240 kph straight................Down!!!

Hey!
Well I can finally post after a crazy weekend and crazy start to the week!!

First off let me say that my friends are fantastic in all they do and say :) What a true blessing they are to me.

My Friday was good, I worked all day to cover saturday off. It was pretty slow actually but it was okay. That night my flatemate went to climbing and decided to bolder all night. Man that was some crazy stuff. We went all the way round the bottom of the massive hanger, it got so hot and there was no one around so I took my shirt off. Murphys Law some girls show up whilst we bolder round, giggly ones, you know the sort. It was a good workout for the hands fingers etc, my flatmate got a big blood blister and I got a few good blisters myself. Think that we will invest in some climbing tape, don't really fancy smashed fingers and hands. By the end of the night we had really pushed ourselves which was good, and got a little technique down. The little giggly girls started to take pictures of us, which creeped me out a bit, the curse of the digital age!! Meet this Japanese guy who was pretty good for only having climbed about 2 years, Takayuki I think was his name.

Saturday was wierd as I couldn't get to sleep Friday night, and then woke really early and had to get up. I got up early to prepare stuff, do washing etc The morning of Saturday was spent just getting things ready for the party that evening. We set up the BBQ and rearranged the furniture to give more space. Set up the stereo and tables for food.
The plan for Sky diving was to drive further south of the city at about 2:00pm, but it got delayed with the wind till 3:00. 3:00 Came and went and we got a call from them that the last window of opportunity was 5:00pm, so we drove all the way there and while driving it started to rain - wasn't very promising at this stage. When we arrived it had been cancelled due to the rain:( So we decided to book for the next day, Sunday morning at 11:00. We then drove and picked up some friends that didn't have transport to my B'day party, when we arrived back at our flat there was already about 7 people there. It just grew from there, ended up being 27-30 people which was nice. It was funny because these people were all from different parts of my life, uni, old high school and old town, close friends, friends from all over.
We had heaps to eat, was surprised because didn't know if we were going to have enough.
Got some cool presents, one was a coffee maker from my parents, I love a good social coffee.
Also random mixer from my brother, he told me it was stolen - it was! But not by him, it had already been paid out by insurance before it was found by the police, thus he got it for me. Its quite cool.
My 21st party was awesome, though it was hard because everybody was asking me questions all the time and at the same time!!!
It went till not too late(2:00am), only for the reason that my flatmate and myself were jumping the next day and needed at least a little sleep.

Sunday was my actual Birthday (Nov 6th) so my Brother kindly woke me up early and him and his Fiancé took me out for breakfast, which was nice. Straight after which I took off for the Skydiving, at this point I had kept it out of my mind so as to not get nervous.
We drove to the little place they have set up for the skydiving. We signed our indemnity forms and lives away, paid our money and we were put up on the board. I was going to jump with Laslow and my mate with Jamie the two Jump masters on that day. We had a friend who came with us to jump and he went up in a flight before ours, because he had to leave early for work. He got suited up into his jump suit and he looked funny! We took some pics of the plane as it took off, don't know how they'll come out.
We waited around and the sun came out and it was boiling hot, I was starting to think about the jump myself at this stage. We got suited up in these funny but cool jump suits, and did a jig!
Our friend came back from his jump and he was pretty excited but was white as a sheet, though he didn't want to admit it!! :)
It was now our turn to do it, we walked out to the plane with the jump masters and got told what we were to do when getting out of the door, where to put our feet, heads and hands!
We crammed into the little plane and it surged forward and lifted into the sky, soon we were climbing. I had the 'window' seat, the one with the jump door beside me and its clear so you can see right the way down. It was brilliant to see the view as we acended, the goal altitude was 12,000 feet in the air. It was cool because I was sitting beside the pilot and saw the altitude increase and watch as we went through the clouds and over the clouds. And then higher yet, till about 10,000 feet the three minute signal was given, I thought "Three minutes to go" I was surprisingly calm. My Jump master Laslow then got me to put my hat on and started to attach my harness to his. This was a bit of a mission and was quite interesting to get into the position ready to jump. Laslow then leans forward once he has me ready and asks "You ready?" I replied "Yeah", then he said "Alright, happy birthday, its going to be a good jump. Hold your hands here, feet out there and head back" I'm like "OK". At which point I'm thinking right I'm here lets do this thing, I can't go anywhere but down now so just hold on. The door opens and the wind is loud and rushes by frantically, I put my feet out I thought my shoes were going to get blown right off! I then did what I was supposed to do, Feet, hands and head. The next thing he threw us out the door - I took a breath, the feeling you get when you fall suddenly~! But the very next moment was one of the best feeling you will ever have, you are falling but its like your floating!!! IT WAS INEXPLICABLE!! You cannot believe how incredible it was, hurtling downward toward the cloud and then spinning left and then right as Laslow was making us. Not long and the cloud was fast approaching, I found out later at something like 240kph!, we hit the cloud and it was instantly cold and wet on the skin. The cloud was thick and damp and while we were still in it Laslow pulled the chute!! We free fell 6,000-8,000 feet in but only a few seconds! The next part was cool but not the raw rush of adrenaline as the free fall, we parachuted to the landing zone. At this point Laslow asked if I wanted to do some spins, I said "Yeah!" he was like "Wicked!" We spun and spun, I could feel the blood going into my feet (I still had my shoes which was good). This was fantastic, it was the total opposite to the free fall, quite, serene and controlled. I enjoyed the free fall more though, the parachuting down to the landing zone was nice especially when we did tricks, and the scenery was brilliant!
When we came into land Laslow told me how to have me legs, I did as I was told and we landed perfectly!
I was just smiling from ear to ear and I turned shook Laslow's hand, and thanked him for one of the most fantastic things he'd just allowed me to do!
I can still feel the feeling of free falling at 12,000 feet, its a memory I will always have and hope to have again!
IF there's one thing physical you can do in life, do skydiving!!

After that the rest of the day I was just in awe of what I had just managed to do!!

Needless to say I'm still smiling about it now :)
Thanks for the well wishes, my birthday was superb, due to Great friends, a Great God and a Great family,
To you all~
David


PS: will get those pics developed tomorrow, soon as :)