Skydiving For The First Time

So the sign up sheet has come around the bus and it's time to sign up for activities. You know what you want to do but you are so nervous you can barely put the pen to paper to fill your name out!

Skydiving with Flying Kiwi

 

"Abel Tasman Skydive 16,500ft" - The title is literally bouncing off the paper, edging you to sign up. It is still a couple of days away, and you know you REALLY want to do it (and let’s be honest, if not now, then when!?), so you quickly write your name down. You see there are a couple of other names there already, so at least if you don’t make it out alive, you won’t be going at it alone. (Heavily breathing from panic) You pass the sheet back and instantly try not to think about what you have just done!

All of a sudden, the day has somehow crept up on you, and as you look out the window of the bus, you realise your guide is actually pulling into the jump zone, which means it's time! (OMG, thoughts are running through your mind! It's too late to pull out, but am I really about to jump out of a freaking plane right now!?)

Your guide is telling you some instructions over the microphone that you probably should be listening to, but for some reason, you have other things on your mind...

You suddenly notice your guides have tried to be funny and have started to play relative songs over the stereo, such as "Jump" by Van Halen—do they realise this is not helping!?

You start walking over with your fellow travel buddies (at least we are in it together, right?), and soon enough, you are signing your life away...

Your heart is beating so fast you think you're about to have a heart attack! You don't really know what to expect, but you're doing it.

A tandem master comes over to you, and he is your guide that will be attached to your hip (literally) once you are in the plane and all the way until you’re back on the ground.

"How are you feeling?" he asks. I try to speak, but nothing but noise comes out... I try again, "Yes! Good! Great! Why am I doing this again?" He laughs. "Let's go over the safety briefing and get you dressed," he says.

So I figure out quite quickly that the skydiving look is definitely not sexy on anyone, haha! I am in this bright red and white jumpsuit with a leather cap on and these terrific plastic goggles. Looking gooood. The hilariousness of all of us getting geared up has slowly taken my mind off exactly what we are about to do, without me even realising—feeling more relaxed, perfect. Next, I'm getting told that once we leave the plane, I must do the "banana." LOL! "I'm sorry, the whaaat?" So now that I'm a pro (almost), the "banana" is what you must do with your body when exiting the plane so your jump master can stabilise your fall (as opposed to tumbling lots, eek!). Basically, bending/arching your back and legs as much as you can until your guide tells you not to anymore, which is symbolised by three taps on your shoulder (because apparently, when you're falling at 200 km/h, you can’t hear anything... who would have thought?).

Here we go!! We are walking to the plane to board, and I'm the last one to get in. Wahoo! I think, last one to jump. Nope. Completely wrong thoughts... FIRST ONE TO JUMP! Oh god, oh god, oh god. Off we go, the plane’s taking off along the runway, and I'm calmly telling myself that this is just a scenic flight (I think it's helping).

I'm looking out the window thinking, man, we are pretty high—it must be about time to jump. Then my jump master points out on his altitude watch that we are only halfway from where we need to be. "Oh, okay," I say calmly, when really, I am starting to freak the f*** out!!

"Are you ready?" he says.

"No!" I scream back.

Then the door whips open, wind is rushing around the cabin everywhere, and suddenly I am sitting on the edge of the plane with my legs dangling out at 16,500 ft!!!

"3, 2, 1, juummmpp!!"

... (Freefall)

... (More freefall)

And the chute is up!! Wooowzers! Everything got really tight for a minute, and then poof! The air surrounding me is so quiet, and we are just floating around like a gliding bird. We swirl and swirl and float around until we come in for landing, knees up! And I'm grounded! I'm alive! I did it! High fives are shared between me, my tandem master, and my fellow travel buddies. I am on the BIGGEST HIGH! And I want to do it all over again.

I collapse into a bean bag and am stunned that I just got to jump out of a plane and that it has become one of the most incredible things I have ever done to date! Worth every cent.

If I can do it, you can too!

- Anonymous

 

Posted by Flying Kiwi on March 04, 2024