My Kawarau Bridge Bungy

This morning I went Bungy Jumping in Queenstown. This is the original bungy jump. It's 43 meters into or just above the river.

My bungy video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9d9aSYxaM

We woke up early because we had slept in the car the night before and I had to go to the bathroom. So I drove us to Arrowtown to the public restrooms. Then instead of walking around and finding the nearby LOTR scenes we headed to the Kawarau Bridge Bungy. Since they opened at 9 am and we were there right on the dot, it looked like I wasn't going to wait in a line. I paid my money, got weighed and then got sent out to the bridge. Let me note that this is the Anduin river from Lord of the Rings. I got to the bridge and chatted with one of the workers while we waited for the second bungy man to arrive. I was going to be the first jump of the day. I also elected to do it barefoot. He said that I was number 1, but only because I was the first jump. You have several choices on your fall, you can stay dry, just touch the water, hit it chest deep or waist deep. I wanted chest to waist deep, but they warned me it might not work. Since I was the first of the day to jump that meant the cord was a little taut and might not stretch as far as it would later in the day. They did say something about using the super bungy, but I was a bit freaked out at that point. In the video you can hear music playing and it's not something they dubbed over the movie with because you can hear my voice and the bungy dude's voice. As they were strapping me in they asked if I wanted some classic rock. I said sure so they turned it on and then put me on the ledge. Right before the countdown he asked me if I was ready and I said no. Then he said do it anyway. 3 2 1 and I jumped. Those first few seconds were terrifying because your stomach drops, but it's over almost before you realize it. I made it into the water and then my shirt flipped down exposing my stomach. At first I was self-conscious and then I was flooded with adrenaline and didn't care. Once the 2 raft bungy dudes pulled me into the raft, they told me an anecdote from the day before. They had asked a Malaysian man how he'd liked his bungy and he said "it's like chocolate, you don't like it, but you (eat) do it anyway." We all agreed that bungy jumping was nothing like chocolate. Then I sprinted up the rocky road and Gordon brought me some dry clothes. I bought my pictures and video to commemorate my jump. I also got a t-shirt and a certificate for the bungy. It had been weighing on my mind the last few weeks. I'm glad to have done it, but I'm also glad it's in the past.