Free Falling in Twizel

When we booked our slot for this, it seemed like a great idea. Minutes before, it still seemed like a great idea, but for some reason, my heart was beating a little faster than usual.

At long last, we were called in to get fitted into our suits, hats, and goggles and received a short safety briefing. We met our instructors, whom we’d be strapped to, and got tetrised into our tiny biplane (four instructors and four participants). And off we went! I do love it when airplanes take off.

It was a 15-minute flight, and I watched the other instructors quickly check all the straps, make adjustments, and go over everything one last time. Not mine. For whatever reason, he preferred to look out the window (the view was indeed amazing), but that made me just a little bit more nervous. Then the pilot said it was only going to be one more minute! Thankfully, my instructor finally made sure I was secured to him—and to the vital backpack he was wearing.

The plane doors opened, and the first two teams jumped. Then it was our turn. I was basically dangling out of the airplane while my instructor was still sitting on the edge. Those five seconds felt a lot longer, but it was still okay.

And suddenly, we were falling from 10,000 feet. My body wasn’t sure how to handle this for the first seven seconds. It was intense! Like when a rollercoaster goes straight down really fast—almost like that, just a lot higher up and with more at stake. :D The wind was deafeningly loud, and breathing got harder. But, as instructed, I kept my head up and my feet up (we were told our bodies should be in a banana shape for this part).

After the first seven seconds, my body decided that it was, in fact, not in immediate danger of dying and relaxed a bit. The intense feeling from earlier subsided.

Then there was a strong tug—the parachute had luckily deployed, and the noise from the wind almost stopped. We were now gently gliding through the air, but every time my instructor steered in either direction, there was an extra drop, and the rollercoaster feeling returned. It’s a great feeling! I was asked if I wanted to steer, and boy, did I! So much fun.

My instructor took over again as we got closer to the ground (I hadn’t even noticed—that’s how much fun I was having). We prepared by lifting our legs so we could slide onto the grassy landing patch on our butts. It was a very soft landing for me (cookies are good for something!).

My instructor did a great job—as he told me, he had already jumped more than 2,700 times. I almost felt silly for being that excited about my first jump, considering his experience. :D

All in all: an awesome experience! I would absolutely do it again!

As a reward for our first skydive overlooking Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki, we drove to a lavender field, where we had the most delicious vanilla-lavender-flavored ice cream! It was definitely one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had—just the right amount of lavender! Maybe we should have started with the ice cream to calm our nerves before the jump… but we did pretty well without it!Read more