Skydiving J

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By the time Monday cme around we had already had our skydiving cancelled twice because of high winds, therefore i had got to the point where i did not believe that it was going to happen, so i got up that day without any fear or anticipation of the jump. I expected that we would go to the skydive centre and be told we would not be doing it again. However it was a very clear and sunnt day on Monday and all of the people i was with really thought it was going to happen. And we were informed that it was.

At this point i felt a bit of adrenalin but immediately felt that no matter how scared i was i would be doing the jump and i stuck with that mindset throughout. On the transport to the site Cal (the californian guy) offered everyone a mint and told us that we this was because none of us wanted to have bad breath for the coroner. Hmm.

When we got to the site we were each introduced to the skydivers who we would be tandeming with, my guy was called Peter and he had been doing it 15 years, its weird that for us this skydiving is really scary and a huge deal but for guys like him its something that he routinely does about 10 times a day. Anyway jhe helped me get all the equipment on and then we had a safety talk before we went to the plane. The plane was incredibly small, there were only 3 of us, the three tandem guys and the pilot in the plane and even that was a bit of a squeeze. I also knew that i would be first to jump out because me and my guide were nearest the door.

As the plane took off i started to get really scared and i felt like this all the way up, but i kept telling myself that i was going to jump, no matter how scared i got i was going to jump. When the door was opened i sat out on the edge of the plane (which was hard to do in itself) and i was meant to wit until the tndem guy pushed out. It was hard not to grab on to the door or the rails while i was sat there, even though i was told not to do that and just sit and wait until the tandem guy decides to go.

Still i sat there scared to death and eventualy it came and i was outside the plane dropping in freefall from 12,000 feet, the sensation was very different from doing a bungy jump where the sensation of falling is extremely apparent, in skydiving you're so high up that it is always noticeable that you are falling and it feels like you are flying. You get a great view of Queenstown and of the entire landscape up there as well.

After 45 seconds freefall the chute opened (phew!) adn then came the bit that i found scariest of all, the tandem guy had to detach and attach different fasteners for the parachute bit and because i was facing away from him it almost felt like he was detaching me from himself, which when you consider that he has the paarchute and i am just relying on him is pretty scary.

Still, i didn't fall and the parachute bit was pretty cool as i got closer and closer to the ground. The landing was soft and smooth and i thanked Peter for his work during the jump.

I went for a drink with the guys afterwards, including a guy that we met at the site called Andy (who was from London). And later that day i felt really happy about everything, i found myself regularyl saying to the others "we jumped out of a plane at 12,000 feet" (i mean, how cool is that).

So there you have it, i skydived and i reckon it probably won't be the last time i do it.

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