Abel Tasman Skydive

                I have never been skydiving before, but it has been on the life-long-to-do-list for as long as I can remember. My dad was a paratrooper in Vietnam and did static line jumps both during the war, and after he returned home. In fact, he even took my mom on a date skydiving once! (If I hadn’t seen her certificate from her first jump, I’d never have believed it!)Andrew has already been skydiving with his family before but he was looking forward to jumping with me at Able Tasman both because of the view, and because it was going to be a longer free-fall – from 16,500 feet to sea level.

                The night before, we took the ferry out of Wellington to get from the north island to the south island where Able Tasman is located. The only available ferry at that time departed at 2:30am. So actually, the day of our skydive, we boarded the ferry at 12:30am in our house on wheels (they don’t let you stay with the vehicle so we got a cabin and a few hours of sleep.) We arrived in Picton, the port on the south island, around 6am and started driving to Able Tasman from there. I was actually quite pleased with myself because I drove the house on wheels down the narrow ramp from the car bay off the ferry onto land without scratching the house or causing an accident! It took about 2.5 hours to drive from Picton to the skydive airport and by 9am we had just secured the last skydiving spots for the day. We arrived just as the last group for the morning was returning and packing away their shoots so they snuck us in and made one more flight just for us.

                I think the exhaustion from the ferry travel that morning + the speed at which everything was arranged for our jump + Andrew having already jumped before and acting so calm = me with nerves of steel. I was really excited for our jump that morning and had every confidence in the staff at Abel Tasman Skydive. They had just completed three flights that morning and we were about to be the fourth, so no problems with equipment or weather to concern myself with. They got us suited up so quickly and on to the airplane that there really wasn’t any downtime to sit and think and talk myself out of things. We didn’t do any practice jumps out of a fake plane, we just got right on board and our tandem guides talked us through the procedures of jumping out of the plane once we were already well into the air and had only that one option to choose from. I know it seems rushed the way I’m describing it, but at the time if felt very step by step and procedural, like they didn’t want to overwhelm me with information so they simply introduced things one at a time right before the information was needed.

                The only “oh crap, shit just got real,’ moment during the flight was when our guides slipped oxygen masks on our faces and said that it was necessary because of the high altitude. I got a little worried about my ability to breathe enough oxygen while falling 200 mph from the sky if I needed supplemental oxygen while on board the plane. However, I didn’t have long to dwell on that thought as I was first to jump out of the plane. My guide told me to hold on to my shoulder straps, tilt my head back and tuck my legs under as I sit at the edge of the open door. I was told not to change that position until he tapped me on the back. Next thing I know, I’m looking up at the sky and he launches us out of the plane. Even with my head tilted back, I begin to see the mountain peaks around me. He tapped me on the back and I could now look forwards, side to side, down, and wave hi to the camera man. It was an exhilarating fall and I felt a false sense of security because I was so tightly strapped to another person that at no point did I feel like I was in danger. Instead, when the shoot deployed, I was filled with a sense of appreciation and amazement as I took in the landscape around me – mountains, rivers, ocean, beaches, wineries, fruit orchards, forests, and pastures dotted white with sheep. This was a spectacular sight and I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to view it in this way.

My tandem guide pointed out landmarks, named mountain peaks, and indicated the road that I came in on and the road which I would be departing for our next destination. Then he asked if I get motion sickness and I told him I surely hope not! He took it upon himself to then take us spiraling down at an enormous pace, took a breather, and then spiraled downward the opposite direction. Fortunately for both of us, I did not get motion sickness. (A rare and fortunate gift I have, further proven by the fact that I sit in the front seat of the RV typing this blog as Andrew drives us through a windy mountain pass.)

My tandem guide pointed out to the horizon and said, “See that white dot over there? That’s your husband.” Andrew had jumped after me and was continuing to free-fall long after I was gliding with the parachute open. I watched as he plummeted right past me and I had a moment to think, “why isn’t his shoot opening?!?!?!” Apparently, since it was Andrew’s second jump, his guide wanted to give him a bit more of a thrill and thus gave him a much longer free-fall time of 70 seconds!

                As we made our way closer to the ground my tandem guide informed me about the landing procedures. He simply said, “Lift your legs out in front of you and keep them up.”  So I did; I landed gently on the ground seated with my legs straight out in front of me. Despite having jumped after I did, Andrew was already on the ground waiting for me with open arms and a kiss to celebrate my first ever skydive experience.