One of the key purposes of a sabbatical is to get fresh ideas, re-tool, and re-energize for research. While on sabbatical during 2001 at Otago University in New Zealand I tried the normal methods: get new ideas from new people, read lots of papers, and in general expose myself to ideas I normally do not come across at home. I decided to try and turn things upside down a bit. Being the land of extreme "sports", I decided to carry through the upside down idea to its logical conclusion: BUNGY .
The jump I did is the first bungy site in New Zealand, the Kawarau Bridge near Queenstown. The bridge is 43 meters (141 feet) high. I went for the version where you get your head and shoulders dunked into the river at the bottom.
If you want more info on bungy, check out the AJ Hackett Web Page . The Nevis Highwire is particularly insane, not sure I could bring myself to do that! Make sure to read the the press release .
Below are the pictures from my jump. The first is just before the jump. The second is a few seconds into the jump. The third is taken from top as I am about half way down (I am the little white blob). The last is on my first rebound after being dunked into the river. Not sure yet if it helped my research, but I sure won't forget it!
For other scholarly info, check out Scott Leutenegger's Home Page