Bungy jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord.

The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane.

The thrill comes as much from the free-falling as from the rebounds.

In the 1950s David Attenborough and a BBC film crew brought back footage of the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, young men who jumped from tall wooden platforms with vines tied to their ankles as a test of their courage and passage into manhood.

A similar practice, only with a much slower pace for falling, has been practiced as the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla or the 'Papantla flyers' of central Mexico, a tradition dating back to the days of the Aztecs.

Commercial bungy jumping began with the New Zealander, A J Hackett, who made his first jump from Auckland's Greenhithe Bridge in 1986.

During the following years Hackett performed a number of jumps from bridges and other structures (including the Eiffel Tower), building public interest in the sport, and opening the world's first permanent commercial bungy site: the Kawarau Bridge Bungy at Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand.

We can say that, ourdays, New Zealand is the home of the bungy jumping lovers, and other extreme activities.

It's incredible the high amount of people that come here to experience the adrenaline that flows up with such extreme sports.

Bungy Jumping is in many centres of New Zealand, including Kawarau outside Queenstown, where it began, Queenstown city (top photo), Auckland, Taupo and most places where there is a high gorge or building to jump from.