Jumping the High Dive

 This just about makes one of the best days of all 21.8 years of my life! 

I cannot believe it has come and gone. I woke up anxious and got ready for bungy jumping. I could not believe it was already time. Although we live far from everyone else and far from downtown, we are lucky to live right by the ferry harbor. Instead of taking a bus at 7:20 am and continuing to catch 2 other buses along the way, we caught an 8:10 ferry getting us into town just before 8:40. All of the 18 girls made it out front of the Maritime Museum before 8:50 and the two AJ Hackett vans pulled up right after. We loaded in and could not hold in our excitement! The poor driver had to deal with a van full of 20 year old girls screaming like thirteen year olds going to a Justin Beiber concert.I think Bungy jumping is like a haunted house. You know how you almost go out of your way to make yourself scared, so you don’t regret paying and getting nothing out of it? Well I was a little nervous, but I was making myself a lot nervous so that I could build up adrenaline. The swing went by too fast and I did not want the same to happen with the bungy so I tried to build it up. Little did I know I could not stop that from happening...

We got into the shop, filled out our paper, and got into our harnesses. We had about a 10-minute walk up the bridge and we had to wear helmets because construction was going on above us. We all made way up to the top of the bridge and then climbed the last flight of stairs. In we went to this small pod type thing that had two stereotypical bungy workers. The music was already blasting which got my heart pounding if it was not already. I was 3^rd to jump. When my name was called I loaded into the silver chair and put my feet up. I was quickly strapped around my ankles and then hooked into the bungy. I was the first to ask to touch the water, so he gave the rope an extra few feet in hopes I would make it. I was then asked to walk out to the ledge. I could not think of anything else, but to smile for the cameras. I wiggled my way out to the ledge with my ankles connected. As I came to the edge he told me to walk my toes over. I honestly did not think I could do it, but I somehow managed. I knew the longer I waited here the worse it would get so I had to plunge. I tried to keep my swan-dive form as I free fell forward. Thank goodness to all those practice high dives I did at the CSD growing up, I kept pretty good form all the way down. I was able to keep my eyes open as I fell from the platform, watching myself getting closer to the water. As I came to the water I did not have time to think until I was already submerged to my shoulders and thrown back up into the air. The water was cold but that was the last thing I could think about. I tried to count if I had bounced 3 times, so I knew when to pull the red cord in order to sit myself up. I had no idea what number bounce I was on, but it seemed like 3 so I pulled the cord and came to a sitting position. I was pulled back up to the bridge. Still a little out of it and unsure what had just happened I tried to explain how it was the greatest thing I have ever done in my life. All that came out was, "It was GREAT!" and "I am so Cold!"

I waited as the rest of the girls did the jump before moving back down the stairs. My heart had not stopped racing all morning until we were sitting back in the shop signing the back of each other’s free tee shirts. I could not believe that I had done it and that the morning had once again come and gone. This whole trip has just flown by and continues to fly by and I struggle to keep up with it!

Here is a Video for the full affect:

           We got our ride back into town and there we were able to explore around. I had another potato top mince pie for lunch. A group of us planned to make way by ferry to Waiheke Island. I wish I had brought my bathing suit because the weather was just perfect for a beach day. What better way to lay out on the beach than on an island? Brooke, Austyn, and I bought a carton of organic blueberry ice cream, walked down to the beach, and ate it all!! It was a perfect day. 

After such a long day, I do not think my eyes opened once throughout the entire night until I read the clock and it said 9:45am. I was in shock; I have never been able to sleep in this late since being here! I lay in bed for a bit just to take it in. It was nice to have no responsibility, no work to be done, and no one waiting on me to be ready. I looked over at Emily who was still in bed, and I knew it was going to be another good day. Hans was going into his office downtown and was able to give us a ride to the Pasifika Festival. This was nice because it cut our over an hr trip to about 30 minutes and we got dropped right outside the park. Boy oh boy was this festival huge...it seemed to go on for miles! It went all the way around a small lake. Each area of the festival was representing a different Pacific Island. The cultures included: Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Niue, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Kiribati, Tuvala, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Tokelau. It reminded me of a state fair mixed with mexico and islanders. There were plenty of stages with cultural performances going on. The number of food tents was just about equal, if not more than the number of shopping tents. There was a ton of island food that I was not brave enough to try! Samoa sold coconut milks, but by the time we got there they were sold out. Tons of people were carrying around either a pineapple or watermelon filled with ice cream. The shops were fun to browse and I bought a bunch of fun souvenir stuff, such as a new backpack woven out of Flax! I cannot give away other souvenirs I bought for other people, but I will tell you this hat is not one of them...sorry Kendall!

Niue!

Getting a Tat!