Hi Again,

On the road now so will probably get more chances at getting onto the internet over the next few days, as we are heading down along the ‘Garden Route’ to Capetown. Unless we are surprised by something, then I don’t think there will be any more farm tours or agriculture related visits till about Tuesday so we are taking some time out from ‘studying’ to do some touristy stuff….

And they don’t come much more removed from farming than what we did yesterday late in the afternoon after driving all the way down from “Grahamstown” (yep, they named one after me, so we just had to stay there!). Now we had declined the chance back in Zimbabwe to have a go at ‘Bungee Jumping’, which I had been quite pleased about missing at the time, so you can imagine my distress when my travelling partner spotted a sign for another one and insisted that we needed to do it this time. Well I agreed that ‘he’ needed to do it all right… preferably without the attached rope!

However the closer we got, the more adamant he got about wanting to and he assured me it was fantastic as he had done it once before off a bridge in New Zealand. It wasn’t till later that evening that I found out he had been 20 at the time, and there is a big difference between 20 and 40 I can tell you!.

We stopped about 50 klms short of there to grab a bite to eat & I was still quite sure in my mind that it was not going to happen and quite happily munched away on a lunch that was unnecessarily filling. Back in the car and on the road again the nerves started to take effect and a slightly sick feeling started to creep over me as the realization came that maybe this was something I also needed to do. Not just because the whiskery faced freak beside me was continually questioning my manhood, but also because the words of ‘Jim Rohn’ kept sneaking persistently into my mind.

“Life is not about how long you live, it is about a collection of experiences”

Now I feel that I’ve been very fortunate in my life to have had many varied & great experiences, and this years Nuffield Scholarship has given me the chance to collect many more that I will never forget. Though I’m not real sure how Jim Geltch & David Brownhill would categorise this one, except that I know the association did stress that we were to look and experience things other than farming on our trip to broaden our minds.

Maybe not lose our minds though… which is about how I felt as we drove over the ‘jump bridge’ which is actually 450 metres across, and Two Hundred and Sixteen Metres above a massive gorge with a miserable little creek right down at the bottom.

Yes that’s right….we knocked back the chance to jump off one in Vic Falls that is just over 100 metres high to instead leap off the BIGGEST ONE IN THE WORLD. “Ohh Yeah” I was thinking “This is just insane”

This bungee is 216 metres high, the first gut wrenching drop is almost 180 metres down and the second ‘bounce’ is over 110 metres, and then the third is still over 60. So the third bounce is higher than the whole bungee Peca did in New Zealand and somehow I wasn’t buying his argument that it was like we would be getting extra ‘free’ jumps that you don’t get at other locations…

Once we drove in there though and watched one I surprisingly felt a little better, even though it was a breathtaking sight & I didn’t think the rope was going to stop stretching. Fear can be a strange thing as over the next 15 minutes it came in waves, alternating my thoughts between pulling out (not too late yet!) and feeling really exhilarated and keen to do it.

However once we signed up and had it locked in, I realised that my mate was on the verge of retreat & was losing confidence (and colour) rapidly, and admitted that he would have joined me quickly if I had of quit. Too late now though & we were soon harnessed up and walking out along the ‘see through’ alley that goes right out along underneath the massive bridge. Boy, now the nerves were kicking in as 216 metres is bloody high when you are looking down, especially with Peca behind me alternating between a sort of insane giggle & being seriously on the edge of being ‘sensible’ and questioning our sanity. “Graham, don’t look down as my god its high”… then the nervous laugh…. “What are we doing?, I feel sick”

At least when we eventually got out to the platform, everything seemed to happen quickly and luckily I was first up. I used to like that when riding in rodeos, as I’m not a big fan of having to wait while ‘confronting my fears’.

It wasn’t long before they had my legs strapped up & I was thinking that I am probably the only person to have ever jumped off this bridge with ‘cowboy boots on’, and their laughing assurance (got to be sadists to work there) that I would ‘probably’ be ok to wear them did not give me much confidence at all. Now I’ve ridden quite a few bulls & bareback broncs (& ‘tried’ to ride even more) in my younger days and that was always a real thrill, but hopping out through that last barrier and standing on the edge of that huge chasm was something else again. It amazes me how much adrenalin cuts in when you are right there & you are trying desperately ‘not to look down’ & part of your mind is screaming “just have one look & stop what your doing”. Then the guys are loudly counting down from five (why only five?) & you are past the point of no return, and then crazily jumping into oblivion off a perfectly good, safe, secure & comforting bridge.

That first two seconds feels like a lifetime & is indescribably scary as you cannot even feel the support rope. For a bloke from the flat country whose only real association with heights before this has been to work on a windmill occasionally, it was way, way out of my comfort zone.

That’s the irony though, as it is the absolutely terrifying part that makes the whole thing so fantastic. What was not so great however was the 4^th, 5^th & 6^th bounces and then hanging there upside down, worrying that my boots were slipping off, till a guy comes abseiling down to winch you back up again. At least when he gets there you can get into a seated position as I felt like my eyes were popping out (they don’t though!) for the ride up which is still bloody horrible as being suspended that high is quite unnerving & I could not wait to clamber back onto the deck.

Pec was still waiting & was a little concerned at my colour when I came back up over the edge as it seemed to be much more ‘pale’ than good health & fun would suggest it should be.

And of course he was now at that ‘point of no return’ himself, and seriously beginning to doubt his own sanity, judgement, and manhood.

And didn’t I enjoy watching his terror!!...

For those that think it was an irresponsible thing to do, and both my wife and daughter fall into that category according to text messages I received, I can assure you that it is quite safe & professionally done. Safer than ‘rodeo riding’ and probably many other sports, activities or even driving down the highway would certainly be. However it is the ‘fear’ & overcoming it that makes it so good and I would actually recommend the experience for everyone to try at least once in their lives.

And I think ‘once’ will do me too.

A great quote that is featured there, & could be useful throughout all of our lives in many ways goes…

“Fear is only temporary, regret is forever”          

No regrets baby & no surrender…… (Bruce Springsteen 1984)