But before I go too much further, here’s a little bit about me… Wine and shopping are more my things. I’m not graceful, I’m definitely clumsy, and I can be a bit of a chicken.
But I also say I’ll try anything once.
So, when Sonya from AJ Hackett Bungy Taupō offered me the opportunity to jump off a bridge and try the Bungy and Swing, I didn’t exactly jump at the chance (pun intended), and it actually took me a couple of weeks to talk myself into it.
On the day, I was clock watching counting down to 2.00 pm when I was booked in, and when it was close to the time, I went into autopilot.
1. I ran home to change into jeans and a tee – my usual office attire of a flowy dress and heels combo just wasn’t going to cut it.
2. As I jumped in the car to head off, I thought my car had other plans for me. (Fun fact – your car needs to be turned on to go anywhere – realising I had forgotten how a car works when I knew my nerves were taking over)
3. Pulling into AJ Hackett Bungy Taupō, I was like “just keep driving – no one will know you didn’t go” (only the entire team at Taupō Bungy, my Love Taupō team, and my partner)
4. Signing in and filling out the forms at Bungy Taupō was a bit of a blur, and I did find myself overcompensating with random chat. I don’t think I was fooling anyone though as I shakily signed the form.
As I was getting harnessed up, a million things were racing through my head:
- What if I pass out halfway down?
- Am I too chubby, and the rope will break!?
- Will hysteria take over, and I start laughing uncontrollably?
- What if I cry and embarrass myself?
- And do people really do this for fun?!! (Spoiler alert – they do – and you should too!)
Walking up the edge, I tried to act cool, pretending nothing pleased me.
But the inner dialogue going on was a totally different story “Valerie, why on earth are you planning on jumping off a perfectly solid platform??”
Shuffling over to the edge, my heart was in my mouth, and my throat was dry.
The only thing making me feel better was Toad doing his safety checks, counting the harness points, repeating "secure" to each other, and telling me that they had also done this multiple times themselves – in fact, bungy master Toad has done it well over 1000 times!
Standing on the viewing platform – it really didn’t look that scary. If he can do it, I can too, right? Not to mention my ever-supportive team and partner were there as my personal cheerleading squad.
But enough about my inner dialogue and random thoughts – you can decide for yourself how I coped.
