Skydiving on the Final leg

I wake up well rested, having enjoyed my first proper bed in what feels like a lifetime. The plan is to have a chilled one today the only thing on the books is a BBQ later by the pool. So the boys and I head off to Woolies to stock up on some supplies for later and a few beers. Once back I am straight to the BBQ to make myself a disgustingly large cheesy, steak sandwich thing, which is atrocious to look at, but tastes delicious. Once I have stuffed my face I chill in the air conned room doing some life admin and just enjoying relaxing and watching some TV. I have barely watched anything since I started travelling so is nice to take some time to do nothing. However, I soon get bored and head out to join the others in the pool and spend the afternoon playing different ball games. The main one being us running in from the side, catching the ball and then attempting to dunk it into our floaty ring. It is amazing how quickly a pool, a ball and some floaties can make a group of fully grown adults revert into children again. Later it is time for our BBQ and drinks. It is a nice chilled evening with good food, drinks and music, shared between friends, followed by what is another fairly early night.

The rest of the day is spent chilling at the hostel waiting for our bus to Cairns. Once we get to the Cairns’ hostel we check in and are in time for an event that some of the guys have been excited for since they heard about it. This hostel, being quite a party hostel, has a different event every night and tonight is jelly wresting. A kiddy’s blow-up pool is placed in the middle of the dance floor filled with a small layer of jelly and a group of volunteered girls change into underwear and white tee shirts before having a ribbon tied to their ankle and enter into the makeshift arena to wrestle in the jelly. It is a unique experience to watch, my favourite part is placing bets for drinks with some of the guys about who is gonna win. None of us get it right so no drinks are bought, but it is funny seeing how competitive we get over a stupid event just because there is a drink on the line. The rest of the night is spent having some drinks and dancing the night away before we all head to bed. We have a day planned tomorrow that I am very excited about, a day boat trip on the Great Barrier Reef with two scuba dives!

Breathtaking

It is an amazing experience I love every second, the free fall is such a rush, what a feeling and then the shute is pulled and you get the chance to float on down and enjoy the amazing views as you make your way through the clouds. Once we are down the others comment on how none of us can stop grinning from ear to ear. I have to say to anyone considering doing one but is a little scared, DO IT!! It is hands down one of the best experiences of my life. Unfortunately once we are down the clouds have really rolled in and we have a long wait until the final group can go. Luckily for us there is a local bar/restaurant we can head to for a drink and some much needed food while we wait. At last the final group is able to go and after we have eaten we head to the beach and get to watch them come floating down to land on the sand.

Some skydivers arrive at the bar before us!

The next morning we check out and head out for an activity that half of us have been dreading and the other half, including me, have been counting down the days to. It is time for us to go Skydiving. Most of the group have signed up for this one and we head over to the beach we will be landing on to get kitted out. The room is mainly filled with our group but there are a few others from the hostel that are coming. I get talking to a few in the waiting room: there is a nervous excitement filling the room as we are instructed to watch the safety briefing video. The process to prepare you to jump out a plane at 15,000ft is a scarily quick one. We are split into different groups after signing the waiver that this sort of place makes you sign – you know the one that says if we die it isn’t their fault. I am in the second group and it is about a 20/30 minute wait for the first group to drive to the airport and then get up in the sky. When it is time, the rest of us head to the beach and prepare our phones ready to see everyone land. It is great to see everyone pure buzzing once they are down, because it is now my group’s turn. We are fitted into our harnesses and are loaded onto the bus to the plane. I am surprisingly calm on the bus to the airstrip and even fall asleep on the journey. When we arrive we are forced to wait on the tarmac for a while; apparently it has got cloudy and the pilot wants to wait for it to clear. The skydivers themselves want to get up no matter the weather and soon enough we are loaded on the planes and getting strapped up to our professional. We are arranged on the plane based on weight, height and other factors and I end up being the guy right next to the door. During our flight up, there are some amazing views but my guy and the man next to him are playing around, undoing each other straps and stuff. At the time I found it funny, it is only after the adrenaline has worked off and with hindsight that I really think about how terrifying that is. Anyway once we reach the height we need I am first to go out, head resting on my man’s shoulder, my legs tucked under the plane, it is time. I am out.

Fellow skydivers

I'm out!

Coming into land on Mission Beach

Floating

Buzzing