Lord of the Swings!
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2007
1
30
42
Trip End
Jan 07, 2008
Queenstown,
New Zealand
Thursday, November 8, 2007
I threw myself off a cliff with a 357 ft drop and a raging river at the bottom, attached to sweet life by just a few lengths of wire...
...and then I did it again in a cheap, white plastic, garden chair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ZPTtMztV8 (Jump #1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FoPgEW8rMk (Jump #2)
It's called the Canyon Swing and it's very, very intense! (and very safe!) Don't be fooled by the video footage though...I was quite scared!!! Also have a look at http://www.canyonswing.co.nz/index.php for more info.
I'm going to go and have a few beers now and then a lie down on terra firma! I think I deserve it!
Cheers!
Martin
Comments
Awesome!
I admire your bottle, and not just the ones post jumping.
Those guys in the video were having way too much fun at your expense.
Anyway, I'm still convinced you ended up at this place by mistake as when I looked at the first picture I could have sworn it said 'CanYou Swing'?
Keep the post's a coming.
Lunacy
Martin,
Glad to see you're having a good time fella - but what compelled you to throw yourself off a cliff on a plastic chair and a rope?!
So comparing the bungee jup, plastic chair flop and skydive which is the most terrifying/fun?
whattha!!
2 words...mad c*?!t!!! :-)))I had sweaty palms watching that bungee in the chair!
how's it going matie? pics and vids looking good.
kisses
Welsh Bird
:)
Re: Awesome!
Thanks Derek!
Actually you're right - you can imagine my excitement when they put me into the harness, only to feel slightly, and literally, deflated when I realised it was there for a completely different purpose.
Re: whattha!!
Hi babe,
It's great here. I'm really loving New Zealand. The place is awesome. It's paradise. I'd love to come back one day...maybe even to work.
Hope life is good with you.
Kisses,
Martin
P.S. I had to change my underpants before and after the swing.
Re: Lunacy
Hi Steve,
How's it going? Sunny Belgium and the Canary treating you well I hope.
Regarding the chair thing...well to be honest I was told about the chair option when I first arrived in New Zealand. I was chatting to this tour guide and he told me about doing the same thing and it just sounded so freaky. But I didn't know then that I'd end up down in Queenstown and at the Canyon Swing. So when I decided to do the swing I really had to do it in a chair as well as the 'normal' jump. I asked one of the (pisstaking) guys who run it and he said to do the pin drop (straight jump) first and then if I liked it to do the chair. He said doing the pin drop gives you a real sense of falling (how could it not?!) whereas the chair was just plain whacky! So that's what I did. Plus, the second jump was really cheap compared to the first, (something like 15 quid).
Comparatively, the canyon swing was the most intense and fun. Really because of the cliffs around and the sense (real) of freefall and the smooth transition from freefall to swing. What I mean by that is that the arc of the swing is so long that after your three seconds of freefall you head into the arc, but it's hard to feel at first that you're not freefalling anymore. Also the guys messing you around does add to the tension. When the guy grabbed the chair (and then let go again!) the second time I was really not prepared for it and it made the sensation more intense than it would otherwise have been...and it was already very intense. The thing about bungy in my view is that it feels a lot more jerky so by the time you've done the freefall then you're really starting to decelerate quickly and before you have the time to appreciate it you're being jerked back up by the recoil on the bungy. But the bungy at Auckland is relatively short (43 metres or so) so maybe it feels different on a bigger bungy cord. I am going to do another much bigger bungy when I get to South Africa, so I'll let you know.
As for the sky dive, well I think overall that is a more intense and rich experience than either the bungy or canyon swing, but it is intensity over a longer period of time. To be honest I think alot of people (maybe me) are in shock when you land from the sky dive, because it really is too much to take in. Your senses are completely overloaded by what has happened. Because of that alot of the sky dive is a bit of a blur (thank god I bought the DVD!). They tell me that often the second sky dive you do is the best because you can't take all the experience in better than the first time, where you are basically overwhelmed. So I may do another sky dive in SA. ;-)
Do you fancy doing any of the skydive, bungy or canyon swing, given the chance?
Cheers and hope you're well,
Martin
P.S. I've been catching up on United every now and again. It's looking pretty good eh?
in your stride
you seem to be an experienced swinger...