Sky dive in Franz Josef with some Photos

Well as the title suggests I did a sky dive. I'm on the west coast of the South Island. I'm near the Franz Josef Glacier. This is the best spot (apparently) to do a sky dive. I've been working myself up to doing one for the last few weeks. Out of the bus load of people (about 45) only two of us were going to do it. I'm glad the booking was for the day after we arrived in Franz Josef as I had a horrific hangover when we arrived (from the poo party).

I was picked up outside the hostel around 1ish. It was only me from the bus to be picked up as the other dude was doing his in the morning. There was four others in the car as we headed up the road to the Fox Glacier. We would be diving over the Fox rather than Franz Josef Glacier.

As there was five of us and i was last in the car I was jumping last. Usually two tandems go up in the plane and therefore i was jumping with the guide on my own....... I got kitted out in a lovely jump suit and fitted into a harness. I was starting to get pretty scarred as I was finally realising that there was no way back now. I watched and waited for about an hour as the other two couples got into a tiny plane and took off. You could see their parachutes in the distance. The guides spin you around in the parachute and this was said to make even the strongest stomachs quite sick. I made sure I told my guided (an oldish guy named rod) that i didn't want to do anything like that!!!!!! I had to sign a waiver and the waiver started along the lines of "even though parachutes are packed by trained professionals, parachutes sometimes fail to open or brake mid flight...." Jesus. What was i doing????

After i browsed the posters for the flying doctor, instructions for how to fall through clouds, etc etc...the time finally came to get in the plane. Rod got in first and i had to sit in his crotch at the back of the plane whilst he strapped me to him. I was asking myself why the hell was i doing this??? We took off and as the plane was so small i could see out of the large window/door. As we got higher and higher i started to hold on to the hand rails and started to take deep breaths. The plane flight alone was pretty terrifying and rod was talking to me and trying to calm me down.

We flew up past some clouds to be presented with a view of the glacier. It was absolutely spectacular. Really amazing. We then got a really good view of the top of mount Cook and Mount Tasman. I couldn't really make out anything on the ground (although I was looking though half shut eyes). The time was approaching to jump. We finally reached 12,400 feet. Rod said that we flew higher than Mount cook. Rod pushed me forward and opened the door. I felt panic come over me as I knew that i was going to have to be the first out of the plane. The wind was blowing in, making it really difficult to breathe. I slowly stepped out whilst holding onto the bar above the door. I let my feet go and dangle below the foot rest At this point i dared not to look down and was holding on for dear life!!!

Rod then pulled my hands down and i dropped and was dangling off of Rod. I was panicking and trying not to look down at all. I felt really helpless and in the control of Rod. He then tried to get me to look at the mounted camera on the underside of the wing. At this point i couldn't move.

I listened to Rod say "here we go" and we rolled out of the plane. I saw the plane fly away above us and felt the sheer force of the wind. I was supposed to be doing the Banana (hips down and feet and head back) but i couldn't breathe. When i opened my mouth it felt like it was going to rip from the force of the wind. We were dropping at 120 miles per hour for 45 seconds. It felt like 2 seconds.... Rod later said that he felt me squirming and panicking. He was really good and tried to pull my hands up.

I final put my head back and could breathe through my nose. I relaxed and looked down. It didn't feel like you were falling or that you were up high at all. It just felt surreal as your vision was just fall of landscape, nothing like I've ever seen. I then felt a smallish pull and everything went quiet. I could hear rod and i looked down again. The river was like a silver stream and we were facing out to sea. I then had to pull my legs up so that my straps could be pulled under my legs. I was now sitting in the parachute and was able to relax and take in the views. It was an amazing experience. We were in a huge valley, with the Southern alps on both sides, the silver river running through the middle and the sea out west.

I started to chat to Rod and he was giving me some information about the landscape. It felt like we were floating. It was a bizarre feeling and it didn't feel like we were getting any closer to the ground. We practiced the landing. Basically we where going to land on our bums and so I practiced lifting my legs up (not that easy in a harness).

I never fully relaxed throughout the experience as I was worried that i would fall out of the harness. I just couldn't get past that fear.

I could feel the speed of the decent now and the ground was coming up fast. Real fast. I could make out the sheep on the farm below. I had the feeling that we were going to really hit the ground with a huge bump. We then pulled our legs up and landed. It was a really soft landing. Phew. I have never been so relieved in all my life!!!!! Rod unattached me from him and he said I could stand up. I found my feet and was quite shaky. My hands were going and I felt light on my feet. I sat in the car and i apologised for being a wimp. Rod laughed and said i was fine.

Apparently he does about 7 jumps a day and they start from 6 in the morning!!! I said he was barmy for doing it and he laughed. I had the shakes for the next few hours!!! I can't quite believe i have done it. I didn't have anyone forcing me into it and i did it completely on my own back. I just could have easily not put my name down on the booking sheet.

Its either one of the bravest things i have done, or the stupidest.

You hear the sound of the plane every so often, taking more people up the mountain for a dive. It reminds me of the experience and I thank god that I came out of it in one piece.