Setbacks and Swan Dives

On Sunday I drove to Wanaka with my roommate Chrissi from my hostel at Franz Josef. It was nice to have someone join me on the long boring ride. We stopped at Lake Matheson on the way, a lake known for its mirror-like quality. It was beautiful, and the reflection of the sky, clouds, and trees was so clear in the calm water. We made it to Wanaka in about 4 hours, and I was so happy to drive into sunshine and cloudless skies. Wanaka is a quaint, little town situated on Lake Wanaka and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. We found out from the hostel upon arrival that various church groups in the community were holding a free barbeque, so we made our way there for dinner. Free anything for a backpacker is always good, and it was a nice welcome to the town.

I’ve been having some setbacks as far as the progression of my trip goes so I’ve been in an iffy mood for the past few days and am just now figuring out solutions to my dilemmas. I’m having issues sending home my luggage and postponing my flight. I also strained my neck so I can’t look to the right and have bites all over my arms and neck from, I think, bedbugs as gross as that sounds. So I didn’t feel up to much in Wanaka, albeit there wasn’t much to do anyhow, so I mostly hung at the hostel and took long walks around the lake. I tried to go to Puzzling World, a place apparently renowned for its eccentricity. I drove all the way there only to u-turn in the parking lot and head back. Just the thought of trying to figure out puzzles gave me a headache. I decided not to do any activities that would make me more frustrated than I already was.

Monday night in Wanaka, I went out with a group of people from my hostel. We went to one bar where we were the only people there. Then we went to a second bar where we were the only people there. It seemed to be a theme. Apparently Wanaka’s nightlife is in a slump. There weren’t even any other backpackers out. It was just us and the bartenders, who did their best to make us leave so they could close up shop.

Chrissi, Daniel, and I drove to Queenstown yesterday. There is a whole group of us that has been traveling together since Franz Josef and those of us with cars each took a few people. I really like Queenstown and all of the outdoor, extreme activity hype surrounding it. The city has a really good vibe. It’s too bad that I only have three days to spend here. I booked my bungee jump this morning through my hostel and left for my jump at 1pm. I decided to do the Nevis Bungee, which is 440ft above the Nevis River. I figured if I was only going to do one jump, I might as well do the biggest and the baddest I could find – and the Nevis was it.

As I stood in the lobby of the A.J. Hackett building this afternoon watching the video of other people bungee jumping, I was getting increasingly nervous. I wasn’t scared at all about jumping out of a plane, but was nervous about jumping off a platform suspended by a wire more than 440ft over the Nevis River. The fact that you had to pitch yourself over the edge willingly was what was getting to me. For the skydive, I had relatively no responsibility for hurling myself out of the plane.

It took us 45 minutes just to reach the remote site of the jump, and they had put me second to last so I was able to watch everyone else swan dive off the platform. My fear had waned by the time it was my turn, and I wasn’t nervous in the least as they tied my feet together. Standing on the edge and looking over the platform, however, was a different story. They tell you not to look down and it was the first thing I did. I couldn’t help it. The guide counted down, 3-2-1, and I just stood there looking down. “This is the part where you’re supposed to jump,” he whispered to me. Then I just went for it – threw my arms out to the side and leapt off the platform like a bird taking flight. I felt like a suicidal person jumping off a building, except I was attached to a patented recovery system and my remains wouldn’t have to fished out of the river. I screamed on my way down, probably an expletive of some sort, until the scream caught in my throat and I couldn’t utter a sound. The two seconds right after I jumped, my body seemed to hang in the air until gravity took hold and hurtled me toward the water at 130 km/hr. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s a strange sensation to fall through the air with nothing to stop you, until of course the cord catches and you bounce upside-down. It was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Maybe I’m just desensitized to fear because I didn’t get as much of a rush as I thought I would. In fact, afterwards I was ready for a nap.