Falling from One of the World’s Largest Swings

Along this 9-month adventure that I’ve been on, there were a few key activities that I wanted to do along the way. And for the most part, I’ve accomplished them.

  • Zip-line in Costa Rica
  • Surf in Indonesia
  • Sky dive in Australia
  • Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
  • Fall from the Nevis Swing in New Zealand

Nevis Swing

Molly and I booked our Nevis Swing tickets at the beginning of our New Zealand trip, and we’ve been looking forward to it all week. I mean, it’s just like any normal swing — except that it drops you at 524 ft. and free falls you for what feels like a short eternity.

This morning we packed up our bags in Te Anau and drove to Queenstown where we’d be spending the night. The drive back to Queenstown was a short 2 hours (compared to our longer 4-5 hour driving days), but we were still cutting it close in making our time slot for the swing.

When we got to the office, we filled out our paperwork, and they weighed us. Then we waited for our shuttle bus to take us out to the swing site (about a 40-minute drive). By the time we got to the Nevis Swing, I was mostly excited with little random burst of nerves.

As they began to tighten our harnesses, they asked us questions like, “have you done something like this before,” “which direction do you want to fall,” and “do you want a countdown?” It all began to feel real as I peeked over the edge and looked waaaaay down into the valley.

*GULP*

Molly and I decided on a seated position facing the front. And as we dangled there for an undetermined amount of time, we held our breath for the swing release …

I’m pretty sure I lost my stomach somewhere along the way.

That feeling of free-falling is probably the best and worst feelings of any adrenaline activity. I remember simultaneously thinking, “this is awesome!” and “why am I doing this??” As we neared the ground and the rope swing caught, we skirted across the bottom of the valley.

With big smiles on our faces, Molly and I wanted to do it again and again!! Unfortunately, our bank accounts just couldn’t afford it. After we were lifted back up to the release pad, the Nevis Swing staff worker came up to us and said, “I have some bad news…”

Apparently something happened to the video equipment, and it didn’t record our swing. But since we actually already paid for our photos and videos, the bad news turned into good news — we got to go on the swing again for free!

This time we decided on backwards, and it was far scarier.

After a 2nd swing, we felt perfectly content with our time on the Nevis Swing. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the insanely beautiful weather, eating, and listening to live music – all in a great mood from the high of doing something outrageously awesome.

Hi, I’m so glad you’re on my site! My name is Meagan, and I write about my traveling adventures and finding beauty in each day. For more info about me, click here!

Meagan Tilley

I believe that every day is a day that matters – even just enjoying the little things. Whether that’s traveling to the top cities across the world or binge watching Gilmore Girls. To read more, click the About Me page!

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2 Comments

  1. Tony Vu

    Enjoyed reading every single blog post on your 9 month trip! Made my nights after work always fun by reading these post! #meagantilley #awesomeblog

    • Meagan Tilley

      Aww! *sobs* that actually means so much to me!