FAR OUT Walkabout: CAIRNS - Bungy

By Jordan Haugan // 10 March 2011 // Comments: 0 // Related Categories: adventure, Best Backpacker Job, blogging, bungee, bungy, cairns, Far Out Adventure, Far Out Walkabout, Scuba, snorkeling, Traveller blog

Words cannot describe how incredible the last 5 days of this trip have been!  

What's that you say? This is a blog? Oh... well, I suppose I should use some words to describe it then:  

LIFE CHANGING. AWE-INSPIRING. OVERWHELMING.  

Cairns  

Right when the plane landed in Cairns, I remember thinking, Woah I'm definitely not in the city anymore! It felt just like I was landing in an episode of Lost (minus the crash). Palm trees, rolling hills, and greenery everywhere! Such a tropical place!! After we landed, we grabbed our bags, and the friendly people from JJ's Backpackers gave us a lift back to their nice, quiet, little hostel. We had the whole room to ourselves and the staff was super helpful by sorting out some details for us over the next few days!  

Just when I was starting to relax, it was time to give our trip a JUMP start... literally... it was time to experience the world famous A.J. Hackett Bungy Jump! Let me just preface this by saying I love crazy things: roller coasters, wakeboarding, skydiving--but this scared me way more than of those. It's not so much that I wanted to conquer my fear of heights (I don't really have one), but rather, I wanted to conquer my fear of diving!!! I hate going head first (I think I had a bad diving board experience when I was a young lad)... so yeah... a 54 meter jump should do the trick!!!!  

The dude from AJ Hackett gave me a lift from JJ's right out into the bush... we approached a HUGE platform right in the middle of the jungle. I checked in and it was time to make my way up the stairs--all 10,000 of them! (JK, but if felt like that many!) My heart was beating faster and faster as I climbed each step, until finally, I reached the top. My heart was racing and I went right over to the edge to do the one thing everyone tells you not to do: "DON'T LOOK DOWN!" WOOOOAHHHHHHH!!!! THIS IS WAAAYYY HIGHHH!!! Thankfully, there were a few people in front of me in the line to get out on the platform, so I was able to have a few moments to remember the good memories of my life... You know, my family, friends, dog, home... yep, it's been a great life. (Guess you start thinking these thoughts after one too many Youtube videos of bungy accidents!) Hahaha!

"Next up, Jordan!" Wait! There's still so much I want to do in my life! Travelling, settling down, getting married, kids... Welp, I guess this is how it ends...   Suddenly, when they were sinching up the harnesses, my fears of dying died down. Around my ankles was a huge pad attached to tight rope and around my waist and legs was another harness that wouldn't budge. They had back ups to their back ups, so even though I was about to jump 300ft., I felt super secure.   I waddled out on the platform like a constipated penguin, took a deep breath, and underwent the most extreme seconds of my young life. Did I feel weightless? Oh yeah! I left my stomach up at the platform! Was it fast? Um. Yes. Faster than anything I've experienced. Sports cars, rollercoasters, even skydiving doesn't compare since you can actually tell how fast you're falling! HOW WAS IT?!?! BETTER THAN ANY EXTREME THING I'VE EVER DONE.  

It was so good, I headed up to the tower to a second jump.. a bit more "FULL ON," if you will... This one was called the ROOF RUN! The dudes at AJ told me this was the closest you can get to base jumping without actually base jumping, so I jumped at the opportunity. It was a different type of harness--wrapping around the legs and torso, since you can't have your feet all wound up to run (it is a roof RUN). I walked up to the top of the roof (a couple meters higher than the platform) and with the bungy rope in hand, I sprinted off the roof!   WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW.   No words can describe this rush of adrenaline. Mind-blowing, insanely fun, outrageously EPIC. 10x better than the first jump. Just tons of fun!!  

So the bottom line is, if you're making your way up to Cairns, make sure to visit A.J. Hackett and JJ's Backpackers--you won't regret it! :)

CHECK OUT OUR FAR OUT WALKABOUT CAIRNS VLOG HERE!