This morning we decided to stop off at the Waikato River before leaving Taupo, as it was such a beautiful river we had decided to see it from a different viewpoint one last time.
This however involved free falling 47 metres above the crystal clear waters, and letting nothing but an elastic cord prevent us from going in…yes folks, you guessed it…WE DID A BUNGY JUMP!!!
We have been considering this for awhile now, but have not mentioned it as we are tightly tied to a ‘secrets act’ by our mothers…any planned dangerous adventure sports have to be disclosed after the event once over, and we have both survived unscathed!
It took a lot of deliberation on Nicola’s part, but how could she refuse when Ben offered to be by her side…through the whole event – a TANDEM BUNGY!!!
We signed up, and went out onto the cantilever platform, which extended out above the river. As we looked over the side the waters below seemed a long way down, but were a beautiful colour!
We had our feet strapped into braces, connected by an adjoining strap, which the bungy cord was then attached to. It was a nerve wracking couple of minutes sat out there, but then we were ready to go! All cross checks were done and we edged towards the side and after smiling for the camera we left the platform…express route down!
The sensation was like no other, a complete feeling of weightlessness, and that the ground was growing ever nearer - scary. Can you spot the small boat that rescued us in the distance?
We fell at approx 60kph and when the bungy cord stopped us from going no more we were suddenly flying back up towards the platform again! It was only after the first bounce that Nicola realised she had been screaming at the top of her voice…poor Ben!
After the 3rd or 4th bounce we were close to the boat and reached out to grab the stick that we had been instructed to seek.
Hallelujah, we were in the boat and not dangling upside down anymore…and the first conversation with the crew was about Ben’s football shirt and the England match last night!
As we walked up the slope back to the office we talked through what we had just done – phew, what an experience!
We obviously bought the photos and dvd, how can you not after just living through that?! So, below is a link to the video that we have uploaded to YouTube – enjoy, and try not to laugh too hard at Nicola’s embarrassing screams…in her defence she didn’t even realise she was doing it!
Next we jumped in the van and drove north towards Auckland. We stopped for a picture break in Tokoroa, an unknown town in the plains, apparently famous for it’s timber trade, as these giant timber statues show.
We then blasted up the highway, arriving at Takapuna Beach on Auckland’s north shore at 3 just gone. We checked into the Takapuna Beach Holiday Park and parked up on our site overlooking the beach and Rangitoto Island, it is a beautiful spot.
We are here for 2 nights, seeing the north shore and sorting the van out before we return it to the rental depot on Friday.
You two must be nutters - no way you'd get me doing that bungee, it looks absolutely terrifying! Well done Nicola!
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