The Ledge

Check out that view!

I want you for a moment to close your eyes and  picture yourself standing on a ledge, suspended 400m above spectatular Queenstown, with nothing but the tinkering lights of the town appearing through the darkness below you. Now I want you to envision throwing yourself off that ledge. You must be thinking that I'm crazy, and why would you throw yourself off a 400m high ledge? I was thinking the exact same thing, as the Ledge was in fact my first ever bungy experience.  The Ledge Bungy is owned and operated by  AJ Hackett, which actually originated in New Zealand. They offer three different bungys in Queenstown alone, as well as operating in Australia, Bali, France, Germany and Russia. 

That was most definitely a forced smile

Queenstown offers a variety of different adventure activities, so what makes The Ledge so special? They offer over 10 different jump styles from front flips and gainers to the infamous flying squirrel and the karate kid. As for myself, I resigned for a more traditional method, which just consisted of a running jump. Nonetheless it was a miracle my legs never gave out and I was able to actually force myself off the ledge and into the darkness below.  The harness also allows for the different jump styles, and makes it a lot easier on the jumper! I can tell you I was shaking enough being pulled up in a harness, let alone being pulled up feet first and hanging upside down! Another cool feature of The Ledge Bungy, is the fact that they do offer night jumps! Jumping off into the darkness definitely adds to your overall fear. It's the idea of jumping into the unknown that really plays with our fears. There are three things in this world that I am truly scared off; heights, the dark, and spiders. Thank you AJ Hackett for helping me take a step to overcoming two of my biggest fears, and for not throwing a spider at me either.

Me attempting to River Dance

The staff at AJ Hackett were truly great as they were all friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. From the girls in the office trying their best to keep everyone calm and offer words of encouragement to the jump masters themselves who were in charge of harnessing us in, and most importantly getting us back up on the ledge after the jump itself. I have a few friends and family planning on coming to visit New Zealand while I am going to school here, and I will be taking each and every one to The Ledge. Looking for a few more opinion's? Why don't you check out Sina's Blog.