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It feels as though we are always opening these blog posts with an apology! And this time it's a big one! We haven't updated the blog since October 2011 and so have LOTS to catch up on! But don't worry, you won't have to endure 5 months in one shot, we'll break it up a little!! :0)
Our last few weeks of living in Brisbane were mostly filled with working, making sure that we saved up as much as possible so that with any luck, we wouldn't have to work again until we got back to the UK!!
We treated ourselves to a couple of meals out, but ended up having to eat at the campsite most of the time, as, just as we had gotten through the meat tray that we won, we won it a second time!!! Much to the annoyance of our fellow camper!! ;0)
But of course the biggest news of our final weeks in Brisbane, was that we threw ourselves out of an airplane!! Yep, for a long time we have talked about wanting to do a tandem skydive, but the opportunity, or push had never really been there. But Sasha found a great deal that meant we would be able to do a jump for $100 less than we had seen it anywhere else! Thinking back, we are not sure that finding the cheapest place to do a skydive is exactly the best idea!!!
But anyway, on the Saturday we awoke nice and early to make our way to the dropzone for 8:30am, and we were relieved to see that a large group of people had already arrived! Phew, our chances of survival just increased!! Especially as the majority of those taking the plunge were of course backpackers, but unlike us, the majority of them had most definitely hammered the goon the night before, and were looking very much worse for wear.
After signing in, we were directed inside to watch a DVD of a terrified girl doing a tandem jump, and then a crazy South American doing a solo jump, after which we could choose which jump we would like to do. Watching the solo jumper having to climb out of the plane and then hang off of the wing strut there was no way we were going to even consider doing that one! We needed to know that we had someone else with us, who would be in control, and who would also be able to get us out of that plane if the panic set in!!
Then came the long wait!
Four hours after arriving we finally got the call to get into our harnesses. This is when you get to meet your life saver/new best friend/god i.e. the person that will be strapped to your back, who will pull the parachute open and get you to the ground safely (you hope!).
They secured us into our harnesses, and made you hang from a couple of hooks to teach you what you needed to do while plummeting towards the ground. And it all seems relatively straightforward - arch, keep your head back, arms crossed and feet tucked up behind you, then when prompted you can uncross your arms in we'll be doing some smiling and thumbs up to the camera before the parachute opens at just under 6,000 feet. Simple right?!
As we were both having our jumps filmed, we needed to go in separate planes, and so with Ollie's crew ready he was escorted off while Sasha was still going through her training. But she followed shortly in the second plane.
We were signed up for jumping at 14,000 feet, but there were strong thermals which meant that the plane could not get above 9,000ft, but to be honest, that was more than high enough for our first (and possibly last for Sasha!!) jump!
Ollie had been pretty terrified in the four week build up to getting to the jump site, whereas Sasha was pretty chilled about the whole thing, and was actually looking forward to it!! Oh how quickly things can change!!!
So Ollie headed off with his tandem and camera man to the teeny tiny plane that would take him up to 9,000ft, and calmness seemed to have filled this man who is scared of heights!!
Once up at 9,00ft it's thumbs up all round from the pilot and the airplane door is opened! With little time to think you are shuffled forward by your tandem and very quickly you find yourself sitting on the edge of the plane with your feet dangling, then with the signal to cross your arms, a count to three, you're out!!!!!
For Ollie, this turned out to be the ultimate thrill of his life, loving every single minute of the exhilarating fall travelling at 115mph!! Even managing to pull a superman pose in free fall, and then a salute to the camera before the canopy was opened. With the beautiful serene silence that comes with the canopy being opened, Ollie was then able to take a gradual glide down to earth, even taking control of the steering on the chute, and doing a few spins, landing smoothly, and on a total high!
For Sasha however it all went from being a fairly fun day out, to the most terrifying day of her life!!! As soon as she tumbled out of the plane, she went straight into panic mode!! All that simple "arch, keep your head back, arms crossed and feet tucked up behind you" etc etc training received on the ground went totally out of the window! Instead she formed the foetal position! Only really moving out of that position slightly when the cameraman dived down to be level in an attempt to get her on film! It wasn't pretty!!
Once Sasha's canopy opened Sam, her tandem, asks how it was! Sasha's reaction?! "It was terrible! Please just take me down as fast as possible but do it slowly and smoothly!"
Sam: - "You didn't like it then?"
Sasha: - "I think I'm going to be sick!"
Sam: - "Time to grab your sick bag then"
Yep, that's right, on your harness you have a little pocket that houses a nicely folded sick bag! Unfolding the sick bag she then spent the next 10 minutes of floating down to earth reaching and heaving into the bag, but thankfully not producing any sick!
And so would we do it again?? A massive "Hell NO!!" from Sasha, but for Ollie, he's addicted, and just wants to go higher!!
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