AJ Hackett Cairns


How one man from New Zealand brought Bungy Jumping to the world!

AJ Hackett originally hails from New Zealand. Born in Pukekohe in 1958, AJ currently resides 6 months of the year in France and 6 months of the year in Gilli Trawangan – Indonesia.

AJ’s interest in Bungy Jumping and outdoor adventures was first captured when he came across a video of the “Oxford Dangerous Sports Club” jumping from bridges with rubber cords attached to their legs. After a little research he discovered that the idea had originally been copied from an ancient tribal ritual.

The ritual itself comes from a small village on the South Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. For centuries the villages have been jumping from towers made from trees with vines tied to their ankles. During the months of May and June, males of the tribe jump, trying to touch the ground with their heads to fertilise the soil, ensuring a good yam harvest and their passage into manhood. AJ has visited the village and been a spectator to this amazing ritual. AJ has also contributed financially to this village helping them buy land and bringing members of the tribe to Australia to view and try this modern day version called Bungy Jumping.

AJ spent a great deal of time in 1986, developing and experimenting with the first purpose built “Bungy Cord”. Engineers at Auckland University in New Zealand aided in the process, by putting the rubber through extensive stress and loading tests. Later that same year, he began doing test jumps off a number of bridges in the North Island, including the Auckland Harbor Bridge.

Eventually, AJ and friends left New Zealand to try their hand at Bungy jumping in France. He jumped at a site called the Pont de la Caille, a bridge spanning a 147m gorge, and later from a ski gondola in Tignes. At an altitude of nearly 3700m, AJ leapt from a height of 91 meters and touched down perfectly in the deep snow.

For AJ though, the ultimate goal was to jump from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Being able to pull this jump off would bring him and the sport of Bungy Jumping worldwide recognition and possibly a criminal record! In June 1987, AJ Hackett gained global notoriety and introduced Bungy Jumping to the world when he illegally jumped 110m from the Eiffel Tower and landed in the history books and homes of millions of people around the world. This jump made him one of New Zealand’s most famous exports. The underground planning for this jump took 3 months and included decoy women, synchronized watches, a light minded crew and plenty of Champagne. This story is a movie within itself and is elaborated on in much more detail in AJ’s book JUMP START

Now 20 years on and an international company, AJ continues to run and manage all aspects of the business and can be seen on all of our sites many times a year or at the airport getting to and from each country! AJ fly’s around the world approximately 6 times a year. As a global company we now operate many non Bungy related adventure experiences and challenge people and gravity 24/7. All our crew have a great passion for what we do and many have been working for the company since its conception 20 years ago – Our roots run deep!

We currently operate in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, France and Germany… with many more sites due to open very soon – stay tuned!

OUR TIMELINE OF IMPORTANT DATES AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

Following is a timeline of the development of the AJ Hackett International Company and brand since commercial inception in 1988:

1988: AJ jumps from the Auckland Stock Exchange Tower. The world’s first Bungy jump from a building.

1988: Opening of the world’s first, year round commercial public Bungy sites in Queenstown, New Zealand.

1988: Opening of the AJ Hackett Bungy site in Ohakune, New Zealand.

1989: First draft of the "Bungy code of practice" presented.

1990: Opening of AJ Hackett Bungy sites in Normandie, France and Cairns, Australia.

1990: AJ jumps for the first time from a helicopter, stretching the Bungy 380 meters.

1990: NZS 5848:1990 (code of practice for Bungy jumping) published for the first time.

1991: AJ Hackett Bungy Queenstown receives the New Zealand Tourism Award for Excellence. (Awarded annually to the outstanding winner of all tourism activity in NZ)

1992: Opening of Kuranda Bungy, Cairns Australia.

1992: AJ Hackett receives "The Sir Jack Newman Award" for the individual who had contributed most to tourism in New Zealand for the Year.

1993: Opening of the United Kingdom mobile crane operation.

1994: Opening of Las Vegas and Kissimmee Bungy sites in the USA.

1995: Opening of the AJ Hackett Bungy site at Kuta Beach, Bali
.
1997: AJ Hackett Bungy forms an association with Sports Unlimited in Germany to assist in their Bungy event marketing.

1997: Opening of the "Ledge" Bungy site in Queenstown.

1998: Sports Unlimited in association with AJ Hackett Action Culture set up Europe’s first permanent heli-bungy operation.

1998: AJ Hackett develops a new cable system to stabilize the jump, enabling accurate jumps to be executed from almost any high structure. This process allows him to break the world record for a building jump – 190meters from Auckland’s Sky Tower.

1999: The AJ Hackett Bungy Company celebrated its millionth jump client after more than ten years of existence and a dozen sites across the world!!

1999: Opening of the "Scable" (a 400 meter long cable ride) at the Normandie site in France.

1999: Opening of the AJ Hackett Bungy site on the Condesa Beach, Acapulco, Mexico.

1999: Opening of the Nevis Highwire Bungy site in Queenstown, the world’s only purpose built Bungy gondola.

2000: Opening of the "Minjin" (the worlds biggest jungle swing) at the Cairns site in Australia.

2000: 505 people jump at the AJ Hackett Bungy site in Cairns to break the world record for most Bungy jumps done in less than 24 hours (12 hours to be exact) and earn an official listing in the Guinness Book of Records™

2000: AJ and friends jump from the Royal Gorge Bridge (world’s highest suspension bridge at 320 meters)

2001: AJ Hackett International launches its new global web site and client video

2001: AJ Hackett forms an association with Pulse GP to assist in event marketing of the team, in its efforts to compete in the 2001 world championship 500cc moto grand prix.

2001: Centennial Honors Award 1981 - 1991 - Tourism New Zealand – jointly awarded to AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch for the most significant contribution to New Zealand tourism over the entire decade

2002: Opening of Adventure Park in Normandie, France

2002: Opening of Skywalk and Mast Climb at Macau Tower, Macau

2003: Auckland Harbour Bridge Bungy opened

2003: Re-opening of AJ Hackett Bungy in Kuta, Bali

2003: Global Distribution agreements signed with ‘Skyjump’ and ‘Parabungy’

2003: Opening of Skywalk X and at Macau Tower, Macau

2004: Opening of Parabungy, Cairns

2004: Opening of the worlds highest commercial Bungy jump – 305 meters from the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado at the Go Fast Games – Only open for 2 weeks of the year

2005: AJ Hackett Cairns and Normandie celebrate 15 years of
operating

2005: AJ sets a new Guinness World Record for the
highest Tandem Bungy Jump form a helicopter over Bondi Beach
Sydney – 300 meters with Australian TV personality Grant Denyer

2006: Opening of AJ Hackett Kuala Lumpur – G-Force – Anti Gravity
Machine at the Menara Tower Kuala Lumpur

2006: AJ releases his first Autobiography called JUMP START. This book is released all through NZ and Australia and a PR tour is run in conjunction with it, resulting on the biggest ever media campaign done by the company since it’s conception.

2006: AJ opens the world’s highest full time Bungy operation in Macau – China 233 meters high. This new site is the most technologically advanced Bungy site in the world. The technology designed for this jump will now allow people to Bungy Jump up to 1km in the future.

2007: AJ in talks with people regarding new sites in Dubai, Beijing and Korea

STAND BY FOR MORE INFORMATION VERY SOON!

Sitemap | Site Summary:

AJ Hackett Bungy Jumping. Discover the original bungy operator, the man, the bungy experience, the services offered and the worldwide sites. Offering Bungy Jumping, skywalk x, g-force x, minjin jungle swing, scable, mast climb, skyjump, adventure parks, books, conference centres, night bungy, Helibungy, xposure and merchandise. From humble beginnings jumping from the Eiffel Tower in 1986, AJ has become a celebrity around the world and continues to innovate, challenge and provide higher and more adrenalin packed bungy jumps. AJ Hackett the international company operates sites in Cairns - Australia, Bali – Indonesia, Saut à l'élastique - Viaduc de la Souleuvre, Normandie- France, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia, Macau – China (40 minutes from Hong Kong), Germany. We have in the past also operated in Las Vegas USA, Panama, South America and Acapulco – Mexico. The idea came from the Pentecost tribe in Vanuatu and then soon after AJ Hacket opened commercial bungy in New Zealand. Now 20 years later New Zealand operates the original bungy at the Kawarau Bridge, Ledge Bungy, Nevis Highwire Bungy, Skippers Canyon and Auckland Bridge Bungy. Our website contains information on our story and history, AJ Hackett famous jumps, our Guinness World Records and extreme stunts. General information on jump sites, clothing, safety and bookings plus gallery, grapevine, web cams, photos, DVD's and maps. Bungee jumping with the original bungee operator, AJ Hackett Bungy, is important if you value safety, we invented bungy jumping and set the standards. So if you enjoy action adventure tourism and want to try something that you will remember for the rest of your life take on the challenge, feel the adrenalin and jump off something today. ajhackett.com is the online presence of the company AJ Hackett International Inc. Common misspellings of the words AJ Hackett and Bungy are AJ Hackett Bunji, AJ Hackett Bungee, AJ Hackett Bungie, AJ Hackett Bunggy, A J Hackett and AJ Hacket. AJ Hackett – challenging people and gravity since 1986 – action is our culture.