SKYDIVE - MISSION BEACH

Day 14 - Monday 28th September

We slept just out of Mission Beach in a little rest stop near the main road out of town. Helen had decided today was the day that she was going to do a skydive, as Mission Beach offers the highest dive in Australia with beautiful views up and down the coast as well as the reef. I was hoping with any luck she would mull it over, get nervous, decide not to do it and I could quietly keep my masculinity. Unfortunately this was not the case. We went to a booking office behind a massive Cassowary statue, and within moments Helen was committed and it was fight or flight time for me. I did both. We booked on the 2:30 skydive and spent the rest of the morning very quiet as we parked up back by the beach to kill time.

2:30 came round fast, we signed our lives away again, watched a safety video which did nothing for the nerves. We met out tandem partners, harnessed up and bussed it over to Tully airport fifteen minutes down the coast. We had booked two guys to video the whole thing so after some slightly awkward interviews we boarded Skydive Australia's private plane and sped down the runway. Everyone was very quiet except the instructors who were having a great time. My instructor was called Brent, a middle aged silver haired chap with a calming demeanour, and my videographer was called James, a rock and roll looking guy who had just spent the last five years in London. I was pretty happy with my team. Helen's instructor was called Glen and her video maker was called Ben. They spent the whole bus ride and plane ride play fighting, I guess that means they were at ease. This even continued after they jumped out of the plane.

Anyway we climbed up to 14000ft. The views were breathtaking or that might have been the door rolling up and the air rushing out of the plane and me. We hardly had any time to think. The couple to my right within seconds were sitting, legs dangling over the edge, then within mili seconds were tiny dots below. Another couple quickly disappeared, then it was my turn. I didn't even get a chance to say bye to Helen who was sitting behind. I sat with my legs hanging out the door. We were so far up it didn't look real. Brent put my head back counted to three then rolled forwards. 

FUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK ! That doesn't even come close to describing the next few seconds. I didn't know what way up I was, even more air rushed out of my lungs and my face felt like it had morphed into Sharon Osbourne's. It all happen too fast to be scared. Within a few seconds I composed myself, forced myself to breath, put out my arms and began to process what was happening. It was amazing, I was flying over the coastline, the reef glowed turquoise out to sea, the sand was golden and the green landscape stretched as far as the eye could see. I caught sight of James who had jumped with us flying around us with his GoPro helmet filming the drop. He had a massive grin, what a job to have! The rush lasted for roughly a minute then James waved goodbye and Brent pulled the shoot. Within mili seconds James was a tiny dot below, then after an alarming amount of time he pulled his shoot. Apparently the film guys drop an extra 1000feet to give clearance and beat us to the ground to film the landing.

A wave of relief washed over me as I re-inflated my lungs and tried to get my head round what had just happened. We were gliding over the beautiful coast with the reef in the distance. It was beautiful and now I could enjoy it all without the fear of hitting it very fast. My face had retuned to its usual position however every bit of me was buzzing with adrenaline. Brent decided it was time for some parachute acrobatics. When we paraglided in India this would have caused my stomach to befriend my mouth, however after a minute free fall it was no problem.

We descended quite fast circling mission beach. I could see other shoots above and as Helen hadn't come flying past I decided things must have gone well for her too. We glided down over palms and onto the sand skidding to a stop. It was nice to have my feet grounded however my legs had turned to jelly. 

I watched Helen skid to a stop then wobbled over. She was as stoked, relived, and shaky as I was. After a lot of hi fives, we walked up the beach back to the skydive centre swapping stories with the other jumpers. Everyone had survived which was splendid news.

Something was wrong, it took a while for me to put my finger on it. Then it dawned on me, at no point had Helen been sick or even complained of feeling ill. Then just whilst lazing on the sofas at the centre Helen went very pale and quickly vanished into the toilets, obviously her stomach had finally caught up with her. Normality restored.

We made dinner next to the beach in the same spot as the night before. The moon was unusually big and low so we went for a long walk reliving the days adventure. We also climbed a really slanty and bouncy palm tree which was really fun.

*** VIDEOS COMING SOON ***

 (When we have strong enough wifi)