Monday 12 April 2010

Bungee Jumping at Middlesbrough

I think it took us about an hour to reach Middlesbrough from Newcastle by train. We stayed at Ibis hotel there which was a simple and clean hotel.

Initially, we wanted to go our for dinner, but due to bad weather conditions and extreme laziness, we had our meals indoors.
From Cheese & Garlic Dough Balls, Lasagne, Chicken Satay Noodles, Butternut Squash & Lentil Stew to Vegetarian curry with Naan bread. I would say that the food was not bad at all and reasonably priced.

Day of the Jump
We headed off quite early to get to the Transporter Bridge. Got loss on the way as well, but thanks to owners of Blackberry and iPhone, we managed to get there on time.

I started getting a bit nervous when I saw the actual bridge and how tall it was. Thought of why did I spend 60 pounds on jumping off a bridge came to my mind. It's like paying to torture myself with fear.

M and I registered and we were allowed to climb up at the same time. Initially we were placed at different time slots but in the end, at least we had each other for comfort prior to the jump. We were weighed to determine which rope to use while we were up there. I didn't really like it as they used a permanent market to write the weight on the back of my hand, so I'm reminded that I've gained every time I looked at my hand.

Wearing the harness. It was tied so tight around my waist that I thought I would have difficulty breathing later on.
Last picture of us before we started our ascend. Just look at the height of the bridge. My nervousness got worse that that time.

It was scary at first when we started climbing the stair, but by halfway, M and I got so tired that we stopped getting nervous and just wanted to reach the top as soon as possible. (I didn't pay for this × 1). I think they should install a lift or something. I'm just being lazy here.

Finally, the top. We were weighed again, confirmed by the additional of a circle around the marked weight on my hand. Harnesses checked. Another ankle harness fastened right before being sitted on a small stool at the start of the jumping platform. M and I were too busy trying to decide who jumps first by scissors, paper, rock. In the end, I went first.

Had 2 latches fastened, one to my waist, and another to my ankle. The jump master tried giving me reassurance at that point, asking me how was I feeling. I think my mind just went into denial mode as I wasn't that scared.......yet. I wobbled to the edge of the platform.....tried to steal a peek down....ok, now I am really scared.

'Look into the distance. Focus on one point. Have you dived before?'
'Yes.'
'It's the same as diving. You go forward as if you're going towards that point, ok?'
'Keep your chin up at all times. Don't worry. You're in safe hands'
'I'm going to count 3,2,1 and you'll jump'
'Wait, don't count yet, I'm not ready', but he didn't listen to me.......'S***', I thought to myself.
'3!'
.
.
.
.
'2!'
.
.
.
.
.
.'1!'

Here goes nothing!


With the loud sound of wind blowing against my ears, the whole world spinning. I couldn't even tell if I was still falling or was I already bouncing back up. Now I know what's the feeling of free fall, the feeling of being pulled by gravity. Being one of the balls thrown off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Sorry, that was just one of the memory of the experiment I studied in secondary school)

I was bracing myself for the impact when I reached the lowest point, but surprisingly, I didn't feel anything at all! Weird.

After bouncing up and down a few more times, my world stopped spinning. It was over within seconds. Not long enough for me to even feel any fear. I think I was more confused trying to figure out my bearings than worried about the rope or risk of retina detachment etc.

The irony is, I was more afraid of dropping into the water as I could feel my ankle harness slipping and why is the speed boat so slow in fetching me. I don't want to get wet! ( I didn't pay for this × 2)

Finally, after a few attempts, I managed to catch hold of the plastic stick that he held out to me. They lowered me down safely into the small speed boat and brought me back to safe land.

I had to climb from the small speed boat onto this bigger boat. The steps were so steep and ( I didn't pay for this × 3). It was more difficult than jumping off the edge just now.

After that, I had to climb up the steep ladders which was so far away from the ship. I seriously didn't want to get wet that day. ( I didn't pay for this × 4)

As I got onto solid ground safely, it was M's turn to jump. She was given this Bungee jump voucher for her birthday present last year and only used it after almost a year. I was somehow convince/dragged into jumping with her. You jump, I jump....too bad neither of us is a guy.
M's jump. She told me that she was trying to recite a poem while she was jumping. What a random thing to do. Maybe try proposing to your loved one on the way down, but practice to do that under 3 seconds first or the jump will be wasted. Hahahahaha.


The heroines of the day.

I finally did something outrageous before I turn 25. I was telling myself I better do this while I'm still young. But hey, I think 50 is still young nowadays.

We both bought the T-shirt, DVD and photo of the jump as souvenirs.
The jumpers and their spectators aka video and camera persons.

We made our way back to the town but all the shops were closed on Easter Sunday! Noooo.....not the best time to go sight-seeing.
The town hall.

Groupie

Luckily Walkabout, an Australian pub was opened for business. I was starving after all that adrenaline.

M and I had Kangaroo curry as it was buy one curry and get the next for 1 pound. So cheap. The texture was a bit like beef but after being cooked with the curry, I couldn't really taste it. While waiting for our food to come, we played Cho Dai Di and the loser had to eat an Easter egg as nobody liked the Cadbury creme eggs.

We then shifted to another restaurant as the rest of the group wanted something different. It was also my sifu's day of breaking her no meat fast for Lent. We ended up in Barnacles Fish and Chips.
From jacket potatoe to fish and chips. I wouldn't say that this is the best fish and chips as the fish was soaking in oil and you can see the oil dripping. Not the healthiest meal. Luckily I had my Kangaroo curry before this.

As no shops were opened, and we had to kill another 3.5 hours, we went back to Walkabout for desserts.

I loved the toffee pudding and chocolate cake. Both came with vanilla ice-cream but I asked it to be separated as I was allergic to vanilla. I miss the toffee pudding now. It was served warm and the texture was so soft, the taste was just nice, not too sweet or bitter, accompanied by the delicious toffee smell.

Last photo of Walkabout before we headed back to the train station and go our separate ways.

Next up, Birthday dinner at Italian Club Fish, Liverpool. Hope that you've enjoyed this post as much as I did blogging about my bungee experience. Go try it before you're too old. Hahahaa.

2 comments:

Ang Choon Seong said...

pengganas

Windchaser said...

it's not as ganas as it looks. go try it lah.