Gone in Sixty Seconds
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2004
1
53
394
Trip End
Ongoing
Taupo,
New Zealand
Thursday, November 25, 2004
I could say that I've just accelerated and travelled at a speed faster than I have ever been in a car or on a motorcycle. I could say that I've just done the most outrageous thing I've ever done, or I could say that I've just felt more adrenaline and endorphins than I thought I could take.
Physically, what I have actually done is sat on the floor of a small light aircraft while it has ascended slowly to an altitude of 15,000 feet. I have then jumped, free-falling at a rate of 155 miles per hour, for a total of sixty seconds through the clouds over Lake Taupo, before descending by parachute on to the small grassed area next to the Skydive hangar at Taupo airport. The whole drama was filmed with a digital video camera and when I returned to the hangar, I was presented with a cold beer, a tee-shirt and a DVD of the whole experience, which I sat and watched with my cold beer.
Even sitting and thinking about it now brings the same six inch grin I had on my face earlier. What an incredible experience.
I've no idea why, but I wasn't half as petrified about it as I thought I would be. Maybe the fact that I didn't have all day to psyche myself up (or work myself in to a panic) had something to do with it. We only had about twenty minutes to make the decision to sign up for a jump as we were approaching Taupo this afternoon. The weather and conditions were perfect, so apparently it was a good opportunity to jump as tomorrow wasn't looking so good. After a few umm's and aah's and nervous giggles, Igno and I shared the conclusive nod which more or less said 'Aah sod it, let's do it', and we agreed on the 15k 'nutter jump'. Again, there were choices of jumps up to 12k and then this killer 15,000ft monster that boasted a full sixty seconds of freefall. As always, if you're gonna do something like this at all, you've got to do it properly, and we signed up for the full nutter package which included photographs, tee-shirt and DVD. You could even choose the background music which was cool. As soon as my eyes scanned over it, 'Where's your head at' by Basement Jaxx was automatically chosen as the tune for falling out of the plane!
So as I said, I wasn't too panicky. I should have been really considering my fear of heights and the scale of the task, but I wasn't. I was more excited than afraid. There were a couple of moments when I started to shit myself - like when we took off. I was sitting in front and between the legs of my instructor next to the door (or rather the 'hole' where the door should be) while we took off. We were quite safe sitting there on the floor next to it, it was just a surreal feeling taking off in an aeroplane sitting next to the 'door space' watching the ground get smaller while the others sat around with serious faces listening to instructions. Then it was my turn. 'Phil' told me to sit on his lap and listen up. He started to 'strap' himself to my harness really really tightly while he gave me my detailed instructions. My ribs and gut were slowly squeezed in while he pulled and tightened the straps. He was telling me how in a couple of minutes, I was going to shuffle along on my arse towards the huge hole in the side of the plane. He explained how I would sit on the edge holding tightly on to my shoulder straps while tucking my legs underneath the aeroplane, then maintaining that position as we fell out for as long as possible until he gave me a tap which would mean I could let go of the shoulder straps. Again, strangely enough, I was sort of okay with it so far, apart from being squeezed by the straps as he gave them one last secure pull. We were fixed together solid and I had started to bloat. I stupidly asked if everything was where it should be and if it was all 'nice and secure'. The things you say! He said everything was 'looking good'. We had a final moment in front of the camera and then the first jumper got thrown out. In a flash. I mean, the second they started to lean out, the air sucked them out and straight down like they had been fired out of a cannon towards the ground. That's when my back side twitched. I turned and looked to Igno for a comforting, supporting look, and he was already white. He'd seen it too. Shit. 'Alright there Scott, just shuffle yourself along to the door like we talked about matey and we'll be right out. Okay bro?' It was Phil. A bit like the bungy, I just did as I was told, completely empty minded. I felt nothing, just numbness. I was doing it. It was bloody freezing up there too. I couldn't feel my hands and my nose had started to freeze up. I shuffled over right on to the edge and tucked my feet under the plane until I could feel my heels kick against the belly of it. It had been recommended that I didn't, but I still looked down and I still felt nothing. It sounds stupid but the bungy looked a lot worse, all forty metres of it. I put it down to the fact that I could comprehend the height. This was just a large deep blue circle surrounded by a patchwork quilt of greens and yellows with a few white peaky pieces dotted around it, blocked out by the occasional piece of cotton wool floating past. It was just like looking out of the window of a plane, only ten times as noisy and ten times as cold. As with the bungy, this is where my memory gets slightly blurry but I think Phil started the camera rolling again. He held my head right up to the sky and said a few words that completely escape me now as we 'rolled' out, head over heels, over and over, free-falling like a big heavy bag of something heavy. Whoosh! It was that ground rush again, your stomach right in your mouth - 'Whoaaaaagh!' But there was nothing to catch this time like a bungy cord or a show-stopping plunge into warm water. This wasn't three, four or seven seconds, it was sixty. All I can remember of it was my consistent scream or bleat every time I took in another successful, short, gasp of the purest air. The freezing wind was getting right in and under my lips and I must have been making some stupid noises while I tried desperately to lick my teeth. When I finally realised what was going on, Phil had attracted my attention over to the camera on his wrist. We were still free-falling but I think I screamed, made a face or signalled something in to it. The next thing I remember is my guts being pile-drived in to my arse as he pulled the cord. Talk about the best brakes in the world. We must have gone from 155mph to 30mph inside the click of a finger. I've seen the DVD and my face was an absolute picture. And here's the weird thing: we were all of a sudden sat there, suspended over Lake Taupo in complete and utter silence. We had just gone from literally one extreme to the other in an instant. It wasn't until I thought to equalise that I heard anything at all. Phil started asking questions like what I thought of the view, real casually like we were standing at the bar waiting to be served. I couldn't really talk from the shock but I know it was completely quiet and peaceful. I was sat there, in mid-air looking at the most amazing view I have ever seen with my own eyes. The overwhelming view of the massive lake Taupo was beneath my feet and it looked just like a model replica in a display cabinet. It was impeccable too, the texture of the water was superbly done and the colours of the green landscape and the white snow over the mountains was perfect. Whoever had made this model ought to win a medal. When it hit me I wasn't looking at any kind of replica, I got butterflies. This was the most incredible thing I had ever seen. It's amazing how a new experience makes you feel. To Phil, the view was nice but to me, my pulse was pounding and there were tears behind my eyeballs waiting to get to the front of the queue. Absolutely awesome.
We spent the next few minutes swirling around the skies looking around the area while Phil filmed the pure, absolute joy that was emblazoned across my face. We landed very softly, stood up, shook hands and shared the magic of the moment. What an incredible, amazing experience. The next thing I remember was being given a cold beer and shown the room where the DVD was being prepared.
I was lucky enough to turn round and see the look on Igno's face as he stood up. He'd made his jump, shortly after. What a picture. It is such a wonderful feeling to see another person bursting at the seams with utter happiness. It really is.
We spent the next hour watching ours and other's DVD's and having many laughs at some of the faces, dribbles and snot.
What an absolutely incredible day. I'll say no more as I can't express anymore, but for those that do get to see the DVD at some point, look forward to it cos' it's a good one!
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