Australia Hosts The Next ‘Adrenaline Rush’ Activity

Although most of us just crave two weeks of relaxing in the sun many want more from their holiday. More and more people are taking up extreme sports as a way to unwind from the daily grind. Often these sports are part of so called adventure holidays at warm sunny destinations such as Australia.

Now it seems there is a new bred of extreme sport with an amazing adrenaline rush called Rap Jumping which has its home in Melbourne, down under.

Rap Jumping is a forward abseiling technique stemming from a form of rope work started by the Australian Army during the Vietnam War. Facing forward allows soldiers to shoot their guns as they scale cliff faces or vertical surfaces.

Peter Mackail, a former SAS soldier, coined the term Rap Jumping to describe his style of recreational forward free-fall jumping. His commercial operation began in Cairns in 1989 and led to jumping from high rise buildings throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The activity sees people jump off a six-storey building with the help of the former soldier. Peter has had over 400,000 rap jumpers under his expert guidance and also a 100% safety record.

It only takes around five minutes to set up and the jumpers are instructed from the top of the building. A break man is at the other end of the rope and he and the jumper have control of the break.

The average jumper takes up to 30 steps in 10-15 seconds to get down — Peter does it in one big jump in just two seconds.

"Best described as 'abseiling forward with a pulse', thrill-seekers muster the courage to jump off the roof," the area's tourist board has commented.

Of course when going on any trip it is important to make sure you have the best travel insurance. Doubly so with this type of extreme sport, many standard policies do not cover such activities so make sure you check the small print and get the right policy for your individual circumstances.

If you would like to know more about adventure holidays in Australia why not ask AnswerBank Travel.