Here we GOOOOOOOOOO00000000000ooooooooooooooooo.........

Well..... I'm still here. So, either I chickened out of doing the bungee jump, or it all went successfully.
As the day approached I kept expecting the nerves to kick in. I didn't help myself by watching videos on YouTube of other people doing bungee jumps - not a good way to reassure myself.
On some of the videos of Killiecrankie Bungee it shows people making their way along the platform beneath the bridge. Just watching that was enough to stir the butterflies.
The jump was booked at 11:00am. So Jane and set off around 8am, picking up my grandson, Jordan, and his friend Joab, on the way. Beautiful blue skies and not a breath of wind, so I was beginning to think I should perhaps have worn shorts, rather than jeans. As we drove south, the clouds appeared, the temperature dropped and, by the time we reached the Cairngorms, there was more snow than I have seen all winter.
We arrived at Killicrankie around 10am and, when I went to the reception, I was told that they may be able to fit me in early. 'No rush' was my first thought!
I was weighed and was told that I would be joining a group of three friends who were doing a jump as a birthday present. Then, the next thing I know, we are being ushered into a minibus and driven to the bridge.
My daughters, Rachel and Anna, plus their partners and children, had all followed us down to add their support (or perhaps to laugh at me). They were just arriving as I was being whisked away, so they jumped back in their cars and followed the minibus.
At the bridge, the three other jumpers and I were introduced to the Highland Fling Bungee instructors, who were all excellent. They managed to strike a careful balance between being professional, but also enthusiastic, relaxed and light-hearted. They ensued that we were always clipped on even climbing up short ladders.  I'm not sure how they decided who was going to go first, but the other man was to go first, then the woman in his group, then me, then the young girl, whose birthday it was.
We had to walk along a platform just beneath the bridge, which took us to the jump platform. We were all harnessed and individually talked through what would happen. I then had to sit and wait while I watched the two before me.
The man was clearly very anxious, to say the least. He was led to the edge of the platform and encouraged to spread his arms out wide and, on the count of three, leap forward. But he kept backing up and leaning back on the instructor. On two occasions the instructor counted down, but he didn't jump.
Finally, on the third count, his knees buckled slightly, and he fell forward towards the River Garry. If anything, that stopped me from getting nervous. I had kept expecting the nerves to hit, but, when I saw his jump I just thought 'I'm up here now, so I either fall or I dive.' The instructor then came and had a few words, which emphasised what I had just decided, explaining that I would get more out of the jump if I tried to dive out away from the bridge.
By now, the man was being winched back up. His faced had changed completely and he was beaming. It was now time for the eldest girl to go, and she threw herself off the platform very confidently, with a loud WHOOP! My turn next.....

"Any words for the camera?" He asked...
"Erm..." What do you say? "Help"? I mumbled a slightly unconvincing "Let's go for it".
My ankles were bound together, so I had to waddle forward onto the platform.

"Keep going. Your toes need to be over the edge" said the instructor. As you can see, he had hold of my harness, but it still felt very uncomfortable, inching forward like this.
I'm now standing, with my toes over the edge, looking down at the drop. He decides that now would be a good time to smile for the camera. Actually, I can smile. A huge surge of adrenaline floods any fears and I can't wait.
"Right. Arms out wide. I'm going to count down from three, then I want you to go big."
For half a nanosecond there is a doubt. This is NOT a natural thing to do - jump 132' down towards a very shallow river (too shallow to make any difference). Too late.
"3... 2... 1..." and I launched myself as far away from the platform as I could......

My view changed slowly from the sky, down down down towards the water. Then, just as it felt like I was heading straight towards the river, a gentle pull began to increase as the bungee chord did its job.
Jane had earlier suggested that the worst part might be when you bounce back up again, then are left dangling, but I barely noticed that bit. I tried to quickly get my bearings so that I could find where the family were and wave to them. Then they lowered a cable which I had to clip to a loop on my waist, before they hoisted me back up to the terra firma of the platform. More words required for the camera.... "Fantastic. Amazing." Hardly original, but what else can you say?
"Would I recommend it?" Without doubt..
It may have been something that tempted me when I was a teenager. But, after freefall parachuting, I lost any inclination  to do a bungee jump. If you only do one, I would say do a parachute jump. But I would certainly do another bungee. And I cannot recommend the staff at Highland Fling highly enough.

Go on..... You know you want to!

Click here to see all the gory detail on YouTube

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One small step for man

Sometimes, during lessons, it is nice to just relax and chat about non-driving stuff. The trouble is, you don't know where that could lead.

Towards the end of last year, one of my pupils,Sophie, was telling me about the weekend she had planned. It was her boyfriend's birthday and she was treating him to an adventure weekend in the Cairngorms. She had done a bungee jump and they were hoping to do some white-water rafting and cliff jumping. We swapped tales of our adrenaline-junkie pursuits, but I must have mentioned that I had never done a bungee jump.

Then, a month or two ago, Sophie, having passed her test, was chatting to me about doing the Pass Plus course. She then casually mentioned that there was going to be a sponsored bungee jump at Killiecrankie, Perthshire, in aid of Yorkhill Children's Hospital. She also casually mentioned that she had put my name forward! I used to be all action, no talk. Now I'm the opposite.

"Erm... Right. So what happens now?" I asked.

She explained that I could apply for an application form on Facebook, then they would send me all the details. "Right, I'll do that." I lied.

But, after a while, I did apply. The information was promptly received and, a week later, I was booked in to jump off the 132' bridge at Killiecrankie at 11.00am on Saturday 22nd March. Eek and double Eek!

You can find out more about the fantastic work done by Yorkhill at the Royal Hopsital for Sick Children by going to www.yorkhill.org. And you can sponsor me directly by clicking on www.justgiving.com/MartinRutter-FarleDrivingSchool

Meanwhile, my daughters are having a field day. They think the whole thing is hilarious. Their main concern is what I am to wear. A onesie is the favoured choice. That ain't gonna happen. Ever! They can't wait for next Saturday. I think they just want to hear how loud I scream. 

The other day I was talking to a friend of my wife. She asked me about the bungee jump and then asked me "Have you done any practice?"  !!!! 

Erm.... not really sure how I am supposed to practice? Buy some industrial strength knicker elastic and jump off the Kessock Bridge? Perhaps I should start off small. Maybe tie my shoelaces together and jump off the bed? I can't see that ending well.