Here at the Gold Coast, I have played two rounds of golf. I played really solid for for 35 holes...unfortunately on my last hole of the second day, I had a few bad breaks and ended up triple bogeying and missed the cut by one! I was so frustrated and could not believe it! I just HAVE to remember that everything happens for a reason and to remember the bigger picture: to glorify HIM. After having such a great couple rounds, but such a bad ending, it took me a few days to mentally grasp what had happened. After I was able to get my thoughts gathered, I was able to focus on the fact that I was going to New Zealand!
The Monday after the tournament, I flew back to Sydney for a five hour layover. I saw Laura Davies at the airport at the Gold Coast and struck up conversation with her and her caddy Gerald. When we arrived in Sydney, we managed to find the only restaurant in the airport that was airing the Super Bowl. Not only was I sitting with one of the worlds best golfers, but watching the game too! It was very cool to talk to her, and pretty funny to see her so into the game, yelling at the tv when there was a bad call. After the game we decided to head over to the gate, where we met up with more golfers. Once the plane took off, it was only a three hour trip. We arrived in New Zealand around 11pm. It took forever to get through customs because they have to check all of our golf equipment for dirt, and if they find some they will clean it for you. It's not such a bad thing right?!
Finally I was able to get out and meet my host for the week, Bruce, and then went straight to bed. The next morning Bruce, who was also going to be my caddy for the week, and I headed to the course. It was raining and cold out and the wind was blowing at about forty mph! I decided to go ahead and play all 18 for the extra practice. Afterwards we headed home and Bruce cooked me and his wife Sandy a diiivine steak dinner. The next day I went out and practiced a little, and then met up with Dori, Jenny, and Angela to go see some vineyards. I forgot to mention that this is Waitangi day here in NZ. It is there national Independence Day. So I have gotten to experience both Australia's and New Zealand's national day! We visited a few and ended up meeting a really nice lady who owned one of the vineyards. Her husband, the wine maker, loved golf so we left them some tickets for the tournament. On the way back we decided to go visit the ocean. We walked on the beach for a while and enjoyed the view, and then decided to go out and grab some Mexican food for dinner. Like everything else on this side of the world, it was pricey but good.
The next morning the weather was starting to warm and clear up. I went to the course to practice and to wait for Dori to finish her pro-am. I had been telling everyone that I really wanted to go bungee jumping during my time in New Zealand. Dori said she was not sure she could get herself to do it, but that she would accompany me. So that day I rented a car, which was probably built in the 1990s and had over 80k miles on it, but it got us from A to B. The drive was beautiful and we finally made it to Hamner Springs. When we went to check in, we saw the bridge. It was 35 meters high, aka 115 feet! We began to feel a little nervous, especially after signing the release form. Dori said she would do it too, under the condition that I went first. We surprisingly walked calmly to our doom..I mean the bridge. When we got there, we were greeted by the guys running the show who were able to calm our nerves and get our full body harnesses on. Once we were suited up and all the safety checks were into place, I walked to the edge.
It suddenly hit me what I was about to do. He started to count down and I stopped him and told him to give me a second. During that time I said a quiet prayer to myself and then he counted down....3....2....1...Bungee and I jumped!! I can't explain the feeling but I had no control and just prayed that the rope was going to keep me alive. I think I held my breath the entire way down because I didn't scream or anything until I bounced back up. It was the most intense adrenaline rush I have ever experienced in my entire life! Once I stopped swaying, a boat came over to pick me up and take me to shore. I then waited at the bottom for Dori. I was a little unsure that she was actually going to do it, but I was wrong! She even got a running start for her jump! Afterwards we collected our certificate and our shirt, and we headed home, still high on such a rush. We could not stop yelling out, "that was awesome!" for 45 minutes. When we got back home we were worn out from the day. That was one thing I could finally check off of my bucket list! Dori also captured the jump on video and I posted it on my facebook or you can email me to see it! I then had dinner with Bruce and his wife and I headed to bed.
With all this adrenaline I am sure to tee off with a 500 yard drive tomorrow!
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