Book Extracts
Taken from page 2
Travelling is like sex:
if you think about it too much,
you never do it!
Taken from Chapter 7 in New Zealand
The next morning after breakfast, I went for my bungee jump. The guy who ran the bar took me in the jeep, along with another English guy. We went to the river in the middle of nowhere; it appeared to be deserted. There was a wooden shed-like building where the bungee jump was organised and I met the instructors. It was a damp, chilly morning, but there was no wind. I paid my money, about $100, and they explained what would happen.
They weighed me first, to get the length of the bungee cord correct, and then strapped my ankles together using some towels for padding. They said, “We will take you to the edge and after three taps, you jump off.” They told me to put my arms above my head and just fall forward. Apart from the two guys watching, and the two instructors, I was all alone. My adrenalin was flowing and I could not wait to start. I was attached to the bungee cord, and then taken to the edge by shuffling forward. I felt more like a trussed chicken as I hopped rather than walked. I was on the platform edge and my toes could feel air. I removed my hearing aids, something I did before most physical activities, and they hit me three times; without any hesitation, I fell forwards and dropped into mid air! I had a two or three second freefall and then bang, the bungee cord stretched out, then recoiled – and I bounced! It was like being smacked into a brick wall, my whole body was jerked upright. I almost became entangled in the rope and then I was spun around in the air. I bounced again – it was a jolt each time, and I did not know when it would happen, I had no anticipation and this is what made it even more fantastic. It was an unanticipation of explosion, my entire body felt the impact with air and bounce of recoil. Electric waves of energy and adrenalin passed through my entire body. The unexpected and the unknown of what would occur next was exulting and fantastic; the danger, the fear, the madness – I loved it all and wanted yet more. After the third or fourth bounce, the rope slackened and I was upside-down and swinging. The pull began on my ankles, which hurt; 88 kg plus a bungee chord on my ankles is a strain, and they protested.
It suddenly occurred to me, as I was hanging upside-down, that they had not told me how I was to get back up. I thought, shit, how can I return to the top!