How do,

The alarm sounded at 6.30am and up we got to pack up our bits and pieces and have a quick bite to eat before we were collected.

At 7.25am, the 'Jump the Beach' bus pulled up outside Caravella 149 to take us to Mission beach to complete our skydive. After a dozy journey of nearly 2hrs, passing only hills, mountains and sugar cane fields (there appears to be nothing in between each town in Queensland), we arrived at the airfield and base camp of the 'Jump the Beach' company. Immediately, we completed forms and had paper work checked - ensuring we'd provided numbers of emergency contacts, should the worst happen..... There were about 8 other people in the group and as you can imagine, the small planes can only seat a couple of jumpers and jump masters at a time. The way it worked out was that we were in the '4th load' - which basically meant, that we wouldn't be jumping until later in the day.

Anyhow, as the first load took off, we hopped back in the bus and took our luggage up to 'Scotty's' - the hostel where the three of us were staying for the evening. We literally dumped it at reception and then got told by the bus driver to hop back on the bus again quickly and we'd get to the beach in time to see the others land their jumps. So off we raced and pulled up just in time.

Way up in the sky, small dots were falling from the sky and right at that point, the first chute opened...and then the next, and the next. One by one, they swooped down over the beach and landed right in front of us. With slight crash landings (they didn't lift their legs up enough!), I was glad to see that they still had big grins across their faces. The camera guys raced to the landed passengers and gave them their final 'interviews' before they all gathered the opened chutes and harnesses and all raced back to the bus. It was a quick turnaround and before we knew it, the bus had gone!

We were told to stick around by the beach, have a bite to eat and that in an hour, the bus would come back to collect us. We did just that. After a sarnie, some juice and a game of cards, it came back - on the dot. Again, all the jumpers scrambled on the bus and as we closed the door behind us, we raced off to another beach. It turned out that there was a second landing spot and we were going to watch some more jumpers land. We got there a minute or two early, which luckily meant that we could watch the plane approaching the jump spot.

It was hard to actually see the plane - a tiny speck way up in the clear blue sky. Once we'd spotted it, we had to keep our balance and focus on the thing until the people actually started jumping out. Just then - the first person jumped. It was like watching a raison fall from the sky. A tiny dot, way, way up in sky.

Once they had landed, we raced to the bus again and we were back on the road, heading back to the airfield. As soon I jumped out, Igor (my jumpmaster) grabbed me, harnessed me up and proceeded to stick a camera in my face and start my interview! I had opted for the DVD and photo package, which meant that I had a full 'handicam' DVD made of my whole jump and then stills would be taken from the footage to make 50-60 photos of my jump. I was getting excited but still there was a little appreahesion as it was a year ago since my first sky dive.

"What are you here to do today then, Miffy?" said Igor. After several more questions we got pulled towards the plane.....a PINK plane! I laughed but at least Becki was happy.....we were off.

Becki was first in the plane - which meant she was last out. Kara and her bloke were next, followed by Me and Igor and finally a random guy that was jumping with stinger suit, a snorkel and fins on (!!). We were in and the perspex door was still wide open. The plane started racing along the runway (door still open) and it got faster and faster, before finally taking off (perspex door still slightly open..) Becki was clinging on for dear life. Igor got the camera out and started filming us again whilst sorting out the buckles on my back, attaching me to him, in preparation for the jump.

We climbed higher and higher and higher. The fields below turned into coloured specks and suddenly, we could see right up the coast of Northern Queensland. The day was perfect - clear blue sky, sunny and hardly any wind (although you could have fooled me with the turbulence we had...). The view was totally jaw dropping.

At that point, the engines seemed to cut out slightly - they hadn't - but it meant it was time to jump. We had reached the grand height of 14,000ft and now we had to chuck ourselves right out of it and free fall for 60 seconds, at over 140mph until we could lauch our chutes.

Scuba man had gone.... it looked as though they had been sucked out. He was long gone... and it was now me sat on the metal step at the edge of the pink plane!

Igor sat behind me and I rested my head back on her shoulder. She got her handicam out and said, 'Wave at the camera!'. I managed a big grin and a wave (I think) and then it was time for the 'rocks'. She rocked me forwards, then backwards and on the next forwards, out we went....."ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"!!!!! We were out, and hurtling towards the ground. After the initial tumble out, where we did several rolls, we righted ourselves and were falling on our fronts. I remembered my instructions and made myself into the 'banana shape', ensuring my legs were up at the back and arms were splayed at the font. It was the best feeling in the world.

My mouth was really dry from the speed of the air racing past it and I could feel my face flapping around from the G-Force! But even then, the view that I saw and the buzz that the fall gave me, was just incredible. 60 seconds seemed to pass in no time at all and suddenly, I felt a jolt. Igor had opened the chute and I was now hanging upright, instead of laying on my front.

"Take your goggles off now - enjoy the view!", said Igor who, for some reason had informed me that he was gay just before i got on the plane. Congratulation mate, I pleased for you! So, I did just that a couldn't believe it. Id just had the most amazing experience and buzz of my life and now I had at least 5 minutes to take in the breathtaking view of the Great Barrier Reef and the stunning coastline beneath me. I saw two turtles which was cool. The camera was constantly there and we had a chat to it and laughed a bit.

The beach was getting closer and closer and it was nearly time for the landing. I practiced my 'legs up' technique and in a couple more seconds, we swept over the palms on the beach and were coming in to land. Legs up........and down......I came to a jogging halt! We were down and we'd survived!! Kara and Becki would be landing some. They came over and we all grinned together! I had my final interview with Igor for the DVD and then proceeded to take off my harness.

How AWESOME!!!! We all wandered back up the beach and it was again, a quick hop in the bus back to the base. This time however, we were dropped off at Scotty's as we'd finished what we'd gone there to do. Igor said that all the DVD's would be dropped off later in the day, so we had them to look forward to watching that evening. We were all given certificates to say we'd completed the jump and then we said our goodbyes before heading to our new room.

The hostel was really nice - much nicer than up in Cairns. It was more chilled and everyone seemed relaxed, lounging around the pool. As we were all so exhausted from the jump, we dumped all of our stuff and went and dossed in the lounge area by reception. We noticed a sign for a BBQ that was taking place that evening and so rather than attempt to cook, we signed ourselves up for that -something to look forward to - our first Ozzy BBQ!

At around 5.30pm, the DVD's finally turned up and so the three of us ran to the TV room and there was some lads watching football the premiership! So I joined then and told the girls to come back later!

We were well chuffed with the footage - it's amazing how quickly you forget the whole thing and watching them brought back all the excitement straight away.

That evening, we enjoyed the BBQ - Raw Steak, tatties and salad mmmm! - and then after watching a bit of the fire show (a lame version of the poi show in Thailand), we headed for bed. It was our last evening all together, which was quite sad, but we didn't have the energy to go out and celebrate... I think the previous Saturday night was still in the system!

Morning came and after breaky, we said our goodbyes to Kara, (who was heading back to Cairns before going up to Darwin) and set off for the bus stop where we'd get our first Greyhound down to Townsville. The 4hr journey passed really quickly - even though the scenery consisted only of fields, fields and more fields - and we arrived in Townsville at 1pm, ready for our ferry at 2pm to take us off to Magnetic Island.

The next leg of the Ozzy trip was about to start!!.....

Bye for now

Miffy x x x