Written 13th September 2011

G'Day! I'm ALIVE!

So Sunday 11th September 2011! 10 Years ago we all stood still and I watched horrific events unfold in New York on the news from a classroom at St Josephs, now though, I was about to jump 14,000ft out of a plane in the blue skies over Sydney.

When I arrived in Sydney I was chatting to the travel desk in the hostel and one of the activities they offered was a Skydive! Now… I know that everyone at home, including myself, thought I would possibly do a Bungee Jump while on my travels but I don't think anyone expected me to jump out of a plane! However, I couldn't resist, I was confident, up for it, itching to do it, what ever you want to say so I booked it. Then I had 4 days to contemplate, think, s*** myself about what I had done! I decided I would keep it quiet from everyone at home but had mentioned to Grandma that I was looking at it. She knows everything J Anyway, from then on I kept it quiet from people and only sent dad a picture of the sky when I was walking to the pick up point along with a message saying "Guess where I am going….?"

So we were picked up at 11am and drove about an hour out of Sydney towards the Blue Mountains. When we got there we checked in and then had about an hour wait watching planes take off and land, divers go and come back (which put my mind at rest) and lots of people slide around on little skateboards practicing formations. Then my name was called and I was dressed in a jump suit! My Tandem professional, Mick Hill, has completed 12,000+ jumps so I recon I was in pretty good hands. He has even jumped out of a plane with celebrities, including Kesha who is apparently a singer…He harnessed me up, bloody tight ill tell you, and then gave me a prep talk about what to do. This basically was, cross your arms when we leave the plane, lift your legs when we land and have a good time! He was well impressed I had done indoor skydiving before!

We then had a little interview before heading to the plane. It was tiny! About 16 of us all piled in sat on top of each other! I had the best seat ever, right next to the door. When you take off you go backwards and the plane climbs very steeply. There was no seat belt check, life jacket demo or little lights to show you where the nearest exit was, "that could be behind you". It was pretty bloody obvious where the nearest door was to me though as I could feel the wind and see the ground getting further and further away. At around 7,000ft we hit the thin layer of cloud. This is when it kind of became real! Up until then I was fine, I wasn't that bothered, nervous, or scarred, I just wanted to do it! You can see in the video during the 'half way interview' I close my eyes and shake my head, that's when I realised I what I was doing and that the only way was down! Mick then fastened us together and a few minutes later the 3 min light came on, the door was opened and freezing air rushed in. With 1 min to go Mick put my goggles on……. Green light! 4 experts jumped first and showed me how to do it, they made star shapes and everything! Before I could blink I had been shuffled to the edge of the plane and was now hanging out! Mick thrust the camera in front of me, told me to smile and give a thumbs up, which is hard to do when your hanging out an aeroplane, and then we went! The feeling was INCREDIBLE, just twisting and falling for about 5 seconds before we levelled out and then continued to fall for around 40 seconds above the clouds! It was sooo good! You are going that fast it is hard to breathe and the adrenaline rush is mad! I was waving, giving thumbs up, spinning, LOVING IT! After around 40 seconds we hit the cloud, just as we entered I Mick pointed to our shadow on the clouds, it was outlined by a rainbow! Before I knew it we were through the cloud and could see the earth! That's when you realise your falls down to ground! It was amazing!! We fell for about another 15 seconds and I just had time to fit in a superman pose before Mick pulled the magic chord and we flew upwards as the parachute opened! Phew!

Then you are just hanging, it was surreal! I felt like I was floating, but I suppose I was flying! It was such a clear day I could see the city, coast and a massive orange X on the floor! That's where we were heading to. Mick then gave me the Parachute handles, I was in control! I pulled down on the left and we whizzed around to the left, then back to the right before pulling both at the same time to stop, kind of! That bit was really cool! Then Mick took over control and steered us expertly to the landing stop. With about 50ft to go I lifted my legs up ready to slide in on my backside but with about 10ft to go heard Mick shout, "Just stand up…" so I did! That was it… I had fallen out of a plane at 14,000ft, free fallen for 60 seconds, then floated down under a parachute for about 5 mins, rounding it all off by casually landing stood up! Mick let me loose and then I realised how good it was! I couldn't believe what I had just done, something tells me I may just have to do another one in New Zealand! J

I walked back to the office, grabbed a hot dog and then got my certificate and DVD! I absolutely love the DVD! It just shows perfectly how much I loved the whole experience; I don't think I have ever smiled for that long before!

UPDATE! I just remembered I didn't tell you where I was when I started writing this. Well, I am on a train which left Sydney this morning at 7.15am and I will arrive in Byron Bay at around 8.30pm! A very long day! Out of the window now I can see some rolling hills covered in gigantic very thin trees and the sun is just starting to set. On the train today I met Australia's equivalent of Grandad Dennis. Ken, aged 82, sat opposite me for most of the journey and had boarded the train when I was asleep. When I woke up he said, "Had a good sleep young fella! He then told me his life story, where he was going, to see his sister who has Alzheimer's, and a whole host of other things. He was a very nice man and even bought me a Pie and Carrot Cake for my lunch! After signing my flag he has just got off… Only about 2 and a half more hours to go!

Anyway, when I got back to the city I went back to the hostel, which I had checked out of in the morning, and picked up my bags. I got the bus down to circular quay and the boarded the ferry to Manly. Luckily I was there just at the right time as the sun was just setting. As I sailed away from the Opera House and Harbour Bridge the sun went down and there was the most amazing sun set, it was beautiful and the perfect way to round off a fantastic day. When I arrived in Manly I was met by Ebony, a friend from Kenya who lives in Manly. She works for Camps International and does visits to schools to promote the volunteering I did in Kenya to Australian kids! While I was in Kenya she visited for a few days to see what it was all about and now she ended up picking some English guy up from the wharf where she lives! We went back to her boyfriend's parent's house so I could have my own room and then went out for dinner. We had a good night and I shared with her and Xander all the gossip from Kenya and we laughed about what we did and who was there!

The day after, my final day in Sydney, I arranged to meet Alex from the hostel at the Wharf just after 12pm. When I arrived just after 12pm I gave him a call and woke him up! He had been on a night out and was hung over haha! He got up quickly and ran down to the ferry. Meanwhile I had a look around the shops, bought my Sydney shot glass, and went for a walk along the main beach! Finally, after 2 and a half weeks, it was actually hot! I sat on a bench in the sun overlooking the most amazing beach and watched all the crazy surfers do their thing, trust me the water is still freezing! I then went back to meet Alex and we caught the bus to, 'The Spit'. This is where a 10km walk back to Manly started along the beach, rocks, paths and though rainforests all the way back to Manly Wharf along the coast. We set off and after two stars on the map Alex called it a day. He walked back up to the bus stop, went back to the ferry and then back to bed! That is why I haven't really been going wild on the drink on my tour! Anyway, now alone which I preferred for a 10km walk anyway, I continued along the most amazing coast I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear, their were hundreds of beautiful boats, beaches to die for, amazing rock formations and cliff edges, plus freaky bush areas/rainforests, not to mention the views! It took me around 4 hours to do the whole walk as along the way I did every little view point detour possible, and enjoyed walking happily along by myself singing away listening to my ipod! I then met back up with Xander, Ebony's chap, and went to collect my stuff from his mums place. He dropped me back at the ferry, where I debated whether $15 was to much for fish and chips (I decided it was), before heading back to the city. When I got off the ferry I walked along the wharf to have one final look at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge before I left, I just loved looking at them, it was amazing to think I was there! I checked in at the YHA Railway Square which handily, as the name gives away, was next to the station as I had an early train the day after. I went back down the Base to meet some friends from before and enjoyed 2 free pints, because the bar man got totally confused with my 2 for 1 voucher, before meeting back up with Alex and the other Germans in another bar. There are more Germans here than Aussies by the way! So then I went back to the YHA and got a good night sleep before my early get up at 6:30!

I got up right on 6:30am when my alarm went off and went for a shower. By the time I had messed about, packed and checked the time it was 7:05am! My train was at 7:15am! I ran to reception check out and just about got on the train with 2 min's to spare. Then I sat on the train for 12 hours, just to travel up the coast a little bit! Little bit my arse! It wasn't too bad though, I made a friend! Ken, a 82 year old man from the Sydney countryside off to visit his sister who was in a home due to Alzheimer's. Something in common, not the sister part but you know what I mean! After I had woken up he said, "Good sleep son?" I suppose it was after getting up so early and being woken up during the night after someone I can only describe as, 'A tramp that checked into a hostel" was snoring all night! He had the full on beard as well! After that he told me his whole life story, treated me to my lunch of Pie and Carrot cake, I now like Carrot cake, and chatted until he got off. What a guy!

My time in Sydney was really good! I did everything I wanted to do and had the most amazing experience by jumping out of the plane! Seeing the Opera House and Harbour bridge was just magic, and I love the fact I actually went to see a Symphony there! I met some great people which meant I didn't do everything on my own and enjoyed my time in a 'hectic' hostel. The club, Oz Party bus and everything else was great to do. But it was still freezing and I was off to find some warmer weather a little bit up the coast!!!......

By for now,

Tom