Up, Up, Up and down....@ 120mph!!
Ok, I was obviously drugged when I was convinced to jump from an airplane at 12,000 feet. Then I was subjected to some Hard-Sell and convinced that going the full hog and jumping at 15,000 feet with 60 seconds free fall was a far better experience....hmmmm.
Anyway on the morning of 28th November 2007 the weather was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky, nice and warm and as clear as a whistle. We went to Nzone in Queenstown and were prepared with a rather scary video which did more to encourage fears than eliminate them. A short bus ride to the jump site and we were all standing around drinking coffee making nervous small talk as we watched the group before us glide gracefully to the ground for expert landings. It all looked so simple and the weather was so gorgeous we were looking forward to the magnificent views at 15,000ft.
So after half an hour standing around we (Louise, I and a girl called Gabby) got called forward to get ready. I was introduced to Volken & Louise to Chris who were to be our saviours, sorry tandem sky-divers. The suits are well cool, lovely fit and the harness really gets you in the right places if you're a bloke but better safe than sorry :o)
After a quick briefing about banana positions, holding onto harness (and not the plane) and not closing your eyes (yeah, right as if!!) we were bundled into a rather small plane. This was the bit which hit me - it was so small - 9 of us crammed in there (3 jumpers, 3 people with parachutes & 3 cameramen) and so noisy. Take-off was cool, the scenery on the way up was interesting but simply couldn't take away my fear of jumping from a perfectly good (if slightly small) aircraft. It didn't really hit me until 12,000 feet when Gabby jumped....The noise and wind when the door opened and then watching 3 people exit an airplane in the air and feeling the plane jump as their weight left it is such a strange experience. The door then closed and we had to wait for the plane to climb another 3,000ft.....
By this time I was so nervous I hadn't even noticed that I had been attached to my tandem-man and was now sat pretty much in his crotch.....We were given oxygen to eliminate any altitude symptoms (tho secretly I think this is a drug to make people jump) and then the red light came on. I couldn't think of jumping, I was just pushed towards the open door being willed by my cameraman. The green light meant that I had to hang my legs over the edge of the plane and grab my harness (must remember not to grab the plane). A pose for some photos (no, I didn't smile) and then OH SH*T...
The first 10 seconds I can't remember - anything could have happened. I think my eyes were closed (the DVD will reveal whether they were) but I was "awoken" by my cameraman telling me to let go of the harness. I then looked down - yeah, not a good idea. I hope the DVD caught what I said.... I then came to grips with my situation - being that I was paying this camerman $219 so I should really do something funny for his pics and forget about my rapidly accelerating arse and the ground.
The next 50 seconds (or to put it another way, the next 10,000ft) passed rather quickly.....and then the jolt from the parachute opening slowed us down rapidly. It was about now my fear of heights kicked in - I was probably white as a sheet as we glided down for the next 5 minutes to the jump site (still grabbing the harness!!). My landing was a bit funny (again that'll be on the DVD) so should provide some amusement.
I think Louise enjoyed it a bit more than me. When she landed it was a hail of questions "Did you see Mount Cook?", "Did you see Lake Wakatipu?" to which I could only respond, "You mean you actually looked around?!!!"
All in all it was a worth-while experience. The comedy value of the DVD alone is going to be worth the cost and we would recommend it to anyone. Especially if you are scared of heights and/or flying. Would we do it again? Louise thinks so, I on the other hand am not too sure - unless the plane is burning of course....
Anyway on the morning of 28th November 2007 the weather was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky, nice and warm and as clear as a whistle. We went to Nzone in Queenstown and were prepared with a rather scary video which did more to encourage fears than eliminate them. A short bus ride to the jump site and we were all standing around drinking coffee making nervous small talk as we watched the group before us glide gracefully to the ground for expert landings. It all looked so simple and the weather was so gorgeous we were looking forward to the magnificent views at 15,000ft.
So after half an hour standing around we (Louise, I and a girl called Gabby) got called forward to get ready. I was introduced to Volken & Louise to Chris who were to be our saviours, sorry tandem sky-divers. The suits are well cool, lovely fit and the harness really gets you in the right places if you're a bloke but better safe than sorry :o)
After a quick briefing about banana positions, holding onto harness (and not the plane) and not closing your eyes (yeah, right as if!!) we were bundled into a rather small plane. This was the bit which hit me - it was so small - 9 of us crammed in there (3 jumpers, 3 people with parachutes & 3 cameramen) and so noisy. Take-off was cool, the scenery on the way up was interesting but simply couldn't take away my fear of jumping from a perfectly good (if slightly small) aircraft. It didn't really hit me until 12,000 feet when Gabby jumped....The noise and wind when the door opened and then watching 3 people exit an airplane in the air and feeling the plane jump as their weight left it is such a strange experience. The door then closed and we had to wait for the plane to climb another 3,000ft.....
By this time I was so nervous I hadn't even noticed that I had been attached to my tandem-man and was now sat pretty much in his crotch.....We were given oxygen to eliminate any altitude symptoms (tho secretly I think this is a drug to make people jump) and then the red light came on. I couldn't think of jumping, I was just pushed towards the open door being willed by my cameraman. The green light meant that I had to hang my legs over the edge of the plane and grab my harness (must remember not to grab the plane). A pose for some photos (no, I didn't smile) and then OH SH*T...
The first 10 seconds I can't remember - anything could have happened. I think my eyes were closed (the DVD will reveal whether they were) but I was "awoken" by my cameraman telling me to let go of the harness. I then looked down - yeah, not a good idea. I hope the DVD caught what I said.... I then came to grips with my situation - being that I was paying this camerman $219 so I should really do something funny for his pics and forget about my rapidly accelerating arse and the ground.
The next 50 seconds (or to put it another way, the next 10,000ft) passed rather quickly.....and then the jolt from the parachute opening slowed us down rapidly. It was about now my fear of heights kicked in - I was probably white as a sheet as we glided down for the next 5 minutes to the jump site (still grabbing the harness!!). My landing was a bit funny (again that'll be on the DVD) so should provide some amusement.
I think Louise enjoyed it a bit more than me. When she landed it was a hail of questions "Did you see Mount Cook?", "Did you see Lake Wakatipu?" to which I could only respond, "You mean you actually looked around?!!!"
All in all it was a worth-while experience. The comedy value of the DVD alone is going to be worth the cost and we would recommend it to anyone. Especially if you are scared of heights and/or flying. Would we do it again? Louise thinks so, I on the other hand am not too sure - unless the plane is burning of course....
posted by Dean & Louise at
01:14
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