As I was edged closer and closer to the now open door, I could feel myself resisting the strength of the man behind me but failing with every inch he gained. In any foot hole, groove or lip I tried unsuccessfully to wedge my sneakers in - to brace myself from getting closer to the door. Surely the strength of my fear would overcome the strength of this man. Of course, my weakened legs couldn't find the leverage they required. The wind began to whip my face not too long after clear Perspex goggles snapped over my eyes. After looking down, my eyes lost all perception of reality. This isn't real, I kept telling myself It's not real, this isn't happening…
***
The moment the crazed man yelled "Surprise!" from the bus window, a seed of fear was sown into my brain. A slight apprehension clouded my eyes momentarily as I looked at the effective marketing plastered to the side of the 20-seater - TANDEM CAIRNS. Turning to Steve for an explanation, the look on my face revealed just that - surprise!
"What is this!?", I said.
"We're going sky-diving, baby", Steve replied.
"Oh my god! I actually want to make it to 21", I laughed as we boarded our transfer.
There it was - the seed. The seed of doubt and fear was there as we waited for more reluctant tourists to board the bus. As we weaved through the undulating landscape to Innisfail however, ease recaptured my mind. Beautiful as it was, Steve held my hand and we casually sipped our Red Bulls. Rain distorted the windows every now and then and morphed the Great Dividing Range into streaks of green. Excitement squashed any doubt as I went through the experience I was going to have over and over in my head - the absolute thrill of an act that defies reason. Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good plane? As waves of doubt came and went that morning, I sometimes wondered the same thing.
The arrival at the sky-diving base in Innisfail bought me a strange sense of disappointment and relief at the same time. Combined in one overall feeling, I stared at the torrential down pour and couldn't be sure if I was happy or sad. Indeed, the sky-diving couldn't take place if it was raining.
Silently, Steve puffed away at the more frequent cigarette, his consciously calm face was giving way to his knotted stomach while he thought I wasn't watching. Indeed, the skydiving would continue and extreme stunts weren't his thing - at least not in the sense where he wasn't in control. I knew him well enough to know that jumping out of an aeroplane had escaped his list of possibilities until now. To his credit, it was my 21st birthday - he wanted it to be memorable and he was willing to join me in this to make it so. Adorning a sexy pair of stained red and yellow pants and my grey runners, at that point I was more worried about what I was wearing - I don't want to die looking like this.
***
…Of course this was happening - my feet were hanging lifelessly out the door of an aeroplane! My mind went blurry and all I could say was "No! No! No!" I turned my head to Steve, pleading with my eyes as I was yelling and grabbing at the fringing bars at the door. With all my might, I held on. With every bit of strength I had in those unclear seconds, I willed myself not to leave the safety of the plane. Still, the mans imposing presence attached to my back ordered me closer. The seed of fear that had been planted deep in my mind only hours before, had sprouted into an almost choking, incapacitating web of arms. Squeezing the breath from my lungs, my weakened body had succumbed to the fear - fear of death. What if my shoot didn't open? What if Steve's shoot didn't open!? Am I going to be that minor statistic? The ugly mole on the face of this adventurous industry? But...but…but all within a split second I was extended outside of the plane, and my wide eyes saw nothing but blurred streaks of blue and green, white and brown.
Uncontrollably, my body tumbled. In no way was it possible to restrain my flailing arms and legs. All of a sudden I was the sock in an industrial sized tumble dryer. I was at the mercy of the speed of gravity and wind velocity. It was in that moment, my body became the most insignificant thing in the world.
Just as quickly as it happened, my body corrected itself. Greg, the instructor with the crazy eyes, tapped me on the shoulder and forced my head back and my legs between his. This position had been described to me as the actual 'sky-dive'. Undoubtedly, I was scared but I was no longer as out of control. The land seem such a long way away - indeed, the land was a long way away and my disorientation of reality surprised me. We don't have to worry about anything yet, the land is still a long way away, we're okay. Our speed quickened and my frightened shrieks became distorted by my misshapen face. 200kms an hour had never felt like this before.
I had only goggles stopping my eyes from shriveling up. My cheeks wobbled and my mouth widened - it was only then I remembered the camera. Vanity briefly took over and next second I was forcing a broad smile in the hope my face wasn't too hideous for the future home viewers.
All over in one minute, sheer relief spread of my body as I felt the slight jerk of my parachute opening.
"Well that was lucky", said crazy-eyed Greg. We're not going to die after all".
Every part of me was tingling, my body was so weightless and my blood very quickly returned to my face. That was obviously the best thing I've ever done!
Undoubtedly, skydiving was the most exhilarating experience of my life! For all the craziness and fear that I felt, I wouldn't change it for the world - hell, I want to do it again. Thank you Steve for making my birthday an experience I will never forget!
www.tandemcairns.com.au
http://www.sydneyskydivers.com.au
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