That Was Dumb

We finally got a break from work and decided on taking a much needed weekend trip. We headed to our favorite close spot, Queenstown.

I love Queenstown for many reasons but the biggest reason is that it gives you  a much needed dose of "busy". It is a busy, little town. It is a big winter ski destination with multiple excellent slopes within a 30 minute drive and it is an even bigger summertime destination with plenty of hiking, biking, riding and boating activities around.

We wanted to go to do some "adventure" stuff. Queenstown is known as the "Adventure Capital of New Zealand". I'm not quite sure how they got that title but I'm sure some of it has to do with the home of the bungee. AJ Hackett created bungee jumping in 1988 when he carelessly flung his body over a bridge in New Zealand. To me, that always sounded dumb. Kinda up there with golf. (Why in the hell would you whack a ball away from yourself and then go hunt it down only to whack it away again?) Bungee struck me the same way. Lemme get this right, you want to tie a rubber band around my ankles and push me off of a bridge?
Dumb, right? Well, that's what I thought but then the irrational, NZ mind came forward.

I had the opportunity to participate in some of the most dangerous sports Queenstown had to offer! I booked a day of adventure for me and Bruce which included an 80km/hr ride on a speed boat in 10 inches of water called the "Shotover Jet Boat" ride. A tourist was killed on the same jet boat ride last year. (Count me in).

Then we booked white water rafting down Grade III-IV rapids down the Shotover River. The water temperature was a balmy 45F! Then, to top of the ignorance, we decided to end it all by jumping off the Kawarau River Bridge, home of the very first bungee jump in the WORLD!

The first of our "adventure" activities was the Shotover Jet boat ride. We were flying through the water on mere inches of water going so fast that we were choking on the wind. It was beautiful and we were surrounded by canyons and pristine wilderness. I highly recommned this if you are going to be in Queenstown.

The next activity was even dumber. I decided we should go white water rafting. Now, to do this, you have to ask: 1) Have you ever white water rafted before? No, not really and 2) Why would they let novices down a river with giant rapids and no experience? Its NZ, not the USA, no one is going to sue.
I should have known that this was a bad idea when they had to suit us up in the thickest wetsuit available PLUS a jacket and a helmet and lifejacket. My second indicator of bad idea was the pre-rafting instructions on what to do WHEN you fall into the water...(When, not IF)...The third and real reason why I shouldn't have gone was the trip down to the start of the rapids. We are on a bus, driving down a narrow, gravel road winding down a mountain side. There are cliffs with sheer drops hundreds of feet down. At one point, the road was so narrow the bus driver opened the door and there was a sheer 150ft drop from the stair...OMG.
The names of the cliffs and dropoffs made me nervous...Dead Man's Drop but the name of the rapids were worse...Chaos, Jaws, the Toilet, and my favorite...Mother F#cker. I don't know what I was thinking!?
I was shaking and nervous but able to get into our raft and make it through all the rapids without falling out at all! Mostly cause when everyone else was paddling, I was hunkered down! I figured that all hell would have to break loose for me to be shaken or thrown from this raft! Our group was excellent and we were able to expertly navigate all of the rapids including the biggest, scariest one at the end which was a grade 4 that day.

After a nice, warm shower and some dry clothes it was time to conquer our last and final adventure activity.

The bungee jump off of the Kawarau River Bridge. This was the site of the very first bungee jump pioneered by AJ Hackett in 1988. He now has bungee jumps all over the world including the USA, Canada and Asia.
The Kawarau is a "shorter" one at a mere 43 meters high. The closer it got to our bungee, the more nervous I became. Even a little help from my liquid courage of Patron Silver didn't make me want to go any closer to the edge. I didn't want to punk out in front of everyone and I had already paid so I figured I was stuck into a jump. I'm sure Bruce knew I was nervous cause I hissed at him when our turn came up in line "Don't you DARE talk to the guy doing our straps...he needs to concentrate and don't distract him!"
Typical to the laws of marriage, Bruce forgot (or ignored) what I said and decided to have a nice chat with the guy lacing our straps for the Bungee. I'm sitting there, freaking out, hoping he didn't forget to make a knot somewhere and that he didn't forget to tie something down. The entire time they are chatting, I'm asking him in a small, weak voice "Did you forget anything? Should this be here? What is that strap for? Why isn't it tied? Should this be up there? Did you see how much I weighed?" Moments later, they were helping us up onto the ledge for our leap off into space. There were people all around, clapping and cheering us to jump.

All I heard was Bruce's voice saying "Don't look down, we are going to jump out on 3...ok, 1....2....3...."

And we jumped......

And I screamed......
All the way down (except for a brief moment when I think I may have blacked out)

Then I started screaming again. On the way up.

And the way down. Again.

I stopped screaming when we stopped moving.

I didn't realize how epic my screaming was until people came up to me later, laughing. One old English couple said, "Dear, you screamed like you were dying but you did good"
One of the bungee operators said I had the best scream of the week.
There were a lot of people giggling as I walked by...
All I know is that I don't care, I made it...alive.
Even though my voice is hoarse, I made it through a weekend of adventure, all in once piece.
And I will never do that dumb stuff again!
(I think)