This was published 12 years ago
Live blog: forced to wait another day to get over fears as skydive called off
By Stephanie Gardiner
Will do it all again tomorrow ... Stephanie Gardiner, smh.com.au reporter.
My three greatest fears are heights, sharks and travelling at more than 80km/h.
So there's no way I would ever choose to go four kilometres up in a plane, jump out and fall over the ocean at over 200km/h.
But today I am doing just that in Coffs Harbour - for work.
Skydiving ... Stephanie Gardiner will jump out of a plane in Coffs Harbour.Credit: Dean Osland
6.50am: The morning starts ominously when I bid farewell to my husband.
He says: "Don't worry. When you jump out of the plane it will all be over."
That's exactly what I'm afraid of I tell him.
He says: "Don't worry. You'll go shatteringly well." Comforting.
6.55am: I get on the bus to Wynyard. In my experience, bus drivers mostly love listening to classic rock or talkback radio. This morning my bus driver is blasting Ride of the Valkyries over the radio.
When I sneeze a man next to me says, "kaboosh", which I come to learn means something you say when something explodes, when this morning what I really needed was a "bless you".
8.25am: I prepare to board my flight to Coffs Harbour. Trying not to imagine that the next time I'll be on a plane I'll be wearing a jumpsuit, strapped to a strange man and leaping into thin air. My palms are already sweaty and I'm chatting like a fool to my travel companions.
10.00am: Landed in Coffs Harbour. The flight here was fine. But it was far from comforting to look out of the window and to imagine jumping. I refused the flight attendant's offer of choc-chip cookies and tea for fear of barfing mid-air.
I haven't been this nervous since the morning of my ancient history HSC exam, which goes to show just how fast-paced and extreme my life usually is. I spent most of my time reviewing the safety booklet and memorising the brace position - just for future reference.
11.00am: We arrive at Skydive Coffs Harbour and meet Tom and Julian, who will be jumping with us. I will be strapped to Julian, an enthusiastic guy, who asks how much I weigh two minutes after meeting. I'm hoping it's for operational reasons, or we won't get along. Julian tells us we're going to 14,000 feet where it's -17 degrees. Hmm. Chilly!
11.10am: We climb into our safety gear and get a crash course - bad choice of words - in jumping out of a plane. There's lots of instructions about tucking your legs under the plane, grabbing your harness and tilting your head back before leaping in to the air. Suddenly I really want my mum.
Tom and Julian promise lots of fun so I'm hoping this is all an elaborate prank and they will reveal a day of cake decorating, reading Jane Austen novels followed by an afternoon nap. But no, we walk to a tiny plane and jump on board.
The view is beautiful after we take off with clear-blue skies, crystal clear water and even a rainbow. When we're really high up, Julian tells me we're only halfway there. I want to cry but I give a pathetic thumbs up.
As we go above the clouds, Julian straps me on to him and I sit on his lap wondering if it is too forward to ask him to rock me to sleep. Tom and Julian talk to the pilot and they all decide it's too cloudy to jump.
As thick clouds gather and the sky turns grey, I pretend to be really upset as we come into landing and it starts to rain. Depending on the weather, we are going to try again tomorrow morning. I wonder if the Bureau of Meteorology will accept bribes.
Stephanie Gardiner travelled to Coffs Harbour as a guest of Destination NSW.
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