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It began like any other day...but what followed was most definately not just like any other day!!!
We wanted to Skydive whilst in NZ (well I wanted to, Tom just couldn't have me do it and not him!) and had planned to do it in the Mount Cook area, however that didn't work out as we had a communication problem when trying to book. We had had numerous conversations with a company who jumped in the area we wanted but the weather wasn't going our way...when the weather finally improved we phoned again and began booking, only to realise the number we were phoning had diverted to a different area. It turned out that there were not going to be any jumps from Mount Cook for at least another few weeks for some reason or other!!!! Had we been told that from the start we would not have wasted precious days sitting around in the bloody rain!!! Anyway, moving on, after making our way to the North Island we picked up some leaflets for Skydiving around the Lake Taupo area and decided we'd give it a go. The night before we camped in a car park (next to a police station) in order to try and save a few precious pennies. We had seen a 'super loo' nearby that offered showers for $2 so went there this morning to freshen up...unfortunately what we hadn't noticed was that the $2 was for a measly 4 minutes!!! Luckily enough I had the purse with me which meant I could have an additional 4 mins, whilst Tom was left with a cold shower when his minutes ran out! Fresh and clean we had some brekkie in the back of our part-time home, then headed for the phonebox to see if Skydiving was on the cards for the day! It was looking good, so we booked the 11.40am slot. As it was not much past 9am at this point, we had a few hours to kill....and what better way to kill time that to do a Bungy Jump!!!
Something I did not fancy, but Tom had mentioned doing, so we went and watched some people bouncing and after a few Tom was off...down the road...no actually he went and booked himself in! Advertised as NZ's highest water touch bungy the jump was from a walkway extended over the beautiful clear waters of the Waikato River. I headed down the walkway expecting to join a queue and the man told me to head on through as they were ready...Sam quickly took a piccy then made a quick dash for the view point so she could catch the action on film! After a lil chat while they strapped my ankles to the rope...and my flip flops to my feet...he asked if we were going to go for the water...what the hell i said!
Next step...it all happens very quick, on purpose i think so you dont run off...they tell you to waddle over to the edge, take a quick look over your shoulder...hence the 'not at all scared' look in my piccy, then he says he'll count to 3 and all i have to do (ALL I HAVE TO DO!!!!) is lean forward...bobs ya auntie! Anyhoo...turns out leaning forward is quite easy and a second or two later i was twanging around like a swing-ball gone wrong! =] Needless to say, it was awesome, over so quick but one hell of a rush as the cliffs fly by and the water gets close...unfortunatley i didnt actually hit the water despite my stretch, bummer eh! What they dont tell you about is the nasty up hill walk back to the office once they rescue you in a dingy and dump you on the shore! I made it to the top and was greeted by a beeming Sam, which was lush...think she was proud! However...after a few minutes of excited "i did a bungy" talk i remembered she's been film and asked how it went...the response was (and i quote) "ah...well, i zoomed in and everything, got it all sooooo good, even got the bit when you looked at me from the boat...but...i didnt press record!" D'OH!!!! Bless! We watched the film they make for you and straight away decided it had to be bought, never mind...she can record the next one eh! ;)
By now it was about time to ring and check the skydive as the weather had got a little cloudier. All was OK though so we headed for the drop zone!! Ooooo....we were actually going to do a Skydive!!!
Once we were there getting ready was a simple process and in no time we were climbing into a small plane. There were 7 people jumping in total, plus another 7 tandem masters (1 attached to each of us!) and 2 more jumpers who had the camera stuff for Tom and I. That's 16 people...and the plane really was quite small, hence we packed in like sardines...cosy!!! The order we got in meant that Tom would be first and me second. The so called door of the plane looked like a tuck shop shutter...but made out of see through plastic as opposed to metal!! Being at the front, this was all there was between Tom and the outside world!!! The journey up was leisurely and took about 20 minutes. When we had reached altitude (15,000 ft) it was time to go....the door opened and Tom's guy stuck his head (and Toms' body) out, looking to see if it was clear. Unfortunately there were no gaps in the cloud so we carried on in search of a better spot. Another 2 or 3 attempted jumps later and still there were no gaps. Poor Tom...by the time he actually jumped, he wasnt expecting it and so all of a sudden realised he was no longer in the plane (a strange realisation to have...but quite a fun one)!!!
It was my turn next....I hadn't felt nervous at all before this point, I wanted to do it so much I...but sitting on the edge of a plane, with legs hanging out, looking at nothing but clouds below....all of a sudden I felt the realisation hit home!!! No time to worry though as a split second later I was in the air....wooooo!!!!! It was awesome, apart from the fact that I was having trouble getting any of the air around me into my lungs!!! We were told to breath through our noses, but instead I was kind of gulping...this made for some interesting pictures!!!
The freefall from 15,000 ft was 60 seconds long and in those 60 seconds we fell 11,000 ft! The canopy was released at 4,000 ft and gave around 4 minutes of gracious gliding...far more relaxing! The wierdest feeling though, looking down at your feet and seeing clouds and earth below!
We both really enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to do it again!!! All this was for you Mum (of the beare variety)...a late mothers day pressie perhaps...okay, so maybe it was actually more for Dad!! Hope you like the piccys....the DVD is even better!!!!
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