Nanaimo isn't a huge magnet for travelers. The downtown is an interesting village of winding hillside streets, and there are some good restaurants (we liked Aladdin's Cafe, with Lebanese and Greek food) and galleries. A modern marina and wharfside shopping complex is a little sterile for our tastes, but it depends on what you like.

It's slow, but not so boring as to make me want to jump off a bridge. Should I change my mind, though, a bungy jumping park called WildPlay is just out of town. That's where we went today.

In the woods just off the Trans-Canada Highway south of town, WildPlay has bungy jumping (we got video of other people risking their lives!) and zip lining (we were dopes enough to try it!), at heights of 90 to 150 feet above the rocky Nanaimo River Gorge. There's also a treetop obstacle course.

My daughter and I talked about going bungy jumping. For about 30 seconds. Then looked at the bridge, looked at the gorge, and said "Naaaaah!"

Jeff Townsend, 60, and his son Jared, 35, from Victoria, weren't quick enough to see sense. And once you've paid your money -- $100 Canadian -- you can't get a refund, all they'll give you is a "chicken ticket" good for jumping another time.

"We just did the tree course and it was a workout," said Jeff, panting slightly as we met.

"It was wicked!" Jared said as they stood and contemplated the bungy jump bridge.

This would be the second bungy jump for Jared, but a first for his dad. "I've parachuted out of a plane before," Jeff said. "I'm not sure if that was harder or easier. I'll see!" (See the attached video.)

Jared said he has a problem with heights, and the previous jump helped him overcome that. "But it took a lot of time to work up to it!"

Steve Bobowski, the 31-year-old senior jump master, told me that on slow days like this one, it can be hard for people to work up the nerve. Sometimes it's easier if lots of others are jumping, he said. Sort of like lemmings, I thought.

Steve Bobowski

And if patrons do opt for the chicken ticket, they often change their mind quickly, he said. "They'll take the walk of shame, get in their car and get maybe 5 kilometers away and then come storming back."

We watched as several people took the dive. Afterward, Jeff Townsend reported, "This was a little scarier than skydiving! I don't know why. But it was good!"

Lilli came up with some special tips for anybody planning a bungy jump.

Lilli here--

Here are Lilli's Handy Bungy-Jumping Hints (or, How Not to Look Like a Dead Fish):

After watching from the sidelines as other fools -- sorry, adventurers -- flung themselves off the bridge at WildPlay and bounced up and down, I have come to a conclusion about bungy jumping. Namely, that it is very difficult to bungy jump without looking like a complete ninny. I didn't go bungy jumping myself (I have a cold, and somehow I don't think being turned upside down and shaken would be a good thing for me right now), but having watched and judged a few others this afternoon, I feel qualified to offer my insights:

1. Wear a tightly fitting shirt, or tuck your shirt in. Unless you're Spiderman, odds are you won't look good hanging upside down with your shirt bunched up around your head.

2. Remember your arms. If you just let them go wherever they want to, you run into dead-fish syndrome. There's thrashing and waggling about, and suddenly you're just dangling there all limp. Voila: dead fish.

3. Just don't go. There's really no way not to look silly.You're a human yo-yo! And you know this is all just a big practical joke the amusement park guys set up so the people on the sidelines could take funny pictures of you. If you do want to go, then don't worry about how you look. Just relax, enjoy yourself, and rejoice in the dead-fishosity that is your life.

Brian again:

We then went zip lining ($25 Canadian), which was exciting -- and scenic, as several kayakers paddled in the river below us. A headwind down the gorge meant that Lilli and several others didn't quite "zip" to the end of the line, which required some hand-over-hand work to get to the landing platform, as you'll see in this video.