From the Mountains to the Sky Act 4: Open Skies

Sunday was a very exciting day! 5 of us left the hostel to go tandem skydiving! What an exhilarating experience. After paying a rather large sum of money to nZone, they take you out to their private airfield (pretty much just a field) and take you through a quick crash course in how to fall through the air. Essentially, you're supposed to turn your body into a banana shape and with your feet arms and hands well back. There is even a picture of a banana on the instructional material.

My (experienced) jump partner's name was Chris and he had been on thousands of jumps before. We talked a bit and then got into the plane. The plane was very small and very cramped with 4 pairs and one cameraman cramped inside. I was seated beside the sliding glass door and was therefore able to watch as the plane quickly spiraled up to 15,000 feet over Lake Wakatipu. It was quite unnerving when Chris showed me his altimeter at 7800 feet and said we were halfway there. The ground seemed very far away.

Once reaching 15000 feet, a green light turned on at the back of the cabin and it was time to jump. Helmet and goggles strapped to my head, we shuffled towards the, now gaping, cabin door. I slid my feet underneath the plane and looked down at the ground, far below. Only Chris' arms were keeping us from falling at this point. Caleb (the camera man) was clinging to the side of the plane just like you would see in the movies. We leaped.

For 60 seconds(ish), we fell toward the ground. At speeds approaching 200 km/h, it was quite a rush. Beneath us was beautiful Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables (a mountain range). Once the chute was open it was possible to take in this incredible view. I was awed!

We floated slowly to the ground (not really that slow, but it certainly felt slow by comparison) and landed safely in the field. An incredible experience.