Weds catch our greyhound at 12pm to Mission Beach.

Just over 2 hours later we’re in Mission Beach. Not a great deal here unless you are planning on partaking in some adventure activities....and of course we are.
Within a few hours of arriving we have booked ourselves onto a package to do a full day white water rafting on the Tully River (Full day! Up to grade 4 rapids! Eek!) topped off nicely by a 14,000ft skydive the following day. Andy also spots some familiar faces at our hostel....Jen and Chris (the fellow honeymooners from Cairns).

Thursday 26th Nov - White water rafting on the Tully River
On the coach transfer we are divided up into our groups. We are part of Team England/Rule Brittania/Team UK – YEAH!

Following a brief introduction and declaration on legal documents that basically means we have signed our life away and promise not to sue them we are kitted up with shoes (I have some fetching pink crocs and Andy has the lovely ‘german’ strappy/Velcro sandals), life jackets, helmets and armed with a paddle!
We learn 2 basic commands that are in frequent use throughout the day...”HOLD ON!” and “GET DOWN”

Each requires 2 different manoeuvres....but by the end of the day, these end up merging into one. Its just basic reflexes......when you sense danger you cling on for dear life and crouch at the same time!
All in all, it is a thoroughly amazing day. Andy had always wanted to do a white water rafting trip however i had always been more cautious (he is much more of a water baby than i am!) however I am so so pleased that i faced my fear and went along too! The first few rapids we tackle are grade 4 biggies, talk about being thrown in at the deep end.

Early on, the instructors get all the rafters out in the water amongst the fast flowing water to float downstream on our backs (we’re told to lie back, keep legs stretched out in front and use arms/hands to paddle – Well, thats all very well until the water starts spinning you around). I (Jules) am told no less than 3 times by a random instructor “Come on! Just swim like a normal person!!!” Highly embarrassing. The most challenging part is when we tackle a steep drop in the water....our guide takes on the role of safety spotter for this one...so we get to park up by a rock and watch all the other rafts go first...this is probably a bad thing. We watch as they are instructed to huddle together on the boat, let go of the raft and woosh down the rapid. And ALL fall out. GREAT! When it comes to our turn, we are unsurprisingly “bricking it”. Huddle....1,2,3....Woosh! Next thing i know, andy has grabbed the shoulders of my life jacket, tugged me up from under the water and is pulling me to the side! Phew. One girl in our group is more unlucky, and suffers the rare phenomena of being sucked into the downflow of water and held under!! Apparently it doesn’t happen very often...but when it does, its pretty hard to get out of. Fortunately, another guy in our group, Ant – manages to haul her out. Poor girl is traumatised (understandably). I can safely say i never want to be dunked into the water like that again. Jumping out off the boat is great fun, as is swimming around in the water. Getting back in is slightly more challenging. As Al our instructor tells us – grip on, kick like crazy and pull yourself in. NO CHANCE! I do however learn i am rather good at hauling other people into the raft by their lifejackets (yes, that is a proper technique when the kicking and pulling is getting you no where) Freakishly strong i would say! The rest of the day entails people partaking in some rock jumps into the water (Andy, not me) but luckily, no more being thrown into the water! We are treated to a yummy bbq lunch by the side of the river and have built up a great team spirit by the end of the day! A brilliant day out. Exhilerating, challenging, scary...but amazing overall!
The next day, feeling a little bruised (especially our feet, where you tuck them under the rubber panels on the raft to stay onboard...and boy do you want to stay on board) we are up at 6.30am, minds full of thoughts about our impending jump from an aeroplane. Picked up promptly at 7.30, we don’t really have time to doubt our decision. We are given declaration forms to fill in, wherein we accept we might be injured or you know, die on the trip. Great! No sooner have we arrived at their offices, we choose what photos we want, get introduced to our tandem partner (I have Marcel and Andy has Pierre or rather, moody pierre), are harnessed up and told a few safety precautions. Then it is straight onto the plane! No chance to worry, question it, or even go for a quick wee. Oh dear!

The flight up is really smooth. Andy’s instructor fails to make any effort at conversation, and mine keeps joking that its his first day back at work and he is hungover. Thanks for that! When we think it is almost time to jump, we are told we are HALF way up. The pilot dishes out some info about tricky air/wind/something conditions and the instructors all begin to shout instructions to each other “Take the left/T2/wing/circle/right blah blah” It doesn’t help the nervous feelings that are now bubbling up to the surface. As the first drop takes place, 3 people jump. It really does happen so quickly. Andy and I plus 2 others are going on the second jumpy. Before i know it, my instructor has shuffled me to the front, next to the door. He tightens my goggles around my head....and then i am shoved to the end of the door. “Hang your legs over the edge” is the last instruction i remember hearing, then it is pure cold powerful wind hitting me in the face. We rock back and forth a couple of times....and then.....I don’t even know what to say! Not a feeling of falling exactly....just being struck by the most powerful wind, making it difficult to catch your breath. I keep thinking 60 secs....60 secs freefall....and before i know it, the parachute has opened and we are gliding gently through clouds. Marcel exclaims “Oh good, the parachute opens” – Reassuring. After some rapid spinning to get past some clouds...I am overwhelmed by the view of the great barrier reef and mission beach below us. It really is the most amazing sensation gliding through the air, arms outstretched! Within a matter of minutes, we are coming in to make our landing. Legs raised up to my chest....Marcel puts his legs down and i just flop. WOW – WHAT A RUSH! Feeling totally light headed, i realise Andy is next to me (even though he jumped after me – that was a little disorientating!) Such an amazing experience, like nothing I have ever done before. Apart from my ears popping (and hours later still being deaf in one ear!) i am un-scathed....but just on a total natural high! Andy and I are over the moon that we decided to do it. We frantically swap stories about our experiences/what we felt/what we loved/hated – It turns out Andy is a speed junkie and loved the freefall. He wasn’t such a fan of the gliding as it was a little too much like a fairground ride. Also, it didn’t help that his instructor wanted to keep practicing the landing whilst gliding down. In Andys words “I just wanted to enjoy the view!!!!” . Contrary to this, i loved the scenic glide back down to earth! (not so much the free falling and difficulty breathing – i thought i was going to black out!) Brilliant – highly recommended to anyone that is contemplating doing it! The DVD is extremely embarrassing, but the only way i can believe i actually did it!

That afternoon we head down to Wongaling Beach for some rest and relaxation. Once we were all comfy we hear a guy calling out to us....”excuse me – would you 2 mind moving – skydivers will be landing here in a minute” We promptly shuffle aside, and sure enough they land right on the spot where we were! We are somewhat pleased to be able to reply smugly to one of the skydiving instructors when he asks if we fancy doing it! Its great to see people landing from this angle – we just keep reminding ourselves, that was us in the morning!!

Mission Beach was a great success – we had done everything as we had planned! With all the adrenalin rushing around, we definitely need a couple of relaxing days..... We speak to Jen and Chris a few more times during our time at Mission Beach and realise its likely we will definitely bump into each other again further down the coast! It really is nice when you see familiar faces again!