Monday June 23rd-SKY DIVE!!!

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The alarm went off @ 7:30 after a pretty brutal sleep. I went to bed early the night before but the room was cold and I was unbelieveably stressed waking up with my stomach in my throat. I checked out and grabbed breakfast before the skydive shuttle picked us up at 7:30. We arrived at their complex shortly after spending lots more money getting a dvd of the experience. There was also plenty of paperwork. After that everything seemed to occur in fast forward mode. I met my dive partner Toby who had been doing 5-10 dives a day for 4 years. In less then ten minutes we were in the plans and ascending to our final destination of 14000 feet. There was about 8 tandem groups crammed into the plane. So many that I had to sit in the passenger seat. It took what seems like 10 minutes to get to propper altitude. Once we got there the door slid open, the end rished in and your heart starts beating like crazy! I barely remember the next 10-15 seconds. You barely notice the acceleration that is happening but your mouth starts getting dry every three seconds. I freefell for a minute Toby later told me before we went through a layer of clouds at 220 kph and 6000 feet. It was very cold but no water actually remained on my shirt or skin. Once we were through the clouds we were at 5000 feet and it was time to open the shute. That was my biggest worry, the shute not opening or being tangled. Once it opened I knew I was safe. I slowed down when it opened but it wasn't uncomfortable like I expected. I was still a good 4500 feet above the ground so I had a great view over the reef, some islands and plenty of coastline. I began to realize how fast my heart was beating. It probably wasn't helping that I was sick today. Once we were under control toby let me stear the shute instructing me how to perform spirals. the 5 minute decent with the shutes open flew past feeling more liek 40 or 50 seconds. When I finally reached the ground I was so happy that it went well. We landed on the beach and after saying good bye on the video I sat on the beach trying to catch my breath. By the time I got up all the divers were crammed into their van and heading back to do another jump. I still can not comprehend how those guys can jump out of a plane 5-10 times a day 250 times a year. After my heart had settled I got into the shuttle and was dropped back at the hostel. I looked at my phone and it was still 9:30 in the morning. There was still a full day ahead and 8 hours before our bus came to take us to Cairns. I still was not feeling well so I fell asleep for the rest of the day in the tv room waking half an hour before the hostel shuttle was to take us to the bus. I got my DVD of the jump which was awesome to see and then was off.

The ride to Cairns was about 2 hours long through the subtropical climate crossing many creeks and cane railway tracks. The final stop before Cairns the sun was setting and the sky was FILLED with bats. I have never seen anything like it. The sky was covered with them everywhere you look. The bus arrived in Cairns and we took the shuttle to the hostel. The rest of the night was spent planning for the rest of the trip and eating/ drinking tonnes to get over this sickness.

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