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Published: April 2nd 2007
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Jump for your life!
Believe it or not that is actually me (the one closer to the plane) prior to our little flip right side up, which I am still not convinced was supposed to happen! Is it a bird? is it a plane? NO----Its Susan jumping from the New Zealand Skydive plane 12,000 ft above the skys of Auckland!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO WE FINALLY DID IT, WE WENT SKYDIVING!!! It was one of the single most satisfying moments of my life!! After our cancellation in Queenstown (due to weather conditions) I was beginning to think that perhaps we were not meant to jump from a perfectly stable aircraft...however with egging on from Brenda and the pure adrenaline rush, I decided now or never.
We were due to be picked up at 9am for our jump, and at 8:30 were informed it would be delayed til 11am due to the weather again...at this stage we were thinking the jump would never happen. Finally our skyvan with a french driver arrived to pick us up.. the van was full of other people who had previously had skyjumping cancellations as well...it was a bit like "Final Destination." The other eerie fact was that all 8 of us were also due to fly out of New Zealand on the following day (April 3rd)...freaky!
Once we arrived at the site, which was about 45 minutes outside Auckland city
centre, we were greeted by the staff, signed our lives away, and received our skydive briefing from a scary asian man named Peter. I learned to tuck my leggs, bend my head back, and position my arms properly only when my tandem instructor taps me...essentially we were told to "BE THE BANANNA!"
At this stage, panic and anxiety were starting to kick in..though I must confess I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was the day we were scheduled to jump from Queenstown. The group we were with was a really fun bunch, and we all played off each others nerves which in some odd way relaxed us.
Only 2-3 people were able to go up to jump at a time, so it was a lengthy enough day. Myself and Brenda were scheduled about mid-way through, so it gave us time to watch some of the others and realise just how mad we were. Finally it was our turn...we got fitted into our blue jump suits and reviewed our brief. I remember specifically staring at the clock as we left and that it was about 17 minutes past 1pm. We then got carted off in a vehicle laiden
with flowers and hula dancers on the dash board to our plane...our final destination.
My tandem instructor Won didn't give me much time to think at all, once we reached the aircraft he ran towards the plane and pulled me in after him. Once in the plane we sat on a bench where I had to sit on his lap as he strapped all the gear on my back to him (this was definitely a test of trust.... i kept asking him to make sure all the gear and ropes were attached, which I am sure he didn't appreciate!). Brenda and her tandem master Peter also were with us, along with the talented camera men who took all our shots and made our dvd.
It was such a weird sensation not being strapped in as the plane shook while we were taking off on the runway....shortly after takeoff I remember thinking "WOW WE ARE SO HIGH UP! (and this was prob only about 1,600 ft up)." Then we were informed we were at our half way point--6,000 ft--- I looked out the tiny window and got the freight of my life....at this stage we were above the clouds!
Leading the troops!
This was our group of crazy skydivers. Really great bunch of peeps, we spent the whole day together This was about the same time my face turned various shades of white, green and red!
Before I knew it the little red light over my head turned green and within seconds they said it was time to go, next thing Brenda and Peter were sitting on the edge of the plane with the door open and the wind gusting past....2 seconds later they were gone and I heard this loud suction sound."bye bye Brenda!".. I nearly lost my life when i looked down and saw how far they dropped, but before I even had time to process this Won had me moved to the edge of the plane as well, not even giving me a chance to position myself properly. I remember just holding onto the straps, eyes and everything possible clenched in fear and within microseconds we were out of the plane! The first few seconds were probably the scariest, especially due to the little flip trick performed shortly after exiting the aircraft-but after that the wind lifted my body upwards like a birdie, it was freefall for about 45 seconds and the camera man tried to get my attention for some shots. If I had a
The NZ Skydive plane
...from which I jumped at an altitude of 12,000 ft!!! voice to scream I woulda told him where to shove the camera..hee hee
The feeling was simply amazing...one of conquering fears, sheer adrenaline. I was in heaven, but had a split moment of panic after feeling like we were freefalling for an hour---was wondering when the parachute would open, but eventually it did! Whew! Thank heaven for small favours. Once the chute opened it was one of the most serene and peaceful sights ever, the scenery from that height--feeling like a bird!
Have to admit though I was glad to have my feet eventually touch the ground, wanted to kiss it. All in all it was an amazing experience and I am soo glad I overcame my fears to do it--would recommend everyone try it.
To celebrate our accomplishment we headed back with the group to get dropped off city centre again. We had a quick bite to eat in Denny's and then went to
Minus 5, which is an icebar in Auckland. Everything in the bar is made of ice including glasses, the bar counter, sculptures, etc. You are given a huge warm jacket and gloves to use for your drinks so they dont slip from
Won...my tandem instructor
"I sure hope this guy knows what he is doing!" your hands. It was such an odd but amazing sight, soo much cooler than the one in Bangkok. The entry price was $27 which included one complimentary drink and additional drinks were $14, however, as luck would have it we landed in the middle of a promotional event for "Everest," so this guy came over to us and told us to pretend we were with them to get free drinks from the bar...so of course we did! Though to be honest, all our greedy hands could manage was two drinks as it was sooooooo cold. By the second glass the hands were defintely going a tad numb..ha. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, bit the tail off a unicorn--ha, ur encouraged to eat/lick away on the sculptures.
All in all New Zealand has been an adventure packed experience. One of my favourite places by far was Queenstown, however by far the most memorable experience was my skydive (which yes, I do have a dvd of---but only those of u lucky enough to see it will!)
Farewell Kiwi land ----Australia here we come.
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Amy
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Skydiving + Ice Bar = Good Times!
Excellent! I am so happy for you that you ended up going skydiving! It must have been quite the experience! I remember when we went on that kiddie ferris wheel at a carnival once and were freaking out so you've come a long way since then! lol. Skydiving is a great way to get over a fear of heights, and great pictures!! That ice bar looked awesome too. I can't believe the glasses and sculptures were edible. haha. New Zealand looks like a very fun place to be!