I have one a couple of smaller bungee jumps, and while they were great fun, they weren't very atmospheric, as they were from a crane set up in a pub car park.
I would really like to have a go at one of the world's bigger bungee jumps, the three that really appeal are in either New Zealand, France, or the biggest in the world at 216m, at Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa.
Related Blogs
How exciting! Main flights now booked! Thursday, July 24, 2008
I was woken early this morning by a call from my very helpful travel representative with a view to sorting out my main flights for the forthcoming trip.
I have been procrastinating a bit, as the house has not sold, but I finally decided, "What the heck? I'm just going anyway, I can leave the house and paperwork in the hands of the estate agent and settlement agent. Should be fine!" I hope it will.
So my first flight is now booked for Sunday 3rd August, just over a week away, from Perth to Dubai, where I arrive early on Monday morning. From there I fly to Nice in France, and have a few weeks in Europe, including the Tomatina Festival in Spain. After that I fly from Madrid to London, have a few weeks in the UK, and head to Germany for beer-swilling at Oktoberfest.
From Germany I fly to New York on 6th October, and am free to travel the States for a few months. My next flight is booked for January from Honolulu to Tokyo, and then eventually back to Australia in February.
I am now officially excited!
I did a bit of work on the map page today, and figured out how to add a Google map, with lines and dates for flights, and pins for the approximate times and dates for achieving the first few goals. You can see the map page here: http://www.100goals100weeks.com/details_Where.php
Over the next couple of days I will try to get a bit more information on the map, the calendar and some more details in each of the individual goals that are planned for the early stages.
There are join-in opportunities coming up if you are in the vicinity. Do you want to come along on any of these? Ski Dubai - planned for Tues 5th August, maybe around 2pm Big Bungee Jump - planned for Sat 9th August (to be confirmed) Dive at Christ of the Deep - planned for Wed 20th August (tbc) Tomatina Festival - happens on 27th August
If you are planning any trips, take a look at these guys, fantastic efficient service, and excellent prices: www.airtreks.com
Someone else has 100 goals too... Friday, August 1, 2008
I have a credit card with the National Australia Bank (NAB), and recently I logged in to check my balance (it wasn't too bad!), and was amazed to find this:
Looks like there are a few of us thinking along the same lines. There are a few here I would like on my list!
There are a few here that I have already done, including numbers 2, 6, 9, 11, 13, 18, 21, 40, 45, 46, 68, 69, 80 and 88.
But what is most amazing is how many there are here that match with my list, or are very similar: 3 Take the next taxi to the airport and catch the next plane to anywhere 11 bungee jump 13 skydive 14 run with the bulls at Pamplona 24 be an extra in a film 33 go to the film festival in Cannes 34 spend a night in a haunted house 42 go white-water rafting 46 ride a motorbike on the open road 47 learn to juggle 51 learn to fly a helicopter 58 ride the bigest roller-coaster in the world 61 memorise a poem 68 get a tattoo 72 meet someone with your own name 74 gallop a horse on a deserted beach 76 work in a soup kitchen on Christmas Day 78 drive along Route 66 79 experience weightlessness 98 dive with sharks
Anyone else out there written down 100 goals yet?
Vive la difference! European plans. Friday, August 8, 2008
Bienvenue en France!
J'arrive en France hier soir - I arrived in France yesterday evening, and within an hour was in the swimming pool at my friend's mother's house. The weather is beautiful here, hot and summery but without the draining humidity and dusty winds of Dubai.
An hour or two later we were eating French bread, cheese, and snails in garlic butter. They were actually really good.
This morning it is time to make some quick plans for timing for the next couple of weeks, and I have adjusted some dates on the calendar - see here: http://www.100goals100weeks.com/details_When.php
New goal dates are as follows:
Sunday 10th August Big Bungee Jump Pont de l'Artubi, Verdon Between 8.00am and 12.00 noon
Wed 20th to Fri 22nd August Paragliding (3 day intro course) South of France - somewhere in the mountains?) Should be able to fly solo by the end of the course, I hope!
Anyone keen to join in on any of these?
Second goal completed! Bungeeeee.... Monday, August 11, 2008
We got up pretty early yesterday and drove up into the mountains to the north west of Nice for about an hour and a half. The journey became more and more spectacular the higher we climbed. We passed through beautiful little French villages, and stopped at a boulangerie for fresh bread and croisants for breakfast.
We finally arrived at the Gorges de Verdon, and the view into the deep valley was pretty daunting. We rounded a corner, and there was the bridge, le Pont de l'Artuby. It is an incredible place, with a worryingly deep gorge below the bridge.
Crowds were already gathering, and jumping was in progress. My stomach felt a bit queasy. Melanie was looking decidedly pale.
We queued and booked in, and found that we would have to wait about an hour and a half. We drank coffee at the little cafe at the end of the bridge with trembling hands, and waited our turn. It was a long hour and a half!
Finally our turn came around, and I was called to gear up. I was feeling pretty good by then, but as I filmed the guy before me jump, my hand was shaking. Finally I climbed the steps and stood on the edge of the bridge, having told myself not to hesitate when they counted "Un, Deux, Trois..."
I had bought a glove and cut a hole in the palm, and can just manage to squeeze my camera in it, so can use it as a small hand held video. Here is the jump as it happened:-
It was an incedible experience. In many ways it was a bit like a parachute jump, the sudden, smooth acceleration, and the increasing wind-noise as speed picks up, but visually very different. In a parachute jump you never see the ground that close, coming up to meet you so quickly - if you did, something would have gone horribly wrong!
By the time I returned to the bridge, Melanie was ready to go, and climbed up and jumped without hesitation too. Fantastic - well done!
98 goals to go! The next one planned is to dive to see the statue of Christ of the Deep near Genoa, in Italy. Planned date: Sunday 17th August.
Goal #2 revisited. Monday, January 11, 2010
Martin and Rachel have flights booked out of Cape Town to Johannesburg, where they plan to go on safari to Kruger National Park, so it was time for them to start heading westwards once again, and after a last night in a lovely waterfront apartment in Knysna, we drove to Plettenberg Bay for a quick look around, and then they dropped me off on the main highway, where we said our goodbyes. My plan was to try to hitch to Bloukrans Bridge, about 50 kilometres further east.
I was stood there for about half an hour, when I got the offer of paying for a ride in a shared minibus taxi. It was cheap enough, so I was on my way, and soon booked into the hostel just by the bridge.
Bloukrans Bridge is the highest single span concrete arch bridge in the world, and with a maximum height of 216 metres above the stream far below, it is very impressive. At the bridge, Face Adrenalin runs the world's highest bridge bungy jump, even bigger than the Pont de l'Arluby in France, which I jumped off in 2008, achieving my second goal. The French jump is the third-highest bridge bungy at 182 metres.
It is a very slick, professional setup, with a fantastic viewpoint. There is even a pub overlooking the jump, with a live video feed too. The hostel is also only metres away, and I was the only person booked in at first, and was left with the place completely to myself for the afternoon and evening. I took a wander out onto the bridge in the evening after the bungy jump shut down - it really is knee-tremblingly high!
Yes, there is a jumper in the picture below!! See if you can spot him. If not, click here for a picture with the jumper circled.
Later in the evening a young German couple, Sandor and Melanie, joined me at the hostel, and the three of us had a quiet evening in the otherwise empty hostel.
In the morning I hummed and hah'ed about jumping, as it's pretty expensive, although quite a bit cheaper than the French jump had been. But in the end, I decided that I may never be back this way, and after all, it is the biggest bridge bungy in the world!!
Nobody is allowed to take cameras out onto the bridge at all, but out on the bridge I had a quiet chat with Clive, whose wife runs the hostel, and he sent me back to get my camera and glove, which is very secure when all fastened up.
The jump itself is fantastic, with about four seconds of freefall before the elastic starts to stretch, and as I jumped, I counted and did a practice parachute pull, as if it was a BASE jump - maybe one day, I don't know!! One of the jump operators spotted me do it, and as he collected me at the bottom of the elastic, he asked if I was a skydiver.
After the jump I also bought their DVD footage, but the video here is just from my camera, as I have no way to get their stuff onto my little computer at the moment. I will probably re-edit the video later when I manage to do so.
Goal 2 achieved again!! Awesome!!
Related Events in Calendar
Bungee Jump
Date:
Sunday, 10-August-2008
Description:
Bungee Jump
Arrive 8am
Jump between 8am and Noon
Pont de l'Artubi
Verdon
Verdon Gorge France - No specific date
Bloukrans Bridge - South Africa
