While Nicola was living the high life in Melbourne I had made my way to Nagambie, a town approximately 2 hours drive north of Sydney. The main journey itself went without a hitch, I even had the radio on without feeling guilty (Nicola likes silence so she can fill it with chatter). My troubles started trying to find the airfield in the town and it took me over an hour and much frustration.
Once found it was relatively straightforward but road signage in Australia leaves a lot to be desired. The most interesting feature of the approaches to the airfield was the rickety wooden bridge that must have been constructed by the first settlers across a lake populated with dead tree stumps, most odd.
Friday saw me retrieve the parachute I had posted in Perth, have documents checked and a DZ briefing. I was ready for my first jump in Oz. In all I managed 3 solo jumps to become acquainted with the DZ and the planes. The day was roasting and a trip into town was necessary to procure enough drinking water and avoid the brown tinted liquid that was a feature of the site water supply.
Saturday was a washout with only 3 lifts all day and I did not manage any.
Luckily Sunday was great, sunny and a light breeze. I managed 3 jumps before Nicola and Debby arrived, Debby very keen to do a Tandem jump. I have never seen a person as cool and ready and it all helped her get the most from the experience. Looking at the video later it was obvious Clayton, her tandem instructor, had had the model student.
Note from Nicola, Clayton was definitely the best looking instructor, which is great for photos and video footage!
Debby and I left around 4.00 pm returning to Melbourne for 6.00 pm. We continued chatting during tea (steak and salad) then I watched a rerun of 'Pride and Predjudice', the Colin Firth version whilst Debby worked. Henry returned around midnight very pleased that some of his camera footage was on the Day Tape of the Boogie, plus he had won a teeshirt and audible altimeter (worth a few quid) in the raffle. Maybe it was worth carrying the parachute and helmet after all.