Photo of the week: Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge

Department of Conservation —  12/11/2014

Today’s photo of the week is of the historic Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge near Queenstown.

The bridge was completed in late 1880 and formed a key access route to the Central Otago goldfields.

Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge near Queenstown. Photo: Matthias Klappenbach | CC BY 2.0.

On this day in 1988 the first customer paid to bungy jump off of this historic bridge. DOC originally issued a licence for a bungy operation off the bridge for 30 days. It was a massive success and bungy jumping has gone on to become a quintessential kiwi experience.

Nowadays the bridge forms part of the Gibbston River Trail and it remains a popular bungy jumping site.

Photo: Matthias Klappenbach | CC BY 2.0.

2 responses to Photo of the week: Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge

  1. 

    awesome article! Amazing that such a world famous event like this should start with a DOC licence !!!

  2. 
    teamwanderlustfl 12/11/2014 at 9:37 am

    Wow, this is incredibly beautiful!