Tandem Sky Diving
New Zealand is one of the cheapest places to do a free fall.
It's also a country that I can trust to have a good safety
record. If you've ever thought about jumping out of the plane
and you're in New Zealand, then go for it!
I did my Tandem Freefall in Paihia, Bay of Island in the
North of New Zealand with Sky-Hi Tandem Skydive Ltd. The Tandem
intructor is excellent and really makes you feel at ease.
You can choose from 9000 to 12000 feet for your jump. I did
the 9000 feet jump, you still get an adrenalin pumping 30
seconds or freefall travelling at 200 KPH. You start off by
getting into your suit and are handed some goggles and a fancy
hat. Before you know it you're in the plane and taking off.
The views around the bay of island is superb, I tried to enjoy
the view and took a few photos, but always in the back of
your mind is the jump!
The plane stopped climbing and then slowed down. The door
opened, there was a lot of noise, the wind was strong, and
it seamed miles up. WHAT AM I DOING!! Well attached to my
tandem instructor we moved to sit on the edge of the door.
There was no going back at this point, I held on to my straps
as instructed and then we tumbled out of the plane. I briefly
caught an upside down view of the plane as I fell away, then
I was facing the ground and experiencing the wind. There is
a lot of wind!! I looked round and really enjoyed this odd
sensation. Evenually the Freefall can to an end and the instructor
tapped my should to indicate the chute was about to be deployed.
We slowed down from our 200 KPH freefall speed to a very
gentle drifting speed. However, we were still really high
up!! No fear of heights here and the views could be enjoyed
in a pieceful, tranquil way. We would turn left and right
and I took some photos of the ground, the view my left foot,
my right foot and anything else that seamed interesting. The
landing was gentle, I bent my knees up as instructed and we
landed at walking speed.
Everyone should have a go at tandem skydiving, is it excellect
enjoyable and I can't wait for another go.
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