– The historic Ohakune Junction Post Office, where AJ Hackett first commercialised bungy jumping, is for sale for $319,000.
– Purchased 35 years ago by Wellington friends as a ski bach, it retains many original features.
– Agent Kath Campbell highlights its potential as a business or holiday home, noting its commercial zoning.
The birthplace of commercial bungy-jumping in New Zealand, the historic Ohakune Junction Post Office, is looking for a new owner.
The landmark building at 37 Thames Street, in Ohakune, Ruapehu, was once the headquarters of adrenaline junky AJ Hackett, who brought commercial bungy-jumping to the world.
Hackett and his friend Chris Allum ran their adventure tourism business, New Sensations Supply Company, from the building during the 1980s and came up with the idea of making money from Hackett’s love of bungy.
Former New Sensations Supply Company owners Chris Allum and AJ Hackett returned to Ohakune’s Hāpuawhenua Viaduct, which is home to the world’s first commercial bungy jumping operation, in 2021. Photo / Logan Tutty
Hackett and Allum told the Whanganui Chronicle in 2021 that their business, which sold monoskis and snowboards, had been struggling financially. Hackett had already made headlines jumping off the Eiffel Tower, and so Allum encouraged him to commercialise his thrill-seeking hobby.
The first-ever commercial bungy jumps happened during a long weekend from the old Hāpuawhenua Viaduct in September 1988, with Hackett then taking the operation to the more famous Kawarau Bridge spot a few months later.
The Ohakune bungy site closed temporarily in 1990 after facing competition from Taupō, with New Sensations Supply Company moving out of the post office around the same time.
Discover more:
– Elderly vendor ‘gob-smacked’ after her damaged home sells for $507,000
– UFO house for sale: Starship Enterprise meets Bond villain lair
– Fashion power couple selling their multi-million dollar art villa
A group of Wellington friends bought the building for a bargain price and have for the past 35 years used it as their “ski bach”. They have now decided to sell, and have listed the building with an asking price of $319,000.
Vendor Nick Lee told OneRoof that after New Sensations closed, one of his skiing friends came across the listing and asked if he and his wife wanted join forces to buy it.
Lee, who was in his late 20s at the time, said they hadn’t seriously been thinking about buying a property in the town, but thought, why not?
The posters on the walls date back to when New Sensations Supply Company ran their business from it in the late 1980s. Photo / Supplied
The red post office boxes still feature at the front of the house. Photo / Supplied
“We had a couple of sortes up to the mountain and decided it would be great to have a place up there, and when that came up we thought, ‘oh well, let’s give it a go’.”
They put in a lowball offer of $30,000 and were surprised when it was accepted.
Over the years, they have installed a shower and put bunks in both rooms so they could “jam as many of their mates in at once”.
“The fittings are Post Office. Literally, we haven’t changed anything other than put bunks in there and a shower in there just so it was liveable. The rest of it is pretty much how it was,” Lee said.
The Post Office when it was the home of New Sensations Supply Company. Photo / Supplied
Hackett shows off his bungy skills in 1998. Photo / Getty Images
The small red post boxes are still at the front of the house, and it’s the same kitchen that the postal workers used as their tearoom.
The retro posters decorating the walls date back to when Hackett and Allum were trying to get their adventure business off the ground. “It’s quite nostalgic in some ways. We’ve had great times there … It’s just a fantastic little place.”
However, as both couples got older and had children, they found themselves making the journey from Wellington less and less. “We just never get there,” Lee told OneRoof.
However, they are sure other families will enjoy it just as much as they have. “Because of its location [opposite what was Hot Lava in Ohakune Junction], it’s just perfect. It depends on what you want, I suppose, but we just liked the whole character of the place.”
Tall Poppy agent listing agent Kath Campbell still remembers when the building had a snowboard on the roof and was home to Hackett and Allum’s business.
She recalls bungy jumping off the bridge as a newlywed and getting the New Sensation’s brightly painted bungy-themed apparel.
The bach had been re-roofed, had good bones and, being commercially zoned, could suit someone who wanted to run a business from it or keep it as a holiday home, she said.
“Turoa Lodge, Kings and the Powder Keg are just a stone’s throw away.”
The listing only went live last week, and so far she has received inquiries from both locals and out-of-towners who know the property.
“It’s definitely a doer-upper, but there are people out there who love that sort of project.”
– 37 Thames Street, in Ohakune, Ruapehu, is for sale for $319,000