Bungy crew members Gabe Reid and James Marshall were on their way down to the river yesterday morning to set up for the day's business when Mr Reid spotted a "sparkle in the water".
After asking Mr Marshall to help, the pair moved the raft towards the object, eventually hauling the raw piece of alluvial gold from the river.
The pair ran straight to the bungy scales - normally used to weigh jumpers - which registered it at 1.44kg, making it the second largest nugget ever unearthed in New Zealand, the largest being "Honourable Roddy" in 1909, which weighed just over 3kg, found by Arthur Sharpe and John Scott near the West Coast town of Ross.
After putting the gold on display yesterday afternoon, Mr Reid decided to take it on a publicity jump to celebrate the find.
Unfortunately, after being dunked in the river with the nugget, Mr Reid bounced back up without it.
When contacted, Mr Reid declined to comment yesterday afternoon.
However, a spokesman said his colleague was "devastated", and hoped to try diving for the nugget today, although chances of it being found again in the swift-flowing Kawarau River were slim.
• Yesterday was April 1.
