The 43-metre suspension bridge over the Kawarau River, 20 minutes east of Queenstown, is where commercial bungy jumping started. There is now a viewing platform and a café, and you can watch jumps for free before — or instead of — committing yourself. Half the appeal is the queue of nervous people on the platform; the other half is the gorge itself, a bright turquoise river slicing through grey schist cliffs.
The drop is the original moderate bungy: long enough to be terrifying, short enough that most people manage it. AJ Hackett also runs higher and more elaborate jumps elsewhere in the area, but this is the one with the history.