Skydive!

Well.. yesterday I waited around for hours watching my mates fall out of the sky.. it got me pumped. 14 of us (i think) were booked in to skydive in Wynyard yesterday.. the views are gorgeous.. we jumped over the coastline and landed at the aero club. I was happy to wait until everyone had gone.. and the more people I saw doing it the more I became calm and happy to give it a shot. I cant say I was scared.. just more nervous.. mainly nervous that the harness wouldn't fit.. but when i got it on I was set to go and pumped.. from that moment I had no nerves and no fear. Jumped in the plane and LOVED the plane ride up.. it took about 25 mins for us to get to 10,000ft (but i was told later we went a little higher than 10,000ft, not sure if they were joking) but anyway.. up we went.. I was wedged against the door of the plane and was the first to jump. I had trouble getting my feet out of the plane, not because I was scared, but literally because i was jammed in.. so when I finally had both feet out I was pumped and ready to go. I leaned back, took a deep breath and gave the dude a thumbs up... i was mad keen to jump! The next few seconds were a complete blur.. we tumbled for a bit and then finally straightened out and were free falling taking in the scenery.. then the parachute went off without the guy warning me and it scared the crap out of me!! It felt like we went shooting back up into the sky, but really we were just slowing.. then I had a shot at steering the parachute and that was funny.. the ride back down was a bit surreal.. i think I was just so terrified of the whole tumble bit that I wanted to be back on land.. the poor dude strapped to my back copped a mouthful of abuse all the way down.. haha but he just had a big giggle and assured me we were fine. When I landed it was the best feeling in the world. I thought I was going to die up there! At first I said 'I will NEVER do that again.. I HATED it!" and I was the only one out of all of us to say that... but then I got home and started talking about it all and realised how much of a rush it was and how awesome it actually was.. and now I am pretty keen to go again! I like feeling fear of that kind.. it was such a sensory overload.. I honestly cant explain what it felt like. Amazing really.. terrifying also! But yes.. EVERYONE should try it once in their life.. if I can do it - ANYONE CAN.

I guess for me.. I never really thought I would do something like that. I have always held back when it comes to extreme sports.. im goin to get a bit deep here.. its mainly because of my weight. I have always had issues believing I can do this sort of stuff.. and I did it because I needed to show myself that I can do it. I decided that skydiving is probably the most extreme sport around, and if I could show myself that I could do that.. then I could do anything! Im so proud of myself.. not so much for actually jumping out of the plane - that bit was easy - but for losing enough weight to do it and for proving to myself that I can. It is a massive goal achieved. The next one is international travel.. I have some concerns with that.. but cant wait to scare myself silly by booking a trip somewhere.

The best part about yesterday.. is that I did it with my friends. I can safely say that I would never have booked the dive if Bushy didnt organise it all. I knew I would have a better chance of doing it if I knew my friends were doing it too.

And in other news - I am now a full time teacher for grades 6/7/8.. WOO! The job has been in negotiation for a couple of weeks now, and this morning the principal called and confirmed. Im stoked.

Videos and Pictures will be posted on the blog soon!