Otago plans giant swing and longest bungy for thrill-seekers

If approved, the world's longest bungy jump would be within 1km of the Nevis Highwire Bungy site near Queenstown.

Thrill-seekers could soon have three new extreme activities to try in central Otago - a giant swing, a flying fox and the world's longest bungy jump.

AJ Hackett co-founder Henry van Asch said the multimillion-dollar attractions would be "more terrifying" than any bungy enthusiast had experienced.

The three operations - subject to resource consent grants from the Central Otago District Council - were part of AJ Hackett Bungy's five-year plan.

The attractions would all be within about 1km of the existing Nevis Highwire Bungy site, near State Highway 6 in the Kawarau Gorge, between Queenstown and Cromwell.

Mr van Asch hoped the first new activity, the Nevis Arc, would be operating by the summer of 2007-08.

It would be a huge swing, accessed from a 70m-long bridge suspended by steel cables over Doolans Creek gorge in the Horn Mountains.

Customers could choose their fear level, by selecting the 40m, 80m or extreme 125m arcs. "They would soar at 140km/h - within 10m of a rock face and heading straight for it," Mr van Asch said.

Participants would leap off the bridge, feet or head first, attached to the arc rope by a full-body harness.

The other two activities launched yesterday were the world's longest bungy jump and a flying fox.

The exact depth of the new bungy had still to be confirmed, but it would be about 200m - four times the depth of the Kawarau bungy jump.

The flying fox would mean the construction of four wires, up to 300m long, across a valley, enabling several people to use it at the same time.

Mr van Asch said visitors loved the Nevis area and were asking for more activities to try once they got there.

Although Mr van Asch hoped the Nevis Arc would become operational next year, he admitted there were many "unknown factors" in the resource consent process.

- NZPA