Key takeaways
- On State Highway 6 towards Cromwell, in the Gibbston valley.
- Free transfer from central Queenstown, both ways, as part of the jump.
- There is parking at the Kawarau Bungy Centre beside the bridge.
- Four syllables, stress light, and nothing like the way most visitors first say it.
Where the bridge is
About twenty minutes east of Queenstown on State Highway 6, the road that runs towards Cromwell and eventually to the Otago coast. The bridge crosses the Kawarau Gorge at the western end of the Gibbston valley.
That puts it outside the town rather than in it, which surprises visitors who have booked from a Queenstown hotel and assumed a walk. It is a drive, and it is a pleasant one.
The site is the Kawarau Bungy Centre: a visitor building on the road side of the gorge, with the bridge itself alongside and a viewing area over the drop.
The free transfer
Transport from central Queenstown is included in the jump, in both directions. That is the reason the booking runs to two and a half hours rather than one, and it is the single most useful thing about the arrangement.
It leaves from a point in the town centre stated on your booking. Be there early rather than on time; there is a schedule at the other end and a queue of jumpers behind you.
It also means no parking, no directions, and no driving afterwards, which for anybody who has just been upside down over a river is a reasonable convenience.
One quiet advantage of taking the transfer is that it removes a decision you will not want to make later. Adrenaline does not leave the body the moment the cord stops moving, and a good many people describe the half hour after a jump as pleasantly shaky. Being driven through that half hour rather than driving through it is worth more than the parking.
Driving yourself
Entirely possible and straightforward. The highway is sealed, well signed and busy, and there is parking at the centre.
This makes sense if you are already heading east, which a great many visitors are: the road continues to Cromwell, to Wanaka via the Crown Range or the Lindis, and into Central Otago. Stopping at the bridge on the way through turns a jump into a stop rather than an excursion.
It also suits anyone travelling with people who are not jumping, since the viewing area is free and the drive is theirs to control.
The highway through the gorge with the old bridge below
What else is out there
The Gibbston valley is wine country, and the road past the bridge runs through it. The valley is known particularly for pinot noir, and there are cellar doors within a few minutes of the gorge.
There is also a cycle and walking trail along the old road corridor, and the gorge itself is worth twenty minutes of looking at without any jumping involved.
None of that is part of the tour. It is the reason a self-drive visit can easily fill an afternoon rather than an hour.
The combination is a genuinely well-arranged afternoon for anybody self-driving. The gorge, the bridge, a cellar door or two and the road on towards Cromwell make a coherent half day, and a jump at the start of it is a considerably better story over lunch than a jump at the end.
The road and the gorge
The Kawarau Gorge is a genuinely dramatic piece of road: the river running fast and green a long way below, rock walls on both sides, and the highway cut into the northern one.
It is also the historic route east, which is why an 1880 bridge is there at all. The modern crossing that replaced it is a short distance away, which is exactly why the old one became available.
From the visitor centre you can see the whole arrangement at once: old bridge, new bridge, gorge, river.
It is worth stopping at the viewing area even if you have just jumped. From the deck you were looking down at a river; from the bank you can see the whole span, the platform, the cord and somebody else going off it, which is the only way to understand what you have actually done.
Timing your slot
Jump slots are timed and the transfer is built around them. If you have booked other things that day, work outwards from the jump time rather than trying to squeeze it between two fixed points.
Mornings are generally quieter than early afternoons. Peak summer weeks and the middle of the day are the busiest combination.
If you are self-driving and running late, tell the centre. They are used to it and there is more flexibility than you expect, but not if nobody knows.
If you are booking several Queenstown activities in one trip, put this one early. It is short, it is fixed in time and it is the one people most often want to talk about afterwards, and having it behind you improves the rest of the week rather than hanging over it.
How to say it
Kawarau. Four syllables, roughly ka-wa-RAU, with the last part rhyming with the vowel in how rather than with raw.
New Zealand place names are Maori and they are pronounced as written, with consistent vowel values, which makes them far more predictable than English spelling suggests. Every vowel is sounded.
Nobody will mind if you get it wrong and the crew have heard every version. It is a nice thing to get right anyway.
Twenty minutes east, and the transfer is part of the ticket
Check datesBefore you book
Where is Kawarau Bridge?
Is transport included?
Can I drive myself?
How long is the drive?
Is there anything else nearby?
Can non-jumpers come?
When is it quietest?
How do you pronounce Kawarau?
Getting there, step by step
Book a jump slot
The times are fixed and the transfer is built around them. Work the rest of your day outwards from it.
Meet in central Queenstown
At the point named on your booking, early rather than on time.
Twenty minutes east on SH6
Through the Kawarau Gorge towards Cromwell, into the Gibbston valley.
Or drive and park on site
There is parking at the Kawarau Bungy Centre, which suits anyone continuing east afterwards.
Weigh in at the centre
On arrival, before anything else happens. The transfer brings you back to town afterwards.
