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Published: January 16th 2006
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Marc taking the plunge
Jared the instructor and marc the victim - i mean client. hello people,
as you might guess from the title we had a great day yesterday chucking ourselves out of a plane! It was fantastic! Having head back into the midlands of new zealand and gone up a mountain the hard way on the crossing we decided it was 'high' time to do the done thing in taupo and skydive. It was a long day waiting for the jump to come, looking up into the sky and wondering just how high 12000 feet was, pretty damn high is the answer. we arrived at the sky diving place at 2pm, feeling excited but with a definate twinge of nerves in the background. after a long wait we were called and strapped into our delightful red jump suits, and trainers which were branded 'British' , only the best eh! we then met the men who were responsible for keeping us alive a sweedish guy who used to be a carpenter (skydiver being the natural career choice to move on to seemingly) for me and for marc an american, who spent the whole time laughing in a bevis and buthead style about something he'd heard yesterday. Finally it was time to head over to
Head in the clouds
no of course i'm not scared...! our aircraft, a pretty small plane which we were jammed into with four other divers, one of whom was called Freek - what a name! Going up in the plane was an experience on its own as we were treated to beautiful views of the lake......getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Didnt quite think it would feel that high up, it's a loooong way. watching the altometer creep up to 10 000 and 11 000 and then it was time! The adrenalin really started to pump then as i took a last look back and waved at marc who would be the last jumper in the plane. Then for some reason the nerves went for a minute to be replaced by a fit of giggles as i realised it was time to exit. With Henrik Hult firmly strapped to my back we shuffled along the benches and watched the three people in front get to the door and then get whipped out of the plane, then a quick smile to the camera and whoosh, the planes gone you're tumbling throught the air all you can see is blue sky all around, it was all so fast there was no time
The crew
All us what went in yon same plane at the end. i think we werre on whats called a buzzzzzzz to remember what i was doing, then after a couple of seconds we stabilised and were falling straight down, what a buzz, we had 45 seconds of free fall spinning around with arms streched out and face flapping around in the wind! Then Henrick pulled the shoot and after a jerk upwards everything became so peaceful and quiet, the views over Taupo lake and the mountains were stunning, we spun around above the lake and glided our way down, loving every second of it, and then we were down, safe and sound and full to the brim with adrenalin......and everyone wanted to do it all over again! We got a vid of pre take off and landing as a momento and photos of the exit out of the plane, a pretty nervous smile it must be said. A fantastic experience for marc and me, Claire Keenan as it says on my certificate, so glad have done it and sorry mum i will be doing it again sometime!
Spent the rest of the day ohhing and ahhing about what it felt like and what we'd seen before rewarding ourselves with pizza from Hells pizzeria (with a choice of pizzas including
Head in the clouds
no of course i'm not scared...! gluttony and lust!). feeling that we deserved a beer we headed out to the pub with a loads of the guys from the hostel and ordered the nz version of real ale, a poor imitation it must be said but it was cold and satisfying all the same. The highlight of the night from then was getting in to a pool competition, as anyone who has played pool against me knows i should not be entering comptetions....i blame marc. So after hearing that he'd won his game i was not looking forward to playing. But i'm so glad i did, by some amazing flukes, including a stunning shot potting two balls in one go i somehow won, leaving a quite upset man called Barry to moping around for the rest of the pool comp. hehe. We missed our next games, just as well really as probably would have got thrashed if had carried on, good to leave on a high. A fantastic day all round leaving marc and claire very happy......on to the next adventures! Take care lovelies, claire xxx
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joy
non-member comment
Too much of a good time I think.
Dont you think its about time the fun stopped and you found some work? Glad your both still having a good time.Pictures are great!