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Plunging through the fear
New Zealand is famous for many things, being clean and green, lovely secluded beaches and snow capped mountains, the number eight wire can-do attitude and of course Bungy. Popularised and commercialised by AJ Hackett this extreme sport has become a “must-do” thrill activity for visitors and locals alike. Bungy jumping is available in Queenstown, Taihape, Taupo, Rotorua and Auckland and now includes a wide range of options from the basic jump with or without being dunked in water, to swings, highwire jumping (from a platform strung between to high points), jumping from a helicopter or balloon, being catapulted between two rubber cords, reverse Bungy in which you are thrown upwards and the slightly silly looking recent addition, running Bungy. Quite apart from these options you can also choose from a wide range of jump heights with the tamer end of the scale at around 45 metres in Rotorua’s Agrodome through to AJ Hackett’s Queenstown Nevis Highwire Bungy at a terrifying 134 metres with a gut-wrenching 8.5 seconds of free fall. Then there are the options of tandem Bungy, a flying fox type Bungy in Taihape or the sedate sounding chair Bungy in which you fall sitting in a double chair. Sally, an Auckland office manager, experienced her Bungy as part of a sales conference. Initially she wasn’t keen on the idea of jumping off a bridge and being dunked in a river. “Originally I wasn't going to do it - decided that I didn't have anything to prove to anyone and plus, I was just downright scared! After one or two people had done it, I changed my mind and decided that this was one of those times that I would probably look back on and regret not doing so I joined the line of would-be plungers!” One thing that most Bungy jumpers rave about is how slow time becomes during the fall. Sally remembers every detail of her descent even several years later. “The initial fall is very strange as your learned reaction is to try to put your arms in front to try to break your fall, but there's nothing there for you to fall against. Once that second or two had passed, you are just head-first downwards. I could feel one of my shoes start to come off and remember feeling that if it came off, the rope would slip off that leg and I'd be dangling by one leg...and that would make me look very stupid. I was waiting for the blood vessels in my eyes to pop as you hear the stories that this may happen. But over-riding all of these random thoughts are that you are just falling, but a controlled fall if there is such a thing. I touched the water up to my wrists, and then bounced up again. The bounce wasn't a hard flick or anywhere as severe as it looks - it's very gentle although very uncontrolled so a little wild. You only bounce once or twice and then it's all over – you are left just hanging until they lower you to the boat waiting below.” So where on earth did the idea come from? Bungy jumping began with the ancient Vanuatu manhood ritual of Land diving in which young men dive from a purpose built wooden tower with nothing but a penis sheath and vines tied round their ankles. The aim is to calculate the tension of the vines just right so the valiant youth brushes his forehead on the soft earth below to prove his strength and bravery. You could probably safely say there’s a touch of natural selection in the process too with the less intelligent lads going for either too short vines in which case they look like wimp or too long vines in which case they’re removed from the breeding cycle. Inspired by these extreme acts of manliness a group of Oxford lads formed themselves into the Dangerous Sports Club in the 70’s and started experimenting with throwing themselves off bridges and buildings attached to a rubber cord. In turn AJ Hackett and Henry von Asche were also inspired and set up the first commercial Bungy operation at Kawarau bridge in Queenstown. The rest, as they say, is history, with several million people now successfully Bungy’d around the world. With any sport that pushes the limits of the body and mind to the extreme there are some potential health problems. The most common problems are with the eyes. On the descent there is a huge increase in blood pressure in the head. This can damage (mostly temporarily) the delicate blood vessels in the eyes causing redness, blurring of vision or in rare cases temporary loss of vision. The neck and shoulders are another vulnerable area with some instances of small fractures of the cervical vertebrae and shoulder strains. Dropping at high velocity attached to what is in effect a rubber band is bound to have its risks. However, overall there have been relatively few serious injuries and deaths (less than 20 on record) and most doctors would agree that so long as you are in pretty good health, there should be no reason why everyone shouldn’t have a go. Most Bungy jumpers would agree it’s worth every ounce of the fear. “You feel as though you belong to a very special non-secret club - those who have 'done it' and those who haven't,” says Sally, with an ear-to-ear grin. 
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