Helicopter Bungee Jumping In New Zealand

courtesy of shugyou

“Ooooohhhyaaaaheeesss!!!” there were the words that I cried out as I threw myself from three hundred meters in the sky, from a helicopter. My ankles tied to it with only a piece of rubber band. Madness or… It all started during my travels in Australia, where I heard from other travelers of the most exciting (and also exaggerated) stories about Bungee Jumping in New Zealand. I knew of course as an experienced thrill seeker (really, I drove with my tricycle on the highway) what Bungee Jumping was. I have seen it a couple of times when a few people, loudly screaming, threw themselves of a crane. Spectacular to watch, but that was all. Unfortunately my budget didn’t allow me to try it also. But as always: my time will come…

That crane watching experience and the exciting tales I heard here in “down under” went through my head for the rest of my trip in Australia. Afterwards, I already knew that if there would be an opportunity to jump, I would grab it with both hands. The only downside was that all the people who spoke about it, actually jumped. Childish maybe but, it makes it less exclusive. But, then again, what is exclusive nowadays :-( O.K. big deal, the exclusiveness is gone but it’s still a thrill. So, I will be one of many.

After several months of traveling in Australia I flew to the land of the Kiwi’s. The first thing I found out was that kiwi’s are not those hairy pieces of vitamin C fruit, but some strange bird. You never actually see the bird anywhere natural .You see them in the many souvenir shops.

The first time I saw a pub in New Zealand made my head spin. Not from the locally brewed beer, on the contrary, from all those wild and exciting stories that people told me about the things you can do in this country. And I have to say, it’s spectacular. They advised me to go to Queenstown if I want to Bungee Jump. I usually don’t let people recommend anything to me, because it usually leads to touristy places, but I took the advice anyway. Even if it was only because it had cost me 6 beers and one hour of listening in the pub. A true investment, right? From there on, I had to get to Queenstown. This appeared to be very easy because you literally stumbled over all the companies that offered you transportation to Queenstown. So, it is a case of finding the cheapest company.

So, an hour and a half later I sat in a rickety bus with sheep fleece covered seats, on my way to Queenstown. The bus consisted out of a rich variation of locals and budget travelers. People that I usually feel comfortable with. About two hundred kilometers from our final destination we experienced a minor setback. The roads and bridges to Queenstown had been completely swept away by the heavy rain fall of the previous weeks. From local people we heard that it will take at least two weeks before the road will be repaired. The colorful bus group decided to take on another route, which implied that the bus had to make a detour of 1600 kilometers. We just did 900… I tried to find another solution for me, to make a detour of 1600 kilometers was a bit too much. The group didn’t seem to have a problem with it, neither did the locals.

After a lot of asking around and phone calls I found a pilot prepared to fly me with his low-powered aircraft to Lake Wanaka. Approximately two hours from Queenstown. It was a six-person plane; therefore I need to find five other passengers to share the costs. Me, being me, I found four other people within two hours. So, I flew with 4 paying passengers in a six-person plane over the broken roads to Lake Wanaka. A real experience in itself. The pilot, who realized the fun of it all, flew low over the glacier tops, 007-like. On to Queenstown!!!

Queenstown was a bit disappointing for me. I had way too little money for all the fun thrills that you can find there. Bummer, always the same problem. I felt like a small child in a candy store. There was only one thing to do, drink away my problems in the pub. (Yes, as if the problem gets any better from that). Just before I stumbled out of the pub, I bumped into a t-shirt that said BUNGEE CREW. My organizational instinct started to work in full mode. A lot of stories and alcohol later, I was dropped off at my hostel. With, an invitation to Bungee Jump in my pocket.

The following morning, with a hammer pounding in the back of my head, I met the t-shirt according to plan. He hardly recognized me, but all of a sudden it hit him. They are working on a project that aims to make Bungee Jumping from a helicopter into something commercial. Oops, this is just what I want. To jump from a helicopter, from three hundred meters above the ground, with only one rubber band tied to my ankles. I never met anyone, not even in the pub, that could tell that they did that. My adrenalin rushed, just from thinking about it. It will be the first permitted and commercial jump for the organization. In the past, there have been a number of people that have jumped, but for security reasons the government declared a prohibition (a year after my jump the civil Aviation Authority officials of New Zealand decided that helicopter Bungee Jumping is definitively prohibited). It is allowed if you sign a declaration in which you state that the jump is taken at your own risk. I signed several declarations of this type before, so no problem. This type of declaration is usually equivalent to something nice. And a jump of three hundred meters, that is higher than that tower in Paris!

After a lot of organizing it finally happened. The jump or my life!!! The place where it took place is just outside of Queenstown. At that same moment there is a motor show with 5000 visitors nearby. I was therefore some sort of an attraction. The helicopter was being stripped of it doors, since I was to be hanging outside the helicopter with half of my body. The bungee cord was tied to my ankles and I experienced a frightening moment when I realized that the binding is connected to my ankles with Velcro only. The helicopter pilot started the engines. As soon as we were in the air for a couple of meters I noticed how heavy the bungee cord is. The cord is so heavy (70 kilos) that if I hadn’t tied myself with a hook to the helicopter seat I would have been lying on the bottom again. When the Bungee Jumping cord was entirely lifted off the ground I could settle myself better and we increased to an altitude of three hundred meters. From up there it seamed much higher than I thought… To throw yourselves 300 meters down is very much against human nature. Take it from me. You could not have measure my adrenalin level at that moment. Suddenly there was some doubt slipping in my mind. Shit, why now!!!
Once we made it to an altitude of more than 300 meters, we checked the radio that I had on me, (in case of an emergency I can at least tell them what went wrong: -)) The person next to me started the countdown…One, …I started to tremble, two….the tremors in my body increased, three…. shit, that doubt came up again, four…. oh, what the hell, I am going for it, five…… BUNGEE!!!