Taupo,
New Zealand
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Okay, I did it! I never thought that I could do it but today I proved myself wrong. I chucked myself out of a plane travelling at 12,000ft! The great thing was I did not have much time to reconsider my decision to do the sky dive. The magic bus driver booked it for me and 2 other girls (one was totally bricking it, she felt nauseous and looked like she might spew), we did not even make it to our hostel and we were picked up and brought to the sky diving place. 30 mins later I am hurtling earthwards! I am really surprised just how calm I was through out. I thought that maybe it just hadn't sunk in yet and that when I got in the plane I would shit my pants and be a complete mess when that door opened. Even the moment where I was sitting on the edge with my legs dangling I was calm. It helped that I was the first to jump! Once we jumped (tandem) there was a massive rush as your brain tries to take everything in. I found screaming helped to let off some of the excess adrenaline. Free fall really did not feel that long and it really didn't feel like you were falling. I did not get that vertigo feeling you get when you look over the edge of a tall building. It was all a bit surreal. My chute was deployed at 5,000 ft and there was an eerie calm and silence at that moment. The whole thing was a very exhilarating experience and you feel so alive after it. I decided to go for the full wack and get my own cameraman to dive with me. It was pricey but worth it. My mate Neil did it last year and regretted not getting the video so I took his advice. Actually, the video is done really well. Can't wait to get home and bore the pants off everybody with my skydiving video. The whole lot cost $399 ($219 for the jump, $165 video and I got a T-shirt as well). Still when you convert that back to Euros it works out pretty cheap. One thing, you can do sky diving in a lot of places around NZ and a lot of them do it over spectacular scenery. However, the scenery is the last thing on your mind as you are falling, maybe at the end when you are floating down with the parachute. I did this jump because I knew if I didn't do it I would be kicking myself for not having the bottle to do it and also get some stick when I got home. I recommend it to anybody and yes I want to do it again! Also, I didn't look nearly as scared as when my brother did it, ha!
I had to get up so early the next morning to do the Tongario Crossing. This is a 17km guided hike that starts off pretty tough. We had lunch in the crater of an active volcano which was cool. The last part of the walk is a bit boring and by the end of the day you just want to get back to the hostel. The scenery was great and you get some great views of Mt. Doom..
Comments
Jump
Nice one. I really wanted to do that!
Oh Really?
That's nothing. When I go to New Zealand, a plane is going to jump out of me!
Jeez
Jeez, always have to go one better don't ya, sshhh...
Fair play
Fair play to ya man! Nice one!
Scobo2000 - judging by your pics I'd say several planes could jump outta you!