And jump out of a perfectly good airplane from 15,000 feet! I have to say, Skydive Lake Wanaka has a pretty catchy slogan going for them. So catchy in fact, that I bought a t-shirt with that on it, after I completed the feat.
Surprisingly enough I wasn’t nervous at all going into it. I had planned to skydive a few days earlier in Lake Taupo but weather did not cooperate, which worked out well for me as I ended up skydiving with four of my tour mates in Lake Wanaka instead. It was the morning after Christmas and most of the town was still closed. We took a short bus ride to the other side of Lake Wanaka, and signed yet another waiver of irresponsibility before getting into our lovely red jumpsuits that’s almost as flattering as all the wetsuits we’ve been wearing the past few days. While we waited we even played a game of foosball. If anyone were nervous they definitely weren’t showing it 😛
We were then introduced to our tandem skydive instructors, or “beautiful strangers”, as I called mine. Whether they are actually beautiful is up to debate, but I’m willing to call anyone beautiful if I’m going to be up close and personal with them while jumping out of an airplane.
The little red plane we are flying in was just that — little. Since three of us wanted videos of our experience, we ended up packing 13 people into the plane plus the pilot. Let’s just say I will never complain about leg space again.
The view from the plane was absolutely gorgeous. We flew from the bank of the Crutha River, which winds and twists through the wide open valley between the two lakes, Wanaka and Hawea. The water is so clear that we can still see the rocks that lined its bottom from a few thousand feet up. Guarding the valley and lakes were the mountain range of Buchanan’s and Mount Alba, where a heli-snowboarding challenge is held every year.
I enjoyed this for a bit, while acutely aware of how much higher we are going. It didn’t help that we had to wear oxygen masks as we got higher. As we ascended my beautiful stranger (he has a name, I think it’s Alan) strapped me in and I found it surprisingly comforting to be so very attached to a stranger.
One of our mates Josh opted for the 12,000 feet jump. The instructor nonchalantly said that we would drop him off at 12,000 feet and just keep going up, which was a very appropriate description. When we got to 12,000 feet, someone opened the door, and off they went! Not much warning, fanfare, and we didn’t even get to wave goodbye. Some time between that and reaching 15,000 feet, someone let out a really stinky fart, and in a closed cabin that was NOT a good feeling! So in the midst of the ordeal where people hurried to open the little air holes, we reached 15,000 feet.
The next few minutes (or maybe just 2 minutes) went by like a blur. The door opened, we slipped to the side, I held on tightly to my shoulder straps and put my feet under the plane, then put my face as closely to my instructor’s head as I could manage, and then before I could manage a protest, I was shoved out of an airplane!
The first two seconds were probably the scariest as I was painfully aware of the fact that I just got shoved out of a perfectly good airplane and free falling against some very strong wind. Then it occurred to me that I was very far from the ground and it didn’t seem to approach at any dangerous speed at all, and I became very excited knowing that I just “jumped” out of a perfectly good airplane at 15,000 feet. I started screaming and shouting random stuff (such as “hi mom” and “go longhorns”), and tried to make as much arm movements as my frequently dislocating shoulders would allow me.
Then, the parachute went up, and we began slowly floating back to earth with a very pleasant ride and view.
Skydiving is one of those experiences that you can’t quite put into words, and no matter how many pictures or videos you watch, you won’t able to understand it until you’ve done it once. And everyone should at least do it once! When I got back on the ground, I didn’t feel dizzy or wobbly, but when I had to do some push ups later (long story, but we are not allowed to say the word “mine” on this tour), my arms were completely sore because of the lack of adrenaline left in the system. Let’s just say this is one bucket list item I wouldn’t mind checking off a few more times!
We started our drive to Franz Josef, the final stop of my tour in the afternoon. Along the way there was a bridge, probably 15 feet high, and I was challenged to jump off of it into a beautiful clear blue river. That was actually a much scarier experience than jumping out of an airplane, and now I have bruises on both the inside (from the harness for the parachute) and the outside (from hitting the water sideways) of my legs as badges of honor for my feats.
And with that awesome WTFamIdoing face, I think I’ve fulfilled my free fall quota for the day (or year). Until next time!
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