Aotearoa 9 - Q: Why would anyone jump from a perfectly good airplane?

A: Because the door was open, of course!

Jan. 27, 2007: SKYDIVING Wanaka - Drive to Franz Josef Glacier

Yes, we did it. :) It was AMAZING. INCREDIBLE!!! Indescribable.... I've always wanted to fly - to really fly, mind you, not just in an airplane. We went for the earliest option, which was a slot at 9:00 a.m., and reserved the spot the day before. The weather was perfect - sunny, no clouds, not windy, warm and comfortable....we got to the little airport and waited around a bit, meeting the other jumpers before the place actually opened. The other girls who were jumping at the same time had never been skydiving either.

The first thing they do is show you a short video and try to get you to buy a video of yourself jumping, and of course you have to fill out the release of liability forms and the like, as well as a brief health statement and what altitude you want to be jumping from. We chose 12,000 ft. The highest you can go is 15,000 ft. (more expensive option), and the lowest is 9,000 ft. (which only gives you 30 sec. of freefall). Then they weigh you - to make sure they get you the right size parachute and instructor, I guess - take your money, suit you up, and let you wait around for your turn!

While we were waiting I got the same feeling I remember having before piano recitals. Not so much nervousness as just....anticipation. I was just ready to go!!! Impatient to get going or something. :)

Finally we got to meet our tandem instructors. My instructor was a guy named Eugen from Budapest. He checked my harness to make sure I wasn't going to fall out... "I don't want to lose you" he said. ("I don't want you to lose me either" was my reply) Then we all piled into the little turbine and took off. I kid you not, this was the most comfortable plane ride I've ever taken - no bumps, plenty of leg room, no annoying seat belts.... :) You're practically lying down as you go up. Of course the disadvantage for us shorties is that it was harder to see out of the windows. As we went up my instructor pointed out some of the gorgeous scenery to me - Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea, Mount Aspiring, and Mount Cook. The scenery really was breathtaking, although I bet it'd be even more so in the winter when the mountains are covered in snow.

You get this little cap with goggles to put on - to keep your head warm and protect your eyes. All the other instructors were stuffing their girls' hair into their caps, but when I asked mine if my hair was okay he said it was fine & he liked it. Awwww. Then when we reach 9,000 ft. the door opens and the first of the jumpers is out! We circle higher a bit longer to reach 12,000 ft. During that time, the rest of us are getting all set up, the instructors making sure that the harnesses are all connected and everything. I'm just thinking "let's GO already!!!" :) Finally the door opens again, and Steph and her instructor go tumbling out. Now it's my turn..... :)

Right before you jump, you sit in the doorway and there's a camera mounted on the wing that takes your picture. When we got to the door - you could *really* feel the wind, although that shouldn't be a surprise since you're flying in a plane at 12,000 ft. and I don't know how many mph - I looked down at the ground below. WOW. Then it really hits that you're about to jump! It looked further away to me than it usually does when I'm flying. So the camera takes the picture, then my instructor leans my head back on his shoulder, we rock back, and....fall out of the plane..........

WOW!!!

You know the feeling you have on roller coasters right after you go up the slow, gradual incline and then immediately fall down the steep side, how your stomach does a flip? Or the feeling you get when you jump off the high dive? Well, imagine that feeling magnified, and you're not sitting, you're falling. Seriously, it's a good experience in how strong gravity is! I remember in those few seconds thinking a few words I usually don't say out loud. :) Or maybe I was just praying, I don't remember. What I do remember is seeing the underside of the airplane, and realizing that I was falling. But after like 2 seconds we stabilized and were just in freefall. It was SPECTACULAR!! Once you stabilize, you really don't feel like you're falling. The wind is rushing around you, but you feel like you're just floating or flying. I don't think I blinked the entire time! I didn't want to miss a thing! It was SO AWESOME!!!!

After about 45 sec. of freefall, the chute opened and we were just floating down. Man, I wish the free fall time could've lasted longer! My instructor said I was gorgeous. (meaning that I did a gorgeous job) Ahhhh, the things people will say when they're being paid! :) But I don't care that he was paid to say it, it still made me feel good! I guess that's one of the perks of tandem skydiving - the instructors are supposed to help you have a good time. The instructor unhooked part of the harness, which made me a little nervous, but I guess that's what they're supposed to do for a smoother landing and better visual path. It was neat to see everything on the ground - there were lots of cows in a nearby field, for example. :) I wish I could've operated the parachute for a bit though. That would've been sweet!

I actually landed before Stephanie, which I thought was odd at first. Later I found out that my instructor (notorious for this, maybe?) did lots of spins (swooping?) with the parachute. I could really feel that from the air - again, a kind of roller coaster feeling. :) I think those spins make you fall faster, hence the reason I landed first.

I always wanted to go skydiving, and I have to say it exceeded my expectations!! This was probably my favorite thing we did on the whole trip, and I definitely want to go skydiving again, maybe even get a license so I can go solo! And between Puzzling World and skydiving, I'd say Wanaka was probably my favorite stop on the whole trip.



(The last 2 pics are courtesy of Stephanie; also she's the one in the flying picture - she had the yellow chute; I had the red chute; that's my instructor in the last pic)

After finishing up, we got in the car and drove to our next stop. On the way we stopped a few times to see some places of interest.

"Blue Pools" = incredible color! (I didn't know that color turquoise blue could be found naturally!) Just an area where two small rivers converge. Great place for fly fishing, because of all the trout (we didn't see any though - wrong season maybe?). Would've been a great place to swim, too! To get there we had to walk on this path through rain forest, and over a suspension bridge which was fun. I didn't realize how much I missed trees!

"Thundercreek Falls" = tall waterfall, that Dad would've loved (I wished you were there to see it with me, Daddy!). Again the gorgeous turquoise blue water. This is really a paradise for waterfall lovers. :) And again getting to the waterfall was half the fun, walking through the beautiful beech tree forests.



We also stopped at another random rushing stream to take some pictures. I love this place!



Eventually our road ended up along the coast. The first view of the sea just took my breath away! I didn't realize how much I loved the sea until I saw it here! I don't think I ever felt this way about the sea back home... We stopped to take a few pictures at an overlook where you could see a beach, but I liked seeing it from the car just as much as from the lookout point. The sea just goes on forever!



We stopped one more time when we got to the terminal face of the Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier is 12.5 km from end to end, and the river flowing from is it milky from all the ground rock. You can't walk on the glacier without a guide - it's too dangerous. You couldn't climb to the top of the glacier from where we were anyway - it was hugely tall!! :) - and you wouldn't want to anyway, since the chances were high of falling and impaling yourself on one of the many jagged pieces of ice. Plus ice breaks, is slippery, and is constantly melting, so you never know what could happen. You could also see how far back the glacier had receded in the past, oh, 100 years, which was fascinating and a little sad.



Eventually we made it to our destination: the small town of Franz Josef, where we checked in and went grocery shopping.

All in all, another good day. :)