Bloukrans Bridge

Does what it says on the sign!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1....Bungeeeeeeee. Oh my god, where did my stomach just go? No time to worry about that. Air rushing past, my stomach trying to find its anatomical place, failing as I continue falling. Suddenly panic, surely it's been more than four seconds. The ground is getting closer, and I am getting faster. Why am I still falling? And then the bungee kicks in. With a feeling of security, as much as one can feel secure tied by your feet, upside down to a giant piece of elastic, I was rushing upwards. And then...the most perfect moment of my life. Eyes closed, arms stretched wide, falling in silence. The initial shock gone, replaced by a supreme sense of freedom. No worries, nothing matters, just this exact moment in time.

Jump number and weight

A good luck handshake with the jump master

Strapped and ready to go

This is living life jumping off the edge!

Fear hits as I begin to fall

Deeper I go

I'm geting closer to the bottom now

I can fllllllllyyyyy

Approaching speeds of 120km per hour

And a distance of nearly 200 metres

Back on the bridge and alive

Me and my jump master

Back on the bridge the dance music is pumping, blood is coursing through my body, and I have never felt so energised in my life. It sounds strange but you lose partial control of your limbs as the adrenalin sends you into a state of frenzied movement. My brain was moving faster than my mouth as I tried to recant what had just happened, all the time tapping out the beat of the music with my feet. I try sitting down, but within seconds I'm up and positively bouncing around. There is only one thing for it, I have to jump again - only this time backwards!

If shuffling towards the edge of a 216 metre bridge when you can see the drop is bad enough, try doing it backwards, with just the voice of the jump master to guide you. Not only that but you have to have the back of your feet off the edge slightly. With each tentative step back my heart pounded harder, my sense heightened and my nerves took over. The exact words I used, with millimetres to the edge, starring back at everyone on the brdige, were, 'This is farking shit scary guys!' And it was genuine fear, pure fear, the sort that doesn't come along often in life.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1....Bungeeeeeeee. Silence. My mouth catches my stomach this time, eyes fixed on the faces above. Smaller and smaller they get until that rare sense of freedom washes over me again and I zone out. Eyes closed as I relax into it, a thoughtless perfection I will chase for the rest of my life. To live in that state, even for just one hour a day, is my idea of heaven. This is pure escapism, this is life. All I need to do now is bottle it and I am set!

Jump two coming up

Back for more...are you mad?

No turning back now

Going down, down, down

Better to look up than down

Free as a bird

That's me, along way down

Oh F**k!

Myself and Elliot after the jumps

Until today my motto in life had been, 'Why live on the edge when you can jump off it'. However, it's now, 'Why live on the edge you can jump off it...twice'. It has taken me twenty-five years to begin living, and I don't intend on stopping anytime soon.

1

written by  MarcusInAfrica on March 4, 2009 from Port Elizabeth, South Africa
from the travel blog: Cape to Cardiff
Send a Compliment

---

Wow looks amazing. Could you see your house in Wales from there???

written by  Jared Wingate-Pearse on March 4, 2009

comment on this...