Skydiving Vicariously

One of my best buds from college based in Sydney finally took the plunge - literally! And I am green with envy! I was actually in Australia when he planned to do it but I could't do it yet as motherly duties took precedent over my wants. And of course, I wanted to do it with hubby. So that's something left for the books but in the meantime, who says we can't live the experience, albeit vicariously (of course, nothing beats the real thing). So here's what my friend, Bert, had to say about the whole experience:

• How did you find the skydive org/instructor/club/association?

The skydive agency overall was very accommodating. They were very friendly as well.
It may be because they already know that most people who go to their office have nerves that are already on edge. For the case of my instructor, he was like me as we basically didn't like to talk much.

The whole conversation was like, "Hey, are you excited to jump?"..."Yeah, very much."..."Cool".

• Did you have concerns before the jump? What were they?
  
  
I honestly didn't much give any thoughts or concerns. I just felt, in a sense, numb while I was filling out the waivers and stuff. It may be my way of handling the nervousness, I am not sure. All I was just concerned about is that I do hope I could really jump and get it over with. It was more of I'm already here so just wanna finish it.


• Who were the other people in the group? How many were there?

We were about 5 in our group. I didn't knew anyone of them personally and my contact (Missy), I only knew by name through mutual friends. It was really their plan of doing a skydive, my name was just suggested by one mutual friend. I have always been wanting to do the skydive when I arrived here in Sydney but I just didn't have any group until then.



• How many feet/meters up were you when you jumped? How many minutes did the experience last?

I think it was 14,000 feet which was the average. The free fall only lasted about a minute. The parachute would probably be around 6 - 7 minutes. But the plane ride was about 20 minutes. And if you have a fear of heights, it would be the longest 20 mins of your life.

• How would you describe the skydive experience?

I believe I only got really nervous when I was hanging in the hanger bay of the plane while waiting for the jump zone. This was because I was the first to go so got to experience it. It was so exhilarating and this is an understatement. I could not basically describe the feeling. It was definitely an adrenaline rush like I've never felt before.

Glad to be back on solid ground - in one piece!

• What was that plane you were on?

It was a small plane but may be it would be best to see it in the video.


• Was it worth it?

Definitely! I'd suggest it to anyone (who is healthy of course).

Can I just say it once again? So green with envy! Someday, my turn will come. You bet I'll be writing about that here!