Terminal Velocity - If you're not living on the EDGE, you're taking up too much space!

Man am I glad to be alive!

We arrived in Mooloolaba on Monday around 2pm, after dropping some people off at The Australia Zoo (Home of Crazy Steve Irwin - 'Crocodile Hunter') - I didn't fancy it after we'd already been to Currumbin and I thought the chances of the nutter being there were pretty slim anyway, and he wasn't after all. After settling into the hostel we found it to be, in all honesty, pretty ringful. The showers/toilets smell of egg, our room is hot and smells of sweat, and I've had run-ins with cockroaches, huntsman spiders and a lizard in the 2 nights we've been there. Oh and you can't have fun, go on the balconies or make any noise whatsoever after 10pm. You can't even laugh at the TV. It's pretty rubbish.

We had a look around the town and although there's a few more high-rise buildings than in Byron, it's extremely nice and the beach is gorgeous, I really could see myself living here. Me and Claire have been discussing coming back after university and do a two-year working visa (also to put off paying uni debts - hee hee!), and this is one of the places I will definitely put on my list of where I would like to stay.

Monday Night - Went to bed without a care in the world.
Tuesday Morning - Woke up and thought: "Oh @*#%$. I'm jumping out of a plane today! I'm gonna be freefalling for 45 secs at 12000ft at 120mph! Aaaaaaaaagh!"

I looked out of the window at 5am and was disheartened to see a thick layer of grey cloud completely covering the sky. We weren't gonna be diving this morning! We got to the office at about 8am, and didn't dive til 3pm due to the cloud. This is because they aren't going to just drop you anywhere when they're flying over the ocean, they need to be able to see the beach. Thank God. Anyway, by 3pm I'd kind of got used to the idea that it wasn't gonna be happening today, so it was a bit of a shock to see the first group getting rigged up. Forty minutes later it was us. I was terrified.

Going up in the plane was bad, then when we got to about 9000ft my tandem instructor John (who smelled faintly of roll ups - yak!) was strapping me to him, and I was a bit more nervous. Then all of a sudden the first jumper was getting up and walking towards the door. Then the second guy. I thought, "I didn't realise we were jumping out so quickly one after the other!". Then Claire went. That was horrible. I just saw her fall and it was like she was getting sucked out underneath the plane. I thought, "Aaaaaaaaaagh! That's me in 2 seconds!" Then it was a forced smile for the camera, and I went.

It's the most undescribable feeling. Personally I wasn't having fun, because all I could think about was the air rushing past me, my cheeks shaking like hell (which, apparently, is the sign of a relaxed diver - yeh right!), my ears hurting from the pressure... I didn't give any thought to the sensation or feeling of the whole thing. I was so relieved when the parachute went up, and it wasn't til then that I realised that, despite all the pain, I'd actually had the experience of a lifetime. Then it was plainsailing. The coastal views were amazing and the sky was so clear, you could see for miles. It was beautiful.

Anyway, just to rain on the parade, I got back to the office to find out that John's camera had malfunctioned, and all my video footage was lost. I cried I was so gutted. They offered me a free jump, but I thought a) I'm gonna be delaying everyone if I do it now, b) We're going to Noosa tomorrow so I can't do it then, and c) It wouldn't be the same anyway. So I settled for a free t-shirt, group DVD, exit photos, 4 bottles of champagne and a laminated certificate. But I had no real evidence for those at home who wouldn't believe I did it, and nothing really to help me share my experience.

Once we finally got back to the hostel, after being at the office for over 12hrs, there was a note on my door:

"Christine F303" (Christine - grr!)
"Dianne from skydivers called, you can do a free skydive and handycam. You need to call Jo before 7am."

So I thought.... Sod it.

So there I went again this morning, got there for 7:30am, rigged up by 8:30am, then we had to wait for air traffic control til 8:45am. By which time it had clouded over. So I'm now waiting for a call around 1pm to see if it's all go or not.

But to be honest, I'm a LOT more scared than I was yesterday, and I think it's because I know exactly what's involved, and the pure fear of the first 3 secs freefall from yesterday is still fresh. This time though I'm going to try my hardest to forget all the stuff going on around me during freefall and concentrate on enjoying it. At least I'll have a second chance to do that, and let's hope the video works this time!

So now we've changed plans and we're staying in Mooloolaba til Friday morning, when we'll move on to Noosa. We'll spend a day and a night there before trekking on to Hervey Bay, gateway to Fraser Island! Ooh, exciting!

So wish me luck, it's my 20th birthday 10 months today so let's hope I live to see it! I'm really quaking in my boots now I think I'd better go and lie down.

Speak to you all soon, take care - I'll try to!