"How are you feeling today?"
"Alright."
It's freezing up on the Karawau bridge. I thought I would forget about that. The jump team bind my legs tightly with a bath towel and a strap. The wind is whistling around the canyon, no sign of the sun today. The instructor can see the blank stare of my eyes watching his hands.
"When did you decide to do this then?"
"About a week ago.... because I'm a f*cking idiot."
The instructor snickers. He helps me up and quickly shuffles me towards the edge. Look at some cameras for photos. Give a nervous thumbs up. Then as casually as saying "Nice weather today eh?" he says "Nice big jump then."
It's an order, not a request. And this is the moment. I've been having dreams about the falling sensation, but not about the ledge. The ledge is the worst bit of the bungy. Your brain says something like this:
"no no- we're not doing this today. Humans do not throw themselves from high cliffs. Lemmings throw themselves from high cliffs. Throwing yourself from a cliff should win you a Darwin award. I forbid you. See how your stomach has that squirty feeling? Yes Baldrick, that's fear."
Well brain- this is a bridge, not a cliff. I'm attached with a proven 2 inch thick latex cord. There are a lot of people watching. I'm proving something to myself! The best way to get it over with is to jump.
Jump!
And actually, I don't really remember that first jump. I know I tried to make it a big one. I let out an involuntary manly growl. I don't remember the canyon whooshing past, or how close to the water I was. I have a brief memory of my stomach jolting at the very beginning, and then my brain has blotted out the rest of the fall for its own reasons.
A few scary secondary bounces as the tension releases from the cord and then I'm rescued from the rope by two men in a rubber dingy with a stick. It's over within 2 minutes. When we reach the shore I'm asked to stand up and take off the harness from around my legs, but they're all jiggly. Walking up the stairs is a jiggly battle.
I stop halfway up the path to watch my bus buddies Christina and Laur do their jumps (Laur lets out by far the best scream of the day so far). I can feel the adrenaline high dissolving into my bloodstream. I start to feel really cold.
And then I realise the fear is over - I'm hungry!
"Alright."
It's freezing up on the Karawau bridge. I thought I would forget about that. The jump team bind my legs tightly with a bath towel and a strap. The wind is whistling around the canyon, no sign of the sun today. The instructor can see the blank stare of my eyes watching his hands.
"When did you decide to do this then?"
"About a week ago.... because I'm a f*cking idiot."
The instructor snickers. He helps me up and quickly shuffles me towards the edge. Look at some cameras for photos. Give a nervous thumbs up. Then as casually as saying "Nice weather today eh?" he says "Nice big jump then."
It's an order, not a request. And this is the moment. I've been having dreams about the falling sensation, but not about the ledge. The ledge is the worst bit of the bungy. Your brain says something like this:
"no no- we're not doing this today. Humans do not throw themselves from high cliffs. Lemmings throw themselves from high cliffs. Throwing yourself from a cliff should win you a Darwin award. I forbid you. See how your stomach has that squirty feeling? Yes Baldrick, that's fear."
Well brain- this is a bridge, not a cliff. I'm attached with a proven 2 inch thick latex cord. There are a lot of people watching. I'm proving something to myself! The best way to get it over with is to jump.
Jump!
And actually, I don't really remember that first jump. I know I tried to make it a big one. I let out an involuntary manly growl. I don't remember the canyon whooshing past, or how close to the water I was. I have a brief memory of my stomach jolting at the very beginning, and then my brain has blotted out the rest of the fall for its own reasons.
A few scary secondary bounces as the tension releases from the cord and then I'm rescued from the rope by two men in a rubber dingy with a stick. It's over within 2 minutes. When we reach the shore I'm asked to stand up and take off the harness from around my legs, but they're all jiggly. Walking up the stairs is a jiggly battle.
I stop halfway up the path to watch my bus buddies Christina and Laur do their jumps (Laur lets out by far the best scream of the day so far). I can feel the adrenaline high dissolving into my bloodstream. I start to feel really cold.
And then I realise the fear is over - I'm hungry!
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