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Published: November 25th 2008
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Hi All!
Its been a few days since th last entry and i have loads more to share with you.
on Friday Fiona and i decided to feed our thrill seeking nature, and throw ourselves out of a plane!
Yes we skydived over the beach from 14000 feet! This is something i have always wanted to do and i have to say, will be very hard to top!
The theme of this trip seems to have become a "30 things to do before you die" check list and this has to be one of the scariest yet. Being Fiona's 4th dive she seemed relatively calm throughout the preparation process and plane journey, i on the other hand started to wonder quite early on what on earth i had let myself in for!
The photos you see here are stills from the DVD i had made of the whole dive including the before and after, hence the strange fish eye lens effect, but i think you'll get the idea!?
Luckily we had chosen the best day weather wise giving us superb viability, which considering the bad weather we have had here during my visit was quite a stroke of luck. So
having arrived at the dive center we threw our gear on and were given a brief demonstration of how to land which was followed by an agonizing 1 and a half hour wait before boarding the plane! It was a tandem dive and i was strapped to a nutter known to others as Dan and Fiona was strapped to an even crazier dude named Mossey. We were the only two student divers on the jump so the other pro's decided to fill the plane and try out some weird and wacky sky dives, one of which left me in quite a state of panic after one of the divers climbed on top of the plane before attaching himself to 3 others who were all sucked out of the holding like champagne corks!
The beach looks great from 14000 feet.......till you know the only way back down is to free fall!
In the split second i spent at the exit hole of the plane i think i lost all capacity to breathe and as we fell out i can seriously say it was one of.....if not THE scariest moments of my life!
The freefall was UNREAL! i was in shock for
the first half and all you can see on the dvd is me screaming "oh my god!" over and over! Debs and Fiona were having wagers on how many times i screamed that phrase!
When the parachute opened the world became a different place. If any of you have ever had dreams that you're flying you will have some understanding of the feeling that followed. i frequently dream i am flying and it is the single most exhilarating and liberating experience that you never EVER want to end. Its freedom in its purest form and once you have experienced it in your dreams, you seek it everywhere.
Flying or floating through the air, over the beautiful Australian coastline in the warm sunshine, is the real life version of what dreams are made of.......... i was so happy up there i didnt want to come back to earth!
The adrenalin rush was unbeatable.....lasting hours! Definitely the first of many i think!
That night we headed to our friend Monique's house just up from Bondi Beach for a BBQ. It was great to catch up with her and Tracy and we had a relatively heavy night leaving us pretty useless the
next day!
Sunday saw gale force winds and snow in south Australia! we decided to hole up in a fabulous fish restaurant called Garfish opposite Manly Ferry Port which serves UNBELIEVABLE fish dishes that were washed down with a bottle of bubbly! Mmmmm
Yesterday Fiona decided it would be fun to walk from Manly to The Spit. This an 8k walk ONE WAY and after 5 we realised it might not be as achievable as we first thought so we walked down to the rocks and had a well deserved swim! then headed back and crashed for the night!
Today i took the ferry to Circular Quay and met my friends from the Safari trip for lunch. we ate at The Ivy, a fabulous boutique style cafe/restaurant and it was fantastic to see them again. We swapped safari photos and caught up on the last month and Kat convinced me to move over here for a while......i may just do that!
Its been great to spend time with Fiona and to get to know debs a little better, she is a special person and makes Fiona very very happy....i will miss them both a great deal when i leave.
We
have a few things planned for the rest of the week here but its very hard to leave Manly....its gorgeous here.
I hope you enjoy the photos and that you are all well and good.
Its been great to relax here, sleep well, eat well, and drink very well!
i leave here on Friday for San fran and will blog before i leave.
Lots of love!
x
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Rach
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Amazing shots Kid!
Move here, move here! God the flying shots are magnificent! Brave girl! Your face shows such an embracing zest for life - bit of an inspiration Luce! Was wondering where the next blog was...so pleased to have it. Love ya Darl! R xxx