StudyAbroad in Australia: First Free Day in Cairns

Well while all of you are about to wake up I figured I would get my blog for today done just in time for you to read. Today goes down as one of the top 5 in my life!!! I jumped out of an airplane at 14,000 feet going about 140 miles per hour, and I absolutely want to do it again! So, I guess I will start from the beginning and get back to the skydiving. After a late night it felt like an early morning to be up by 9, but I was so excited for the day that I was up and ready. I ate a big breakfast knowing I wouldn't want to eat again until after I jumped. I met all my fellow jumpers in the lobby after breakfast and we made our way to the booking office to meet our bus.

The bus ride was about an hour ride and they played a video of various dives during the trip. That was the longest drive ever and it made me anticipate jumping that much more. Once we got to the airfield we filled out all the necessary paperwork and listened to the safety instructions before we were able to walk around and see where we would be landing.

There were five individuals from my study abroad tour that went with me which made me a little more comfortable. Unfortunately, the planes were so small that only two people good dive at one time. Watching a few people go before me made me so excited and anxious to just get it over with. I was always way to excited to get scared or nervous. Finally my name was called! I made my way to get fitted with my harness and then Kim and I climbed in the plane with our instructors and we were off.

The ascent took about twenty minutes but it was a view you would never get in a normal plane. Once we got above the clouds it was like there was a blanket of snow with a bright blue clear sky. It was the most beautiful sky I have ever seen! I couldn't imagine watching a sunrise or sunset from up there.

Finally we made it to 14,000 feet, and then it felt like a split second and I was free falling at about 140 miles per hour towards the ground. The only bad thing about the dive was my ears popping on the way down.