Writer: Julia Boriss

As our bus crossed into Taupo yesterday, my new friend Amandine and I made a pact to go tandem bungy jumping. Off a 150-foot cliff. Secured only by a rope made of the same material used to hold up men’s underpants.

Because how many more times in our life would we find ourselves in New Zealand, bungy jump capital of the world?

Today was the day we were going to do it, and all day on our tour bus we kept looking at each other, terrified, almost ready to back out. “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” we’d mouth to each other with wide eyes and stone faces. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

And then we did it. We clung to each other and dove off that cliff.

We couldn’t stop laughing as we rode the raft back to land.

We already knew we had to do it again- this time, on our own.

Amandine got dunked in the river on her second jump so both her eyes are swollen–one is bruised and the other is spotted with blood. I keep thinking the carpet is moving and I still can’t stop laughing. All evening we’ve been wandering the halls of our hotel, bumping into walls, our heads spinning, laughing, drunk off of the adrenaline. “I can’t believe we did it twice,” we gasp between breaths, crashing into the walls. “I can’t believe we did it twice.”