Feb 21, 2010

Went skydiving again today! Vinny made friends with the manager of Skydive Mission Beach (Ray), the other skydive company in the area, and he drunkenly told Vinny and I that we can both have free skydives. We took him up on the offer and made a call to SDMB and they had no idea but called Ray and he said it was all good to go. We were scheduled to go on Friday but the weather turned into complete shit so it was rescheduled for Saturday, which turned out to be complete shit as well. Anyway, I sort of gave up and then was woken up at 10am to Claudia waking us up telling us that we need to be at the resort in 45 minutes. So, we got some tea and toast and started walking down to the resort… about a 5 minute walk. We get there, sign our lives away, and wait around for our jump. Jaime was going through the different prices for camera work and mentioned the prices for an outside jumper. I didn’t think we’d be able to get that, with a free jump and all, but she said that we could!!! I had really wanted an outside jumper with the first jump but I wasn’t given the option so I was so stoked that I could for this one. We waited around for a good 20-30 minutes and then got all strapped up and jumped in the bus to head for the airport. It was really nice to have another person to be excited with as well. Last time I was alone so I wasn’t able to get properly excited so with Vinny around we could talk about how nervous we were and what we were feeling. I felt pretty much the same as I did the first time… trying not to think too hard about it. We got in the plane and the same thing, not too nervous. I jumped with Adam. He was really cool, pretty young and made jokes to make me feel better about my nervousness. Not sure how they would help people normally, but it worked for me. He’d say that he forgot something or that something was broken. Or, when he was doing his check he was like, this is okay, this is okay, this is at about 50/50. I just laughed and was like, good odds haha. We chatted on the way up and he pointed out the rivers and the hostel and all of that from the plane. We were to be the third out of the plane and we were RIGHT at the door. When the door opened I wasn’t as nervous as I was the first time. I enjoyed watching everyone jump out. When it was our turn, we got to the edge of the door and I didn’t panic like I did the first time. The outside jumped hung on the outside of the door while he took a few pics. I just sat at the edge waiting for this short part to be over because this was the worst part the first time around. This time it wasn’t so quick but I wasn’t scared, so it wasn’t too bad. The first time jumping, the initial leap was where my stomach dropped, which I hate, but this time I didn’t feel it at all. I was sort of waiting for it, but didn’t notice it if it happened. Anyway, my mouth still got really dry the whole way down, probably shouldn’t have screamed or held it open in awe the whole way down. I was able to enjoy the view much more as well. We had talked about it before the jump and I really wanted to go through clouds! The idea of being IN a cloud is surreal to me, so I was hoping that it would happen and we were over a lot of small clouds so my odds were looking pretty good. said that only when there are clouds to you realize how fast you’re actually falling because it’s something to reference. Like, you see it, hit it, then are through it so fast that you’re like, holy shit, I’m falling fast. Anyway, as we were coming close to one, I was like, here it goes, here it goes… and then Adam pulled the chute! I didn’t pay much attention to the outside jumper until we got close to hitting clouds. As soon as I pulled back and started floating slowly, I saw the outside jumper whiz right past me and shoot through the cloud. There’s a pic of me with a shocked look on my face and the next is of clouds. I think that look is of me being in shock at how fast he was falling/how fast I WAS falling! Adam let me steer the chute for a little bit (didn’t get to do that with Dez) but I really just wanted to get into the clouds so Adam helped me get in there. We swung the chute around a few times and then straight into a cloud! We curved around in the cloud for a good 5-10 seconds, then out of it and toward the beach. It was sooo amazing! I was IN a cloud. I was breathing and chillin in the air, in a cloud! Wow! Then, cruising around he pointed out another diver, who was Vinny’s guide, so I was like, “Vinny?” and it was so we saw each other and waved, then kept heading down. When we got close he took the handles to steer, but he didn’t grab in the holes, so when I pulled my hands out he let go and started “panicking” that he lost them. I figured he was probably joking, but I sort of freaked out for a second or two. The landing was better than the first because it wasn’t in the water (even though I loved the water landing last time) but I landed on my butt and the last time I landing standing. We stood up and I was just glowing. There are pics of me right as I landed, me just smiling away. What an awesome job to have, right? You just take people on a crazy adventure and have them in an amazing mood afterward. I ran over to Vinny once I was unhooked and gave him a huge hug. He was so happy and loved it! He had been dying to go since he first arrived in MB so it was about damn time he got to go. We went back to the resort and waited around for about an hour while we waited for the DVDs. Once we got those, we headed back in a wonderful mood. Wonderful day! I wish I got to really thank Adam for the jump but it was all so rushed afterward. I’m pretty sure I thanked him, but not a GOOD thank you like he deserved. I’m thinking about going again in NZ.