When you want your adrenaline to come out and play.. real hard.. then taking the plunge the Bungy route awaits in Bali. After you’ve exhausted all your options of touring the magical island, surfed all its shores… well, I know it’s virtually impossible. As there’s never enough time when visiting Bali. But AJ Hackett, an international household name for extreme activities, founded by a Kiwi with a knack for adrenaline pumping has brought the excitement of Bungy Jumping to the Isle of Gods. Here’s a look at it.
Bungy jumping in Bali. Photo: AJ Hackett Bali
“It’s all a fight with your brain,” explained Chris, a New Zealand jumpmaster who had been drafted in by AJ Hackett to ensure I made the leap of faith successfully. “When you’re up there your body is saying go and your brain is saying the exact opposite, you just gotta know that you’re going and nothing’s gonna stop you.”
I quietly said a prayer to whoever might’ve been listening and prepared myself, as best I could, for the inevitable.
Ready to take the plunge. Photo: AJ Hackett Bali
In the world of bungee 50 metres isn’t that high but with a combination of the shakes and a blind fear of heights in my genetics it may as well have been a 233 metre jump from the Macau Tower that I was about to embark upon.
Standing underneath the tower in the blazing sun that Friday morning I was starting to wonder if I had met my match with this whole bungee lark. In fact, if truth was to be told I was thinking about beating a retreat from this endeavour, tail between legs, waving the white flag of defeat – never to return to 66 beach and the large gallows of doom.
Bungy jumping in Bali. Photo: AJ Hackett Bali
Just as I was about to collect my bag and slink off towards the exit the jumpmaster appeared with my partner in crime for the morning’s activities both looking relaxed, confident and totally in control. I hated the pair of them immediately. There was no chance to feign some mysterious, debilitating condition and abscond now, I had to go through with this come what may.
Weighing in on the scales the news only got worse for me when my partner didn’t meet the minimum weight of 45 kilos leaving her with no option but a tandem jump, whilst I rocketed the needle to 80 plus landing me with the solo option.
Harnesses in place we took to the lift which grinded slowly up past the surrounding palms and rooftops of neighboring hotels eventually delivering us at the summit with a commanding view of south Bali from Jimbaran down to Canggu and beyond. When you’re up there 50 metres looks pretty damn high and peering over the edge to confirm that there was indeed correlation with the ground below was the worse mistake I could’ve made. A bout of dizziness and downright terror started to take grip and I wasn’t even on the launch pad yet. ‘Fight the brain, fight the brain’ was all I could repeat to myself, trying to keep a handle on a rapidly deteriorating situation.
Clipped in and (not) ready to go I inched my way to the edge of the tower and peeped over just for added drama. “You have to let go of the handrail,” came the voice of Chris, I wasn’t even aware of the fact I was hanging onto the structure. “I got you by the harness and I’m gonna count you in on five, first wave to the photographer.” I cast a very sheepish glance at the lens man on the rig and returned my gaze to the horizon.
Looking back on matters now I still can’t explain what gave me the strength to pitch myself off that platform headfirst, I would’ve hated to disappoint the guys on the tower I suppose, I do remember taking a solid breath and throwing myself into some sort of bastardized swan dive, I never waited for Chris to hit one in the countdown. I just went.
The rest is a blur, a rush of blood to the cranium and an eye bulging moment of relief when the elastic cord kicked in and propelled me back up towards the launch pad on the tower. As gravitational equilibrium took hold and the cord was lowered to the waiting platform below I was as close to tears as I’ve been in months, nothing I had ever done in my life came as close to that insane adrenalin rush when you commit to taking that leap of illogical faith.
“You wanna go again?” asked the guy whose job it was to land me safely on terra firma. Considering it for a brief second I thought that one was enough for the day, I didn’t want to taint my impression of the first jump; I intended to savour that one awesome moment when you just let go, for as long as I possibly could.
Source: Hello Bali
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