Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

And today the one more thing to do in New Zealand got completed! Mother you need no longer worry. I've landed and all of my bones are intact!

I've bungy jumped, paraglided, canyon swung and now for the big one. I threw myself out of a plane and I loved every minute of it.

It's a fantastic day here in Taupo. The sun is shining and there is not a cloud in the clear blue sky. It's a bit cold but that is a common feature of winter so I can cope with that. It is on the whole a pretty good day to Tandem skydive.

We get picked up from the hostel in a limo and we drive off towards the airport, Anna has come as a spectator for this event. When we arrive we are greeted by a slightly crazy Welshman from Llantrisant. I obviously feel immediately comfortable in his presence and a lot less worried about the whole event. We watched the introduction and then it was decision time. What height do you want to jump from? The answer was easy. If I only do this once I want to go from as high as possible so 15,000ft it was. Or for those who would like it converted, about 3 miles up!

Decision made, I am dressed in a boiler suit and harness and all too quickly it becomes time to hop on the plane. Me and my Tandem skydive leader, Roy, are in the plane first as we are out last. The other 2 jumpers have opted to leave the plane at 12,000ft. We take off and take about 15 mins to get up to the first jump height. The door is opened and I watch my companions drop from the plane like stones. The door gets closed, the oxygen masks go on(!) and we spend another 5 mins climing to 15,000ft. Soon the door is open and it's time to go.

We are out of the plane in a flash and tumbling towards the earth. With me and a tall instructor it doesn't take long for us to hit terminal velocity of 200kph or 124mph! It was cold on the ground. At 200K's and 3 miles up it is absolutely freezing but the view is fantastic. I can see both the East and West coast of New Zealand, the volcanoes and all of Lake Taupo (New Zealand's largest lake.) We freefall for a minute and then the parachute is open and we slow down dramatically. I'm not only relieved that the chute is open but it's also nice to be able to breathe easily once again. (Me too!!)

From here we cruise slowly to earth and with me waving to Anna we come in to land and slide along the grass on our bums for a while.

It was by far the most extreme and best thing I have done. I would most certainly do it again but I need some time for my ears to recover. I still can't hear properly and I landed 2 and a half hours ago!

For everyone's future joy the whole cheek flapping, face-pulling, dribbling experience has been captured on DVD to a sound track of Top Gun, Good Charlotte and U2. I bet you can't wait to see it!

http://www.skydivetaupo.co.nz