opinios

Three Great Plunges In One Day

We are finally back in Melbourne and I am blogging from a friend's place (John, Bron and Damian you guys rock!) until we find more permanent accommodation.

Now, where were we? Oh, yes. The wedding.

In the morning, against my beautiful fiancee's stern warnings, I went bungy jumping at AJ Hackett Bungy in Cairns. The bungy site was nestled into a beautiful foresty valley, above a still freshwater pool, and I have to say I was having second thoughts. When my cousin Carmel suggested it be a good prelude to the wedding, I was skeptical - not because I was concerned about injuring myself, but that I wouldn't be able to sustain the physical injuries Kim would inflict on me should it disrupt our wedding day.

But as word got around, it seemed the bungy bug was spreading. Pretty soon there were about 8 of us who had worked up the courage to say "Ok, I'll jump too" and forked out $100 to jump off the platform with nothing but an elastic band tied to our ankles.

And what a rush it was.

They made me jump first, so I grit my teeth and hurled myself off the edge, head first. I had a few seconds between the top and my head gently dipping into the water at the bottom to scream out three or four expletives, before lurching back up to wave for the cameras. On the second bounce the blood rushed to my head again, and before my brain had raced to process what had just happened, I was swinging upside-down to a gentle stop.

And then they dunked me again. And again.

Apparently this is known as a "T-bag", but luckily it was a warm day and I was wearing quick-dry shorts, as I was pulled into the pond by the staff member below whose job it is to reel in and untie the jumper before paddling them to shore on a rubber dinghy.

And then we all trotted off to watch me get married, everyone with the understanding that Kim was not to know a thing, until later.

Much later.