New Zealand is the land of the bungee; it originated here. I bungee jumped in Rjukan (Norway) once like five years ago, and I honestly thought I was plummeting to my death. Isabelle did it over the Victoria Falls when she went traveling in Africa. Sydney hasn't done it (yet at least). Isabelle has been talking about wanting to bungee jump again for a long time, like since we were traveling in Asia. I haven't entertained the idea of doing anything remotely similar to bungee jumping much. That was, until last night.
There we were, the three tourists in the Auckland Starbucks. We started talking about the famous Auckland Sky Tower that we had passed a few times. It's a beautiful structure; it reminds me of the Seattle Space Needle (though I have only seen it in pictures). Well, it turns out you can jump from this beautiful tower. Who would have thought? The SkyJump is New Zealand's highest jump, and you rush through the air at around 85km/53miles per hour and fall for about 11 seconds. The jump is a whopping 192meters/630feet. It can be described as base jumping while attached to a wire. Just the thought of it made my heart race.
I think you know where this story is going. "If your friends jump off a bridge, then would you do it too?" Well, yes. I can't miss a thrilling experience. If they jump, I jump. Isabelle said she was going to do the SkyJump, and I couldn't not do it if she did it (and she totally knew this, she's so sneaky). The SkyJump website advertized that it is not the same as bungee jumping. There is no hanging upside down, and you land gently on your feet on the landing platform. I said I would be open to everything while I was studying abroad except bungee jumping... So Isabelle and I booked a jump for the next morning at 10:15am before I could rethink it and change my mind.
Sydney knew she wouldn't enjoy it, so she didn't book it. Very smart choice. It's important to know your limits, especially when you have people around you who aren't afraid of anything (i.e. Daredevil Isabelle) or who are very easily persuaded (i.e. me). I've been very nervous for many of the activities that I've done, but deep down I've known that I would enjoy doing them. I just have to stop overthinking everything, and just do it.
There was no turning back after booking the jump. Well, technically there was... But I didn't want to lose the $180 I paid. It's amazing how having paid money for something will make you do things (like jump off high buildings).
We woke up early, had breakfast, and made our way to the Sky Tower. It wasn't a far walk, only about 10 minutes from our hostel. We signed away our lives for the zillionth time, and promised not to sue if anything went wrong. A nice guy from Northern Ireland, Neil, got us geared up in a space-like suit and a super tight harness. My suit was waaay too short for my legs, and I looked ridiculous. Not the most attractive thing I've worn, but I wasn't too concerned with that at the time. I was going to jump off a building soon!
The girls explained what was supposed to happen. First, they hooked up a GoPro camera to my wrist, so I could film myself doing the jump. Everything has to be documented! As for the jump details: they would double check my harness, hook me up to the wire, take me to the ledge, and count down from three. All I had to do was let go of the rails I would be holding on to, that was it. I didn't have to dive towards the ground (like I did for bungee jumping). It seemed simple enough. By the time I was out on the ledge, I had forgotten which hand was left/right, what I was supposed to do, and was questioning the how secure the harness was. Oh yeah, I was cool as a cucumber. Happy to have captured that on film. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to upload the video of myself, but here you can see the SkyJump promo video:
The jump wasn't as bad as I expected (few things are really as bad as I fear). When they counted down, I just let go, and suddenly I was on my way towards the landing platform. The view was incredible. Jumping from such a high spot in a city was very thrilling, and I was screaming the whole way down. I thought it would be more like bungee jumping, however, you're not really free falling towards the ground. You can tell that there is wire holding you back (not that that was a bad thing). Thanks to the lovely Sydney, who was at the landing platform waiting, Isabelle and I got some pictures of us falling and landing.
Our next activity for the day was a walk up to Mt Eden to see the spectacular views of the city and its surroundings. This is the highest of the volcanos in Auckland, 196meters/640feet high. It was a nice walk from the city. I think it took us about an hour to get to the top. We sat at the too for a while, enjoying some fresh fruit and vegetables that we bought. So relaxing!
After our walk to Mt Eden, we took the 12-minute ferry boat to Devonport, a harborside suburb of Auckland. We were starving once we got off the boat, so we went to find a café in Victoria Street. Thanks to my great navigation skills, we took a very roundabout way of getting there. But we made it, and we found a nice café as well. There were so many beautiful Victorian era houses. The neighborhood was just grand. I would have loved to live here. The views of the city were gorgeous.
In the evening we went to the Sky Deck to get a view of the city. I love going up to these places in the evening. It's so nice seeing all the twinkling lights of the city from up above.
This was our last full day in New Zealand, and we spent our time wisely. We fly home to Sydney early in the morning tomorrow. We will have a few hours at home before we need to head back to the airport to go to Cairns. We have to leave the city at 5:30am to get to the airport on time... Time for some sleep!
Love,
Suzy
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