Adventure stories from Australia part 2

When you are travelling, it is important to make the most of your time and to embrace new challenges. As mentioned in part 1, I used my time in Australia to get over my fears and take part in many new adventurous activities. Each time I emailed home, I had wonderful and exciting stories to share with family and friends.

Skydiving

What better way to see the world than jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet? Particularly when the views on offer are those of the Great Barrier Reef. You can do a skydive in many locations in Australia and I chose to do mine at Mission Beach in Queensland. This was, hands down, my best experience in Australia.

 

Mission Beach, Australia

We got picked up at our hostel early in the morning and were taken to the skydiving centre. Here we got allocated our tandem instructor - this is when you are praying you haven't got the newbie young instructor or the one that looks slightly crazy. After being suited up and safety procedures explained, we got on our plane. I would say the plane part of the journey is the worst. You sit on a little bench facing the back of the plane- my crazy instructor decided it would be a great laugh to sit right at the very back next to the pilot, and be the last to jump! Maybe he thought I was as mental as him! The plane is tiny and as you see it climbing altitude, it begins to quickly sink in that you are about to do a sixty second free fall before your parachute opens!

 

Me right at the very back

 

As you reach the correct altitude, a little doorway opens and this is when the fear sets in. If you are first to go, you are extremely lucky as you don't have to see everyone else fall out the plane. Then your instructor gets you to shimmy up to the door ( a bit difficult when you are attached very closely to him!). Sitting at the doorway edge is the scariest part because you now have no control. Before you know it, you are freefalling from the plane and this is the thrilling part of the skydive as you feel like you are falling for quite a while.

 

 

More out the plane than in!

 



 

Then, the instructor activates the parachute and you are yanked back upwards. This is when you have time to appreciate your surroundings, the weirdest thing ever is that from up here you see the curve of the Earth. After a couple of minutes, it's time for the dreaded landing moment. You might not think it's that a big a deal but this part terrified me because a day before my skydive a girl at our hostel ended up with a broken leg because she had not carried out the instructions about landing. What you need to do is really lift your legs as high as you can to allow your instructor to land first.

 

 

 

The moment we landed, all of us wanted to do it again straight away. It passes much quicker than you think and is the most thrilling experience I have ever had.

 

 

Tips for doing a skydive

 

1. Listen to your instructor; they are in charge of your safety. Remember they do this several times a day on a daily basis and have plenty of experience.

 

2. Pick your location carefully. Unless you are planning to do several skydives, location is everything.

 

3. You can pay for another instructor to jump alongside you and take photos as you fall. Personally I would save my money as your own instructor already has a camera attached to his wrist. My friends paid for the extra photos and to be honest theirs aren't that different from mine.

 

4. Don't scream all the way down as you will cover your instructor in drool. Remember he's in charge of your safe landing!

 

5. Wear suitable clothing and footwear. For girls, it's not a great idea to wear a tank top unless you want all your pictures to be pretty revealing! Stupidly, I wore a tank top and sandals - D'oh!

 

6. Thank your instructor - it may be their job and their hobby but they have just risked their life for you.

 

7. Embrace the moment and enjoy. It's a fun once in a lifetime experience and very worthwhile. You won't regret it!