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Today we all awoke feeling edgy and nervous for today was the day of the long awaited skydive. Half hoping for a grey rainy sky, we peeled back the blinds to reveal (oh goody) a spotless blue sky. (Ah - this actually may mean we have to go through with it).
After showers at the swimming baths (yes - we're cool - we know all the spots to go now) we made our way to the skydiving centre where they revealed that yes we would be jumping today.
All around us in the sky people flying down with different coloured parachutes. It would have been very pretty if we hadn't been wetting ourselves!
Unfortunately after a lot of debating, Fee decided she should save her money for Fiji, so it was just Bean and I who had to get weighed (oh god), fill out a waiver form, give details of our next of kin (aughh!) and get suited and booted up in the all in one leotard-esque suit! Too late for another toilet stop??
Before no time at all we were getting introduced to our diving masters. Bean's guy, 'Andy G' walked up with a limp
whilst Bean mouthed 'help' to me. Meanwhile I was introduced to 'Glen' who was stuffing his face with a beef sandwich.
We would be jumping with 3 other people, so we were all shown a quick video which gave us some basic instructions, such as tilting our head back when we jumped and lifting our legs up on landing. Bean and I gulped at each other whilst desparately trying to remember some instruction about cocking our legs up mid flight like a banana. Aughhhh!!
Soon we were being led into a very small plane where we had to sit in front of our diving masters and straddle a padded seat. The plane took off and we began our ascent. Andy G and Glen began helpfully pointing out areas of interest such as the 'majestic Tongariro National Park,' Mount 'Doom' from Lord of the Rings and the 'spectacular Lake Taupo'. We both feigned interest whilst trying not to soil ourselves. We began to creep higher and higher until the buildings became dots and we could see all the snow capped mountains in the distance.
Within about 20 minutes we had reached 12,000 ft and it was time to
jump. With very little warning, Glen suddenly instructed me to put on my goggles and to my horror I realised that I would be jumping first. He quickly attached a few buckles to attach us both and nodded the go ahead. Panic flooded through me as the side door of the plane was pulled open and the gushing cold air flooded in. I was instructed to edge forward until I was hanging out of the plane. Yes that's right - hanging. I peered out over the ground in the distance and managed a quick wave and terrified smile to the camera and then closed my eyes as I felt us both tumble forward into the sky.
After a few terrifying seconds I felt Glen tap me on the shoulder. This was my cue to spread my arms out like a bird (haha) and lock my legs up in his. It felt amazing to be freefalling through the sky - it just felt very very windy and it was quite difficult to move your arms or do anything. The air was also rushing up my nose which stung a little. I saw the cameraman whizz by me and i tried
to wave and give a thumbs up. He spun us around for a bit and then shot off somewhere else.
Meanwhile, Bean had been waiting for her turn, feeling slightly nauseus as she watched me tumble head first out of the plane. (Kind of glad I went first now). She too had to edge forward, still with her eyes on me falling to the ground. Again, she balanced procariously on Andy G's knee whilst her body was hung out of the plane. She also managed to muster a smile for the camera as she tumbled out, eyes open!!!
Meanwhile, after about 45 seconds, Glen had pulled the parachute cord and we both shot upwards into a vertical position. I had a chance to catch my breath and take in the sights around us - it was so beautiful. We were soaring over Lake Taupo with the snowy mountains all around us. It was just breathtaking. Well it was until Glen decided to loosen my straps so I nearly fell away from him. I squealed at him and gripped on, but he assured me that this was normal and asked me to let go of him. Ooops. I dangled
loosly from him feeling very unsafe whilst he manouvered the straps so I had a little seat to sit on. Lovely - thank you.
Soon Bean came into view and I hollared out to her. Glen and Andy G circled around each other so Bean and I were swinging around the sky together. It was very fun but I did think I might throw up at any given point so was quite relieved when that 'game' stopped. Then Bean suddenly fell down to the ground very quickly and for a second I thought she might be plumeting to her death so I squealed. Again. Apparantly this was another of Andy G's 'games' and sure enough Glen followed suit.
The parachute part lasted about 5 minutes and was amazing - we were up so high, yet were hanging freely in the air. It was so surreal, especially after the adrenalin rush of the first minute of freefalling. We were able to take in all the sights as well as the other parachutes gliding around us. It wasn't at all scary (I think we were just relieved that the parachute had in fact opened). Soon, our landing patch came into
view and as instructed we lifted our legs up high so the diving masters could run along the ground. (A huge relief for Bean who would have most certainly fallen over).
We slid in elegantly on our bottoms and then ran to each other for a hug! Woohoo! We'd survived! We greeted Pea who had taken lots of photos of us flying down to earth and then went in to watch the video which was hilarious.
It was a really brilliant (but scary) experience and we were on a high for the rest of the day!!!
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Jenny
non-member comment
hey guys - its so amazing seeing these photos - what a brilliant thing to do and also have pictures documenting it - must've have been so scary! I did have a bit of a tear in my eye when I saw the photo of u Anna, can't believe u both went thru with it - good on ya! Love from Jenny xxx