Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Got to Queenstown which is known as the party / adventure capital of New Zealand. Its a really nice town on lake Wakatipu. Its a really beautiful area and as were have just missed the skiing season and we are not into the summer season the town is pretty quiet, which is great for us.
Had a day trip out to Milford Sound (one of the fiords). It is apparently the number one destination in NZ but we were left really disappointed. The weather was rubbish...cloud covered most of the mountains and the wind was whipping up the lake. You can apparently get some amazing photographs but we just got grey dreary shots. From what I saw I would not recommend it to others unless you get a great day of weather in which case it is apparently stunning, but as they get around 9 meters of rain a year the sunny days are probably few and far between.
Next day myself and Shona had booked a skydive over the area to the south of lake Wakatipu. We woke up at 8:30 to check if the weather would be ok for the dive. There had been no dives for the last 3 days due to poor weather and we were doubtful...Fortunately the weather for the morning looked good and we got the go ahead. It was at this stage that we both started to realise what we were letting ourselves in for. It was a 15,000 ft fall with a freefall of 2 miles in one minute. Ther butterflies started to emerge. Driving down to the site the scenery was stunning. We were on the lake surrounded by mountains and rolling hills.
We went up in a small single propellar plane, there was me, Shona, we both had a tandem dive instructor and a photographer so there were 6 of us plus the pilot. As we ascended the views got ever more fantastic. For some reason the nerves seemd to ease away and I was really enjoying the experience...untill...at 15,000 feet the side door opened and within no time Shona was hanging out of the plane and whooshhh she was gone...falling like a brick at 200km/hr. At that moment I got a tap on the shoulder and we had to manouver to the open door. We had been sat on a bench for the ascent and as we got to the door I realised that I was gripping the bench for all I was worth...my grip wouldnt let go. The instructor prised my fingers away and all of a sudden I was hanging out of the plane with just a couple of buckles and staps holding me to the instructor behind me. My head was pulled back...we rocked twice...and then AAAAAHHHHHHHHH we were falling to earth!! It took a couple of seconds to catch my breath but then what a rush!! It was fantastic!! The noise, the cold rushing air, the earth coming towards you (slowly) it was the most amazing sensation I have ever had.
After about 60 seconds freefall the parachute was opened and everything stopped, except for the camerman who continued to fall and I could appreciate how fast we had been going. We now had complete calm...
The views were stunning, my body was going wild with excitement, I couldnt stop shouting and screaming about how amazing this was. At one stage the instructor told me he was going to adjsut some of the straps, he took my weight and pulled a few straps then let me drop and that was probably the scariest moment of my life. I probably only fell a few inches but when you are a few thousand feet up looking down and you know all that is holing you there are these straps your heart does go into your mouth. The descent was beautiful, we came down and he birefed me on how we could achieve a perfect standing landing. At about 20 foot up I lifted my legs in the air...held them there and then at the last secong dropped them and started to walk forward...Perfect...landed on my feet.
It was absolutely the most exciting, exhillerating experience I have ever had. I would definitely do it again and it really does make you feel as though you can go on and do anything!! I had a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day...I absolutely loved it!!
- comments