quick search on the net I've found that they do this on a regular basis, then refuse to cooperate or be reasonable. I have filed several complaints, but it is hard to do so properly when you are across the Pacific with no address.The Nevis. The Nevis is the highest bungee in New-Zealand and the second highest free-fall in the world at 134 m. That is over 8 seconds of fall. I had planned on not doing the jump, I told myself, because it was expensive and I had already done one jump in Auckland. But let's face it; I was being a big pussy. The original jump had almost given me a heart-attack and was less than 1/3 the height, not to mention the Nevis is over a rocky creek from a big swinging gondola over a canyon, not from a sturdy bridge over deep water.
I decided to do it over a period of a few minutes and paid before I could change my mind. I couldn't sleep that night. I didn't need to freak too long though, as I was jumping at 8 in the morning.
Adventures of Fuzzyhat
The air was cold. I had to wait for what seemed an agonizing period for the bus, which was late, then had to sit around with other "victims" before the final bus rid out to the location. Standing by the canyon and getting strapped in, I started to wonder why I had signed up for this.
The Nevis hangs from a "pod" by cables out over a canyon. You access the pod by taking a small 1.5 by 2 meter open gondola out to the pod. It was starting to snow at this point, but I was more focused on the ground sinking away from my feet. Sinking? No, falling. 134 metres down.
I had to wait for a long time to jump. There were about a dozen people in front of me, then at the last minute, they stuck a few more people in front of me. It was torture. Listening to the yells of the poor souls, watching them bounce below us through the glass floor of the pod.
Finally it was my turn. They put me in the seat and started to strap me in. "None of this smile for the camera bullshit. I'll jump when I damn well want to" I told the guy. He's probably use to the abuse, but still, he was really cool about it
Sure I'm Sure
. "Canadian, huh? You know the guy that just pussed out before you? He's American. So if you don't throw yourself off of there head first..." Well I can't let the Yanks beat me. So I jumped. I kind of regret not getting the pictures, even though I got the video. The pictures of me in flight look pretty damn sweet as I did a pretty good James-Bond dive.Jumping is unlike anything else. You are in absolute terror standing on the gang plank. It sticks out about 30 cm from the edge, so it's down every way but back. You look down, the pod sways and bobs in the wind. You hear the wind whistle around you. "You've been telling me not to jump off of things for 25 years now", says my sub-conscience, "cause you'll frikken die. Now you're throwing me off THIS! What's the matter with you?" Dive, now I'm head first.
Jumping is unlike anything else. You are in absolute terror standing on the gang plank. But you can end it at any point. Just jump. Adrenaline takes over from there. If you back out, you will still be terrified, but now you'll be a terrified chicken. Every time you look in the mirror, that jump will haunt you.
Flying towards the ground for the first second is scary as shit. Then you start to slow down, you open your eyes, and it seems surreal; the ground below you doesn't rush towards you, but everything around you is moving so fast, sort of like the images of jumping into warp in those sci-fi flicks. Then it's over and you feel invincible. I had to tell myself not to jump off the gondola ride on the way in; "that's dangerous, you'll die, don't jump down".
Next jump; South Africa, almost a quarter of a kilometre down.
