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Like many on the tour I have been looking forward to a bit of a lie-in this morning. The schedule up to now has been busy, but with my bungee check-in time not until midday, there is a chance to catch up on missed sleep. However, as I'm showering around 8.45am a loud siren goes off - it seems the hotel is on fire!
I am one of the lucky ones. It is obvious from the state of many of my fellow travellers that they have been rudely awakened from sleep by the alarms. A fire engine arrives very promptly and it's about 10 minutes before we're given the 'all clear'. We later find out, via an apology from the hotel management slipped under each door. It appears that one of the dumber guests had completely ignored the flashing lights that indicated smoke detectors in their room, and decided to burn some toast for breakfast! Never over-estimate the intelligence of the average hotel guest trying to save money on food!
		My check-in time for the bungee jump is 11.45am. I arrive to find a long queue for the Nevis jump I am booked in for, and it takes about half an hour to get properly checked in. There is some concern over my 'medical condition' since there are questions on heart conditions and I indicate that I am on statins for high cholesterol, but eventually they accept that I can jump. Alas, I've missed the noon jump I'm booked on and am now shifted to the 12.20am group. I have been warned that I need to allow four hours for the jump, and this proves a pretty accurate assessment as there are delays while the whole group of about 20 are gathered together and put on board a bus that will undertake the 40 minute drive to the bungee site. En route we pass one of the other three jumps that A J Hackett run in Queenstown - the Kawarau Bridge which is the original bungy site that kicked things off for the company. It looks very scenic and jumpers get to touch water occasionally (or get splashed by passing jet boat passengers who can't resist the temptation!). My fellow passengers are a mix of people - most about half my age (which is kind of depressing). Two girls are particularly nervous, having never done a jump before and they've got quite a challenge ahead as this jump is far more terrifying than the one we've seen at the Kawarau Bridge. It's around half way through the trip that I suddenly realise it's about eight years since I last bungee'd, having lost the bug when I discovered sky diving. The old butterflies return (I tend to suffer from vertigo) and are exacerbated when we drive up the private road that A J Hackett have for access to their site. When I say 'road' I'm grossly exaggerating - it's a dirt track. The sheer drop on either side is, I suspect, a cunning move to get all potential jumpers all adrenalined-out so they'll be much calmer when it comes to making the actual jump. My main worry about this particular jump is the cable car. I've never liked cable cars - they swing and rock and make my knuckles go white as I cling to the sides! We arrive to see someone jumping, and it sure as heck looks a long, long way. We suit up in harnesses and then step out to a viewing balcony to view some of those on the fixed station half way across the ravine jumping. Several of my colleagues visibly blanche but I feel strangely reassured by the sight, and don't get the fear factor I'm used to with skydiving or my last two jumps at Grenoble in France. The cable ride out to the fixed structure (itself a glorified large cable car) is actually a doddle and doesn't rock too much. The fixed structure itself is large, but the window floor down the middle does nothing to help my fear of heights. I'm down to jump first (which is, frankly, a relief) but something changes and I end up being about the fourth to jump from our group. The jump turns out to be much easier than those I've done in France, mainly because A J Hackett make the environment so comforting. There's no faffing around with connecting the bungee and turnaround is very fast. A chair is used to connect you up and rock music is blaring out to get everyone in a party mood. The most difficult part of course is 'walking the plank', or rather shuffling the plank as your feet are closely bound together. Looking down to position yourself is quite giddy-inducing, and the worst part of the whole jump for me is having psyched myself up to jump finding I have to turn and twist to wave to the camera before I make my jump. I just want to leap off. The jump is good fun, but clearly skydiving has dulled my fear factor as the rush isn't as great as it has been on most previous jumps. The lack of weight pulling at your feet (as for example when you go up in a crane and feel the rope trying to pull you out of the cage) is one factor, the speed of preparation another. The site even fixes a neat strap so that on your second bounce you pull it with just a slight tug and are automatically re-oriented into a sitting up position in your harness to stop the blood rushing to your head. It's all very slick and perhaps the greatest adrenalin kick of the whole jump is the moment when you're being winched up and something grabs onto the rope and jerks you suddenly as you approach the jump-off point. As with most jumps I've done previously, the most fun is watching first timers do their jump. There is only one refusal in our group - from someone who has previously seemed fine with the idea of jumping. Those who seem most nervous - and one girl in particular looks absolutely petrified as she's sat in the chair being connected up - all cope fine and arrive back on the platform after their jumps with the widest grins and the most enthusiasm for the jump they've just made. It's amazing how often this is the case - the most nervous and terrified get the biggest rush from the whole experience. We get a quick viewing of our video's (the operation is slick in this department too with several fixed camera's around the ravine that capture the jump from several different angles, edited together to show close-ups and the wide views) before it's time to head back. The jump is highly recommended and safety is paramount in the whole operation. You can find more information and book your jump ahead of time (advisable!) at AJHackett.com. Note though that the 'contact us' link appears to be broken. Earlier in my trip I've bottled out of jumping the famous Sky Tower (Auckland's stand-out landmark tower) because the height fear is too great. In this jump you're dropped on a wire from the top of the building down to the street below which is a LONG drop. I resolve after the bungee jump to give the tower a go on my last day in New Zealand when I will be in Auckland again with some time to spare. The day ends with a 'farewell dinner' for both the 'Gondor' group that has been taking place a day ahead of us, and the 'Rohan' group that I am part of. Turnout is good with about two thirds attending. The planned venue of The Skyline Restaurant has had to be abandoned because it is closed for refurbishment, but the Rydges hotel serves as a suitable replacement. The buffet dinner is paid for by Red Carpet and is very good. Oddly all of my table, bar me, disappear to watch a half hour programme on 'Return of the King', mid-way through the meal so that I'm suddenly left looking like 'Johnny Nomates'. Speeches are made after the meal and emotional farewells made. There have been some complaints about the tour's organisation, but generally most people are happy and genuinely sad to be saying goodbye to fellow travellers.
Gifts are presented to the tour guides, Philip Gust from the 'Gondor' group gives an excellent pastiche performance of Bilbo's farewell that was so convincing that I was convinced he was going to disappear when he said 'This is the end. Goodbye' (having him close his eyes and pretend he wasn't there was a cute adaptation of the whole thing). Alas, while others prepared to party until after midnight, I had a 4am alarm call to look forward to. One of my fellow helicopter tour passengers has told me there are still two places left on the 'sun rise' balloon trip the next morning and I decide to use the opportunity to get some hopefully spectacular aeriel shots of mountains in the sunrise. The price of just over £100 (NZ$ 295) is not cheap but a champagne breakfast is included and a promise that we will be taken to the helicopter tour company hanger at 8.30am - half an hour before our scheduled flight. I get to bed just after 11pm, hoping I don't sleep through the two alarms I've set for 4am. Back to Day 15 report Forward to Day 17 report Stay tuned for future reports (indicated by a photo appearing in the main Itinerary calendar)

Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk