Nevis Swing and Kawarau Bungy Jump

The last day of 2012 was probably one of the most exciting of the whole year. We were in Queenstown, New Zealand (the same place where we had gone snowboarding in August), and we purchased a combo deal to do the Nevis swing and the Kawarau bungy jump in one day. 

Nevis Swing

First up was the Nevis swing, which is the highest swing in the world. I actually wasn't scared about doing it at all, as we thought it would be just a fast, smooth swing over the canyon. I did start to get a little nervous when they hooked us in and we had to sit down in our leg straps, as I thought there would be a bench or bar of some sort to sit on. When they released us, I was shocked. There was a 70 meter drop! I guess I hadn't done my research; I thought the swing would be a nice morning "warm-up" before our bungy jump in the afternoon, but it was quite a thrill!

This was our view looking down in the canyon from the top of the swing before they let us go. I've included the video (they actually let me hold our camera as we rode) below, but I'd just like to point out that the blood-curdling scream you hear belongs to Zack, not me. I'm the one laughing like a maniac. What a rush!

Next we were off to do the Kawarau Bridge bungy jump. This is the location of the world's first commercial bungy jumping operation, so we were doing the original, real deal! This picture shows our view from the bridge near the jumping platform. Yes, the water is actually that color.






Zack and I had pumped ourselves up for this 43 meter bungy jump for a long time, even practicing our countdown and how/when we would jump (after 3 or on 3?!). I was glad that the Kawarau site lets you jump in tandem, because I sure didn't want to do it all on my own. Zack had bungeed before, years ago in California before I knew him, but he has been scared of heights ever since he took them up on their offer of a second and third jump for only a few dollars more and did a backward jump that messed with his head. I had a minor meltdown before we went to get strapped in, but then I had to be the brave one and force us to take the plunge when we got up to the platform.

The build-up was much scarier than the actual jump; it was over so quickly. I remember thinking that I didn't have a choice when it was time to leave the platform, because if I didn't do it right away, I would freak myself out and stay up there forever. And since Zack was attached to me, he had to come along when I went! 

I definitely remember seeing the awesome blue water as we jumped. You can make requests about not touching, touching, or getting dunked in the water below, and the workers try to calculate it correctly based on your weights. They got it right, and we both got to touch the water like we wanted (I wasn't up for getting dunked!). The other main thing I remember was all of the blood rushing to my head as we were hanging there after the jump. It kind of gave me a headache!

So now I can cross bungy jumping off my bucket list. I'm totally glad I did it, but I'm not sure I would do it again, unless it was at a really awesome site like this. It was kind of one of those "been there-done that" sort of activities, but I'd definitely recommend that everyone do it at least once. Our bungy jumping video is below (Zack edited it a bit and added a fun song). I'd say we ended the year of 2012 with some excitement, right?!