Skydive!

From Cairns we headed south down the famous Australian east coast. Our first stop was a place called Mission Beach just a few hours south of Cairns. Mission Beach is a nice little tourist town right next to the beach, hence the name. It is also one of the best places in the world to skydive. This was the main reason we went there. In addition to skydiving Mission Beach it is the closest access point to Dunk Island, a small resort island just off the coast. We didn't visit Dunk Island because we didn't have time or money, but I saw it from above while skydiving!

To skydive has always been one of my biggest dreams. I was therefore very excited when we arrived. The skydiving company that I booked with had a resort right next to the beach and we could stay in our car there for free the night before I had my jump. The next morning we walked down to the beach and watched the other people that had jumped before me. We could see them coming out of the clouds with the parachutes and then slowly landing on the beach in front of us! We then returned to the resort and I had to watch a video about what I needed to do when I was exiting the plane and landing.

I then watched the instructors pack their parachutes that we were going to use. Everyone that skydives for the first time needs to jump together with an instructor that is attached to you during the whole jump. This is called Tandem skydiving. My instructor was named Sinno. In addition to the skydive I also paid for a video on DVD of my jump and it was my instructor that was the camera man as well. He fitted me in a harness and we got on the bus to the airport together with the other people that were jumping with me. When we got to the "airport" witch was not much more than an airstrip and a tiny plane we got off the bus and into said plane. Somehow we all fit inside and the plane took off.

As the plane climbed towards 14.000ft. (4267 meters) my nerves grew steadily. I tried to look out the window and marvel at the beautiful view of Mission Beach and Dunk Island, but my thoughts always went back to what I was about to do! Jump out of a tiny plane at 14.000 feet! As we reached our altitude they opened the side door of the plane and the first groups began to jump. I was number four of eight. I think it was a good thing that the instructor just jumped out with us without asking if we were ready. I think we all would have said no.

As I sat there on the edge of the door feeling the wind rushing past and looking down at the earth below I wondered what the hell I was doing. Then I was falling. The first few seconds I got that feeling you get when something is incredibly scary, then it all came into focus and I could enjoy. Jumping from 14.000 feet means over 60 seconds of free fall. It is almost impossible to describe the feeling of falling towards earth at maximum speed. I remember it hurt my ears a lot, that it was hard to breath and that the view was incredible, especially after we passed the clouds. Then all of a sudden my instructor had opened the parachute and we were falling at a much more relaxed tempo. I remember thinking about the fear of the parachute not opening during the flight up, but not once during those 60 seconds did it enter my mind.

Once the parachute opened it was a lot easier to look around and really enjoy the view. The instructor showed me how to turn the parachute left and right as we slowly descended towards the beach. Suddenly I could see Annina down on the beach taking photos of me as I was coming closer and closer. It only took about 5 minutes with the parachute open before we landed and afterwards it felt like it all had happened in an instant. After the jump I got my DVD and I watched the whole thing again. I have now encoded it and uploaded it for your viewing pleasure. I know it's cheesy. Enjoy!


Direct link and download options: http://vimeo.com/13240300

In the afternoon we walked along the beach and made some photos before getting in the car and heading south again. On the way out of Mission Beach we saw another Cassowary. We stopped and took some photos as it crossed the road and into the woods. Our next stop is Airlie Beach and the Withsundays, but I will write about that in another blog post.