Things I Was Wrong About: Oysters, and the Highest Bungee Jump in the World

I’m in Knysna this week, as a guest of the Knysna Oyster Festival. When I originally got this invitation a few months ago, I accepted because I’d heard Knysna is lovely and I knew it would be a great place to spend my birthday.

I didn’t plan to eat many oysters though. I used to think I didn’t like oysters, but it turns out I was wrong about that.

My first oyster of the week, from Quay Four Restaurant in Knysna. I learned that I actually love oysters once they’ve been doused with lemon juice and Tabasco. (Photo: Theresa Lozier)

I also used to think that I would never go bungee-jumping in a million years. I was wrong about that too.

These images are from a GoPro camera – courtesy of my new Instagram buddy @scrumpyjackson – that was strapped to my head during the jump. There is video footage too, which I cannot wait to share but it will take me a while to get it edited and ready for prime-time. I’ll do a full-on post about the jump in a few weeks.

I went bungee jumping on my 40th birthday, which was yesterday. In fact I leapt from the highest bungee jump in the world, on the Bloukrans Bridge about an hour north of Knysna. The bridge is 216 meters high (that’s more than 700 feet) and my jump was somewhere between 160 and 180 meters. This was the most terrifying and amazing thing I’ve ever done. I would totally do it again.

The bungee jump was the highlight of my trip so far. (In fact it was one of the highlights of my 40-year-old life.) But I’ve done many other fun things in Knysna already and there is a lot more to come. My time and my internet connectivity are seriously limited though, and my computer battery is about to die. So this will have to do for now.

Here’s to 40 more years of doing things that I used to think I would never do.

I’m off to scarf some more oysters.