60 Seconds

*a.k.a – Anna’s Skydive: With 15,000 ft of Perspective

**a.k.a – That time I jumped out of a plane!!!

What. An. AWESOME. Day.

So much smiling!! Yes, definitely a day of grinning overdose.

I woke up at 8:45am and remember first pleading with my alarm clock in my head, “just a little longer…?” And then all of a sudden, it dawned on me that today was the day. ToDAY was the day that I was going skydiving!! Ever since arriving in New Zealand, I wanted to do a skydive. With every freefall video that I watched in the Blackcurrant DVD lounge, with every backpacker that had come through Taupo with the sole goal of jumping out of a plane, the anticipation had heighten – a LOT. And today, was the day. HOLY MAN was I excited!! And, with that thought alone, I was wide awake.

Lars and Bea (my two work mates at the hostel) got me so psyched up for the jump telling me how awesome it would be and how much I’d love it! I literally couldn’t stop smiling. Haha. I actually felt pretty silly – I mean, I hadn’t even jumped yet, and I was grinning from ear to ear!! My tummy felt like I had butterflies doing gymnastics in there! A mini gymnasium for all their somersaults, cartwheels, and tumbling routines. I was completely giddy.

I planned to do the jump with Leslie and Sophie, both who work at the Funky Green Hostel in Rotorua. The jump was scheduled for 2:00pm so I just hung out around the hostel with my boss Beth and the Taupo Tandem Skydive (TTS) marketing manager Bex who had set up the jump for me! Lars decided to come along too, and we both had our fingers crossed that he could do his solo jump from my plane. How cool would that be?!

Bex gave Lars and I a ride to TTS in her little TTS Cruiser. It was pretty cool to be chauffered to TTS with the main marketing lady! Even better than the van pickup!

Now, I think I forgot to mention that since I am working now at both Blackcurrant and Cybershed, and since we do bookings for Taupo adventure activites (such as skydiving), and because Bex and Beth are amazingly, fantastical women, I was offered this opportunity to skydive for free. No joke! I figured, in that case, that I would be given the actual skydive for free and then I could pay for my freefall video and photos on top of that. But, when we got to the Drop Zone at TTS, Bex informed me that I would be receiving the “Gold Package” – a.k.a. the whole works! Freefall video, Handycam video, Freefall photos, and Exit/ground photos. I couldn’t believe it! What a superb perk of working hospitality in Taupo!

I was still beaming from ear to ear, even as I signed my life away on the “Please don’t sue us if you die” contract. I met my tandem instructor, Andy, who has done so many jumps that he’s stopped keeping track! Andy, a born and bred Kiwi, has the typical “I’m a badass skydiver” look with a scruffy ‘tashe and beard, wind-whipped hair, and heavy, carved earrings. Andy helped me into my jumpsuit (under which I was completely layered up – thermal top and bottom, t-shirt, fleece and jeans – it gets chilly 15,000 ft above the ground!!) and secured my harness. The harness makes you waddle when you walk, but I was way too excited to care about my funny gait. I’m jumping out of a plane!!

Just minutes before we boarded, the solo-jumpers on-call were announce over the intercom and Lars was one of them! So, we were going to be jumping out of the plane together afterall! Super cool beans!!

The little, bright yellow TTS plane can fit 16 passengers. As it was a nearly full plane, I got real up close and cozy with everyone there. With Andy behind me and Mikey, my video guy, in front, I felt like we were three peas in a pod :-)

I was doing everything I could to take in the whole skydiving experience. Even the 20 minute plane ride up gave us a splendid view of Taupo and the surrounding areas. We could see Mt. Taranaki which is all the way over in New Plymouth – nearly 300 km away (about 185 miles!). I learned that skydiving on a clear, winter day offers way better views of the landscape than on a clear, sunny day in the summer. I guess the heat makes everything slightly fuzzy. So, basically, we really couldn’t have asked for a better day. And, although it was -8 degree C (so, about 17 degree F), I didn’t even feel the chill! I think the excitement of everything was an extra layer of warmth on top of my already layered up self.

The plane leveled out at 12,000 ft for a few of the solo jumpers and students to jump out. So, that meant a quick “see ya-BYE!” grin and wave from Lars and then he just disappeared! Simply tipped himself out of the plane and whoosh, POOF! Gone. I don’t think my brain was really able to register the fact that my friend just jumped out of a plane right before my eyes. My brain certainly wasn’t registering that I was about to pitch mySELF out of a plane flying 15,000 ft over Lake Taupo. Yet, I still had a silly grin plastered to my face – that smile wasn’t going anywhere.

Along with enjoying the view on the way up, Andy had secured the two of us together – tight! I had harness digging into my ribs, but that feeling alone helped to reassure me that I wasn’t going anywhere without him.

Before I knew it, the plane had reached 15,000 ft. Since Mikey, Andy, and I were at the front of the plane, we were the first to go. I had zero qualms whatsoever. Andy and I scooted forward and next thing I knew my legs were over the edge of the plane – Mikey was actually outside the plane at this point and the three of us posed for quick exit photo.



This part was surreal. My mind wasn’t processing everything that was happening so things are a bit blurry. If Andy had counted to three and said “JUMP!” I didn’t hear him. For the next 60 seconds, I heard nothing. Did we do flips? Spins? I haven’t a clue. For 60 seconds of freefall, my mind, body, and spirit were in system overload. Each one of my senses were being pummelled with pure, WOW. The one thing I do recall somewhat is seeing Mikey freefalling backwards, just below Andy and I. And I remember thinking, “I so want to try that!!”



The 60 seconds felt like 10. Andy pulled the parashute (and yay, it opened!!), and we were sailing through the sky. At this point, my brainwaves finally got up to speed, and the thrill of what I had just done had a ripple-effect throughout my entire being. I was laughing, catching my breath, and feeling a bit of shock at what I had just experienced. Pretty sure I let a 'Holy Shit' leak out, but turns out they edited that from the final video so I can’t be sure. Haha. But seriously, a 'Holy Shit' doesn’t even give a skydive justice. Holy Shit times 20.

The view as we parasailed was just awesome. I was in complete awe of how far and how much I could see! There still wasn’t a cloud in sight and the lake just sparkled. Andy even let me take control of the parashute handles and take the both of us for a ride! I cranked down on left handle, and we went into a full 380 degree spin. Then straightened out and took us the other direction – got a bit dizzy with all the spinning, but it was fun steering this massive green shute!

Andy brought us in for a smooth landing at the Drop Zone. Knees up, legs out, and we slid in on our bums. The parashute landed gently in a heap in front of us and Andy quickly unhooked my harness from his. What a ride!! I gave Andy a high-five and a huge thank you for an awesome dive. So much fun! And yep – I was still grinning like the Cheshire Cat :-D

Like I said. Quite an awesome day *grin*