The guys from the skydive place turned up and Jenni and I hopped in the van. She was surprised when we arrived at the airport in Kerikeri for the jump. Not sure where she thought the plane would take off from!
I signed in, met the guy that owned the place, an English ex-para and settled in for the safety briefing. I only learnt 3 things: hold your harness going out, kick them in the arse and arch your hips down. When tapped on the shoulder I could spread my arms out wide! That was about it, then it was suit up and away we go!! It went awfully quickly.
I was to go in the 2nd group, the little plane could only take 6 people – 3 pros and 3 jumpers. So I had to wait the 20 minutes or so for them to get back, nervous times, oh yes. Then it was my turn.
I got suited up into my jump suit, got my hat and goggles and headed out with Gavin. We were in the plane first, so last out, we all crammed in and then it was off. Quite a smooth flight in such a little plane, a great view of the bay of islands and then round to our drop zone. We were informed of milestones such as ½ way up, 5, 3 and 1 minutes to go before leaping. Then the first guy went and boy do you shoot away from the plane! The the 2nd guy and then our turn... It was surprisingly easy to get to the door and “ready, set, go” out of there. 45 seconds of freefall. What can I say? There are no words to describe it but you feel the air rushing past you, but the ground is so far away that it is not a bother. Then the chute is deployed and down we floated to the ground. Absolutely amazing. Would I do it again? Definitely.
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