Skydiving at Wanaka

I JUST WENT SKYDIVING. 12,000 feet, 45 second freefall. IT WAS INCREDIBLE. The view was amazing!!! We dove at 10 AM, in two groups with myself and Erikka going first, and KL and Caitlin in the second plane. We got all suited up and took some photos. I didn’t feel nervous at this point, just super excited! SO EXCITED!



I decided to get both a DVD and photos taken. The prices here are cheaper than in Queenstown and my “photographer” Ollie was super nice!! I’ll try to upload the video later, when I have free internet (if that ever happens!). The photos are so great! They guarantee 40 photos minimum, but all of us ended up with way more than that. I have over 140 photos of the whole experience, from before takeoff to landing and detaching.

On the plane flight up:






Getting out of the plane:



My instructor in tandem, Chris, was AWESOME. He was super friendly and made me feel 100% safe. He also pointed out landmarks as we climbed and kept me from freaking out as we gained 1,000, 2,000, 3,000… 7,000… 10,000 feet in altitude and all the way to 12,000. Around 5,000 feet, I thought we must have been close to jumping altitude, but we weren’t even halfway!!



We did a ton of spinning and flipping during the freefall, and then the parachute ride was SO beautiful. I got to control the parachute – it was just like flying a stunt kite, Dad, so I was really good!! I actually made myself a little nauseous from being too aggressive with the tricks, so Chris took back the handles and we landed super easily.









We met up with KL and Caitlin for a minute before they jumped:



Afterwards Erikka and I waited for KL and Caitlin to jump, so we posed with the other girl we jumped with. Look at our takeoff poses – head back, hips forward!



Standing by the van:


Posing in front of our trusty steed, the plane! We named it Rocky, and the little car they use to help tow it is called Bullwinkle. Teehee!



I LOVE SKYDIVING. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! NEW ZEALAND IS THE GREATEST PLACE ON THE PLANET!!

Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with some delicious pizza and beer. We polished off garlic bread and two large pizzas between the four of us. Very impressive!

Before:


After:


It was an epic finish to an epic morning, and it’s only 3 PM now! We’re going to nap a bit, and then walk around the town. It’s so beautiful here, I can’t wait to see more! In Queenstown we’re planning on bungee jumping, taking the luge from the sky gondola, and maybe hang gliding. So much to do, so little time!!