Queenstown - Skydive attempt number 3...

So, on Friday, I threw myself out of a plane!

I FINALLY managed to do my Skydive, and it was worth every second of waiting for it! I happened to be booked onto the same dive time as Anne and Patric, two of the group that were travelling with us on the Kiwi Experience bus, so the three of us went up together as a group.

The plane was tiny - with the three of us, three professional skydivers and three cameramen, we were crammed like sardines into the back of the plane. I was completely relaxed the whole way up, and even when I saw Patric and then Anne disappear out of the plane I didn't seem to have any feeling of nervousness.

Then it was my turn...

My tandem skydive partner, Peter, was strapped to my back, and my cameraman (whose name I never did get) stepped out of the plane and hung on to a bar on the outside, while Peter positioned us on the edge of the doorway. Of course this meant that he was sat on the edge while I dangled with nothing below me and only Peter keeping me safe from a 12000 foot fall.

Then Peter moved forward and we started a 12000 foot fall!

I'm not (entirely) ashamed to admit that I screamed like a girl for the first five or six seconds (Norris, you would have been proud!), but that quickly turned into a more manly "Woo-hoo" when I remembered there was a video camera pointed at me! The freefall lasted about 45 seconds, of which I spent about 40 seconds trying hard to catch my breath, and almost completely forgot to do any poses in mid-air for the photos the cameraman was taking. I'm ashamed to say I did close my eyes briefly, but then realised how stupid that was and opened one eye so I could see what was happening. The other eye very quickly followed!

Once we got to a certain point (I have no idea how far we fell in freefall), Peter opened the parachute and we seemed to shoot upwards, although this was only the drag slowing us down and the fact that the cameraman fell away rapidly. After that we spent the next few minutes floating down and taking in the scenery. Peter pulled off a few tight mid-air turns for a bit of a thrill (cue another, very short, girlie scream from me!), and eventually brought us in for a very graceful (for me!) landing.

The whole experience was just amazing, and I'm certain now that I would definitely do it again, as I would know more of what to expect and probably enjoy it even more than I did.

I spent the next two days with a huge grin on my face!

The following day, while not as exciting, was still really good. I went on a Lord of the Rings tour around the Queenstown area. (Naomi decided that one LotR tour (in Wellington) while on honeymoon was quite enough, so didn't come with me). Our guide Trisha was a lot of fun and showed us some really fantastic areas. She also had quite a few replica props from the films, which we got to play with (take a look at my photo site to see some of these). The group that I was with were really good, especially the nutty Katrina from Germany who got photos of herself in some locations which Trisha told us noone else had thought to get photos in before! (We enjoyed watching her pretend to be a dwarf with three wargs trapped on top of her, particularly!) There was a couple from England, Ian and (I want to say Sheila, but I'm really sorry, I forgot your name!), another girl from Germany (whose name I have also forgotten - I'm so bad!), and Lin from Thailand. It was a fun group and we had some great times recreating different scenes from the films.

All in all, definitely worth the money. (Oh, and Trisha, you can buy the elf ears in the toy store in Queenstown!).

Today we went up on the Gondolas and went Luging, which was also very good fun. On the way back down we found an indoor 18-hole crazy golf course, so we had a quick round on that (I won!), before dinner, and now we're on our way back to the hostel. Hoping to watch the final Lord of the Rings film tonight, if we have time and the tv room is free, as we've watched the other two at different YHAs on our way down the south island, so really want to complete the set while we're here!

Tomorrow we get the bus up to Christchurch, so might try and post again from there before we head home. The end is in sight.... *sob*