Last bounce for bungy

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 423, 11 February 1992, Page 1

Last bounce for bungy

Bungy jumping has done its last bounce off the Hapuawhenua Viaduct at Ohakune, at least for the near future. A J Hackett Bungy, the company that has been operating the jumping operation since winter last year has pulled out. The main reason given is that it is not financially viable, with the numbers of staff necessary for a safe operation. The biggest factor in leading to that financial inviability has been the access to the site, said an A J Hackett Bungy representative "People need to be able to check it out first. If they have to commit themselves to jumping before they see it, too often they steer clear," he said. "In Queenstown we get a huge number of people jumping who just turned up to have a look." The company would

have to spend a large amount of money making access to the site public. Under the arrangement with Railways they had to drive people out to the site as private cars were not allowed on the access road. "We would have had to go through a long line of red tape to work out better access, and probably spend thousands on things like railway crossing bells and lights, or alternatively build a complete new road." He said the boundaries between Railways land and Department of Conservation land were not clear, following the recent realignment of the railway line. He said they would not rule out the possibility that the company may come back, especially in winter. Turnpage2

Bungy From page 1 "We've had some discussions with locals who have come up with some pretty interesting options, so that could lead to something." He said local support for the A J Hackett operation had been great. "But we didn't realise how slow it would be in summer."