K+S In The City: Day 10-Skydiving Finale

Kristin and I saved the best for last. On Sunday, our final full day together, we went SKYDIVING! This act of total insanity was perhaps the number one activity on my to-do-list in life, not just in Australia, and thanks to my bestie (slang for "best friend") this dream has at last became a reality. Jumping out of an airplane over the beaches of Australia was not something I had included on my itinerary of things to do with Kristin while she was visiting. Why? Because this is something I never fathomed Kristin would do. She is terrified of heights. So you can imagine my utmost surprise when she suggested we go. "Let's go skydiving," Kristin insisted. "This may be my only time in Australia and you only live once. If I'm going to jump out of a plane I want to do it here with you." She didn't have to twist my arm to get me to agree, I was sold instantly. All week we checked the weather trying to determine which day would be the best day to go, and each day the weather forecast showed rain, clouds and more rain. The only sign of hope for sun was on Sunday, and so we crossed our fingers that come Sunday we would wake to sunny, blue skies. To our delight, we did: the sun decided that Sunday was a perfect day to come out and play, making it a perfect day for us to fulfill our  week-long skydiving fantasy. We called the skydiving company and booked our spots, and then hopped a train to North Wollongong (located about an hour south of Sydney along the coast) where the daring act would take place.

Accompanying us on our adventure was Harley, a co-worker of mine from the Summit. The prior evening while orbiting around the bar, Kristin had mentioned our plans to go skydiving and Harley said that if we went he wanted to come. Together the three of us sat on the train, anxious, eager and excited to arrive at our destination. It worked out to our advantage that Harley came with us, because his sister lived in Wollongong and had generously offered to chauffeur us around for the afternoon. She met us at the train station and drove us to Skydive the Beach Sydney on the Wollongong North Beach. We arrived around 1:00 pm. Once there we had to fill out paper work (basically signing our lives away) and then wait until our names were called to suit up. This was the worst part of it all- the waiting. This was especially true for Kristin, whose face read fear and worry (watching her have a near panic attack was pretty entertaining for the rest of us, however). Despite her nerves, she was determined to jump no matter what. I'm proud of her for punching her fear in the face and embodying the true spirit of a dare devil!

Finally, around 2:00 pm our names were called. First, we were instructed to put on the appropriate skydiving pants located in a nearby bin. Then we put on a fanny pack that held a life vest if we happened to accidentally land in the ocean (or, in a worse scenario, crash into the ocean). Next, we stepped into our harnesses which were tightly fastened to our bodies by the skydiving crew. Then we were briefly instructed on what to do once in the plane. This instructional session took a total of about one minute; basically we were told to cross our arms across our chest and fall forwards out of the plane. Yup, that was it. I can't say any of us were feeling confident about how what we were suppose to do once the airplane doors opened and we were suppose to jump, but we figured if everyone else before us could do it then we could too. Lastly, we were paired up with our jumping instructor. This was tandem skydiving, so we each jumped with a licensed professional strapped to our back. I'm embarrassed to admit that I cannot remember my instructors name! How terrible of me. I guess I was too nervous to retain that information at the time. For the purpose of this blog, I will call him Joe.

Harley, me and Kristin outside the Skydive place - - psyched!

So nervous and excited!

At 2:30 our skydiving crew loaded onto a bus which drove us to the airport. By this point the adrenaline was fully pumping through our veins. I was hyped and ready to go. Kristin was terrified and ready to go.  Harley was both hyped, terrified and ready to go. We all climbed on board the teeny, tiny airplane. There were a total of eight people jumping in our session, so including instructors there were 16 of us in total on the plane. And there was the pilot, so make that 17 persons crammed on the plane. There were no seats to sit on inside. Instead, each person sat on the airplane floor in a line with their legs straddling the person in front of them facing the back of the plane. We were packed in like sardines. Once set, we were off! The plan took us 14,000 feet into the air, over the ocean, beaches and towns below.  We climbed up and up and up, past the clouds and towards the heavens. The view from the plane was spectacular and once I get my pictures back I will share this view with you!

And then, suddenly, it was time to jump! The plane door located immediately to my left was pushed open and I felt a cold gust of wind and water burst over my body. By this point I was securely fastened to Joe and sitting on his lap. We were third in line to go. I watched wide-eyed, heart pumping, as the two pairs before me disappeared out the open door. Then Joe tapped me on the shoulder and motioned that it was now our turn to go. We shuffled on our knees to the edge of the open door. I crossed my arms across my chest. Joe tilted my head back against his chest. Then before I knew it my body was no longer on solid ground. It took a few seconds for me to grasp that I was rapidly falling like a torpedo through the air at what felt like a million miles an hour. Once I was finally aware of this fact, I became aware of how darn uncomfortable it was. We were moving so fast that the skin on my face was contorted every which way. My ears were popping and ringing quite painfully due to the rapid altitude drop. And it was hard to breathe. As we fell, air rushed into my mouth and filled my nostrils, but it took a conscious and hard effort to actually push that air back out in a breathing pattern. Falling, I recalled someone saying that it was a good idea to purchase a video of your skydive experience because the first 60 seconds (this free fall period) went by so quickly that it was hard to remember. However, I clearly remember this fall and my feelings that I wished it was shorter. Those 60 seconds felt like a couple of minutes, and I would have been quite content had the free fall only lasted for 30 seconds or so.

My salvation came at second 61 when Joe pulled the cords releasing the parachature attached to his back. At this moment, we transitioned from falling rocks to soaring birds. From this point onwards the experience was incredible. We glided, twirled and swirled through the air while gazing as far as the eye could see up and down the coast, peering observantly at the ocean, beach, towns, greenery and people below. This is as close to flying as any human being will ever come, and it was magical (corney but true). It was almost an out-of-body experience, one that is difficult to accurately and justly explain with words. I was like an angel peering a the beautiful creations of God on the earth below. I felt as if I had been transported to another time and place, to my own little world of peace and tranquility, meditation and stillness, and pure joy and euphoria. It was incredible. My advice to you is to do the same (that is skydive) so that you can have this experience.

I didn't want to come down from this high; but as the law of gravity states, what goes up must come down, and down I came eventually landing among the other divers on a grassy landing patch. I was the first of the three of us to land. It was now 3:00 pm. I looked up searching the sky for Harley and Kristin. I couldn't see Kristin, but I certainly could hear her. She was screaming (I think it was probably a combination scream of fear and enjoyment) at the top of her lungs. I burst out laughing watching her land. We peeled off our parachutes and harnesses, ran to each other and tightly embraced, smiles plastered to our faces. We did it! We were speechless. We were happy. Harley landed shortly after. He came wobbling over (our legs were quite wobbly upon landing) and asked, "Do I have snot on my face?" I burst out laughing. Plastered all over his face was a crusty, white substance. I wanted to yack. "Oh my gosh," I exclaimed. "If you mean that (pointing to the goop on his face) stuff all over your face, then YES." Everyone was laughing now. Harley was just getting over a cold, and apparently the instant he jumped from the plane the snot housed in his nose came shooting out and landed smack-dab in the center of his face. He even has video proof of the occurrence, as he chose to record and purchase his skydiving experience. It was perhaps the most disgusting yet simultaneously hilarious thing I have ever viewed. Kristin also recorded her skydiving experience, and this video I much prefered viewing. It too was hilarious. Kristin is so animated throughout the entire fall; it is really fun to watch.

All in all our skydiving experience was an enormous success. We all were so glad that we did it. It was the perfect end to an already amazing trip, and an experience that Kristin and I will remember for the rest of our lives. And if I can get four mates who have never gone skydiving before to go with me then I can jump for free! I am certainly going to try and take advantage of that deal.