Nov 12th 2007 will be forever in my memory!
It is the day when I conquered my fears and jumped from a plane at 12,000ft into thin air strapped to a complete stranger with nothing but complete and utter trust that he would get me safely to the ground. I can honestly say this was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Ever since I saw people on my last tour in Oz doing the sky dive I have imagined myself doing it, but always in my imagination I am unable to get to the point of jumping out. For this reason, I spent many days and nights trying to psych myself up, sharing the same emotions with people here on the trip in New Zealand who also were unsure about taking that challenge. The crunch came when we were asked to commit to booking a place, so I simply said ‘yes’ and before I knew it I was in a Limo along with 7 others from my New Zealand tour making our way to a small airfield in Taupo. On arrival we were shown a video of someone having just jumped that morning – at this point I totally lost control and started to cry and panic. People reassured me that I didn’t have to do it… this just made me cry more – I desperately wanted to achieve the jump but was scared beyond belief. This was my nemesis moment – my chance to do something reckless, brave, out of control and challenge my own limits. So before I had chance to really back out I filled out the forms, met my juump instructor (Steve from Chicago) and dressed up in blue overalls with a hat, goggles and gloves. No backing out now. Strangely my emotions calmed down andby the time the plane took off I was calmly sat between Steve’s legs at the back of the very small, very pink plane (first group of 4 to jump). At 12,000 ft the door opened and I was shuffled forward with Steve tightening the straps which were to keep me attached to him – I hoped! And then within a matter of seconds I was out of the plane.. tumbling … feeling sick… feeling like I was on the worst roller coaster ever for about 3 seconds and then./.. it was just AWESOME!!!! we were flying… it was like being a bird. For 45 seconds I fell to earth at 200 mph taking in the tiny landmarks below and the vast expanse of Lake Taupo and the Volcanoes in the distance – just amazing! The chute deployed and then we floated like a feather for 5 minutes down to the ground and a soft landing on my bum! I will probably never do it again (never say never) but it was the best thing I have ever done and I am very, very proud of myself!!! I have a DVD to prove that I’m not lying and will bore everyone with it as soon as I get the chance! If you want to check out the team that got me into the sky – go to www.skydivetaupo.co.nz
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