Taupo school leavers made the choice to live more and fear less, bungy jumping from a 47m high cliff top as part of yesterday's official launch of the new AJ Hackett Bungy Taupo site.
More than 100 local teenagers from Taupo’s three secondary schools – Taupo-nui-a-Tia College, Tauhara College and Lake Taupo Christian School – will bungy jump for free with the company’s JumpStart programme for school leavers.
AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand started the programme in 2006 to acknowledge the special relationship bungy had with the local Queenstown kids born in 1988 – the year bungy began. It has continued to offer free bungy jumps to Queenstown’s Wakatipu High School Year 13 students as an exciting challenge that builds confidence as they head into a new stage of their lives. The company extended the programme to Auckland several years ago and is now introducing it into its newest community, Taupo.
"We’re delighted to join the Taupo community and want to make a contribution from day one," says Bungy co-founder and managing director Henry van Asch.
"Sharing bungy with a new generation of young people is extremely rewarding and we believe offers them an experience like no other. Being able to stand on the edge of a bridge and make that leap of faith with a bungy jump allows you the confidence to take on all of life’s challenges. Plus, it’s a great way to celebrate the end of many hours in a school classroom."
Henry says the addition of Taupo to its portfolio of adrenaline-pumping experiences across five sites is exciting with the Taupo Bungy and Swing providing a different offering to those in Auckland and Queenstown.
"The mighty Waikato river and the geothermal springs activity nearby bring a uniqueness to the experience and we’re excited about putting an AJ Hackett Bungy twist on this."
Yesterday's launch event also included an official first jump by Henry – who jumped with Taupo teenager Leila Yardley, 17 – and a powhiri by local iwi.
Founded in 1988, AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand today challenges more than 150,000 people every year to ‘live more fear less’ at one of its 13 bungy, catapult, swing, zipline, bridge climb, SkyJump and SkyWalk experiences across Queenstown and Auckland, and now Taupo.
