I still recall my first jump," reminisces New Zealander AJ Hackett, the man who launched commercial bungee jumping 25 years ago today. "I had the most amazing sensation."
At the time Hackett was running a struggling ski shop but inspired by British daredevils The Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club, Hackett had begun experimenting with the adrenaline activity.
Together with his friend and fellow Kiwi Chris Sigglekow, he had started doing tests with latex rubber, climbing equipment and parachute harnesses. There was no back-up, just two guys pushing their luck.
"I used to do a lot of climbing so knew about ropes," says Hackett, "but we wanted to figure out if it could be predictable, so that we could go to greater heights.
"To see who would jump first we drew straws," he explains. "Chris lost," Hackett adds with a grin. "But we weren't nervous – the first jump was only 19m – it was more about hoping it would work."
It did work and, within a year, Hackett was on a French ski tour with teammate Henry van Asch, jumping bridges up to 150m high in his spare time. In 1987 Hackett made headlines around the world, getting arrested for jumping off the Eiffel Tower.
Hackett and van Asch quickly realised there was money to be made and, as skiers, New Zealand snow hub Queenstown seemed an obvious starting point. On 12 November 1988, the Kawarau Bridge bungy site (Hackett prefers bungy to bungee) opened for business. On that day 28 people took the plunge.
Since then, more than three million have followed suit at 15 Hackett sites around the world. Every one of them has lived to tell the tale.
Millions more have jumped at over 50 other bungge sites across almost as many countries. Accidents have happened, but they've been rare. The thrills meanwhile, just get bigger and more extreme, the craziest of which has to be Chile's £7,800 Pucón jump, a six-day trip which involves leaping from a helicopter towards the bubbling lava of a live volcano, before flying the 35 miles back to town, still bouncing around on the bungee.
If that's a little beyond your budget, then here, in no particular order, are the 10 best jumps currently on offer.