3, 2, 1... jump!

Fox Glacier: 2nd February

Having spent the previous day nearby in Franz Josef where we were treated with blue skies, I had a good feeling about the planned jump. It was going to happen. On opening our tent door the morning of the jump, and greeted with fine skies again, it just had to happen. Driving to Fox Glacier, where our jump was booked, neither of us were particularly nervous. I was far more nervous, and probably more excited, in Taupo but after waiting for so long, we were both just anxious that it would finally happen. Ed didn't even treat me to a whole load more of 'what-ifs' this time round. Apparently, you should be most concerned about the plane crashing, not the actual jump. Information I just don't need.



So, turning up in shorts and flip-flops and being promptly laughed at, we changed into warmer clothing and our jump suits. Here we met Rod and Mal, our tandem partners who we'd be strapped onto and typical Kiwi adventure sports guys. They might have looked like clowns but I didn't care, just as long as they knew how to operate the parachute and land. So off we headed into the skies in our shaky, small plane. Luckily, I was distracted somewhat by a camera being shoved into my face, and more impressively the views of Mount Cook and surrounding area. When Rod pointed out that we were only half way up, at 6,000 feet, I did wonder if it was really necessary to go any higher, it looked like a long way down already. But upwards we flew. I volunteered to go first and promptly found myself hanging outside the door being told to put my thumbs up for the camera and then off we went. To be honest, I don't really remember the jump as I had no choice at that moment. The next thing I knew however, was the force of the air hitting my face as we fell to the ground at great speeds.

The actual fall strangely doesn't feel unnatural; being at such a great height, you can't see the earth and you don't experience a sensation of plummeting to the ground. 45 seconds later, the parachute was open and the free fall over. Shortly after this, we looked up to see Ed and Mal hurtling down and then suddenly their chute also being opened which was a pretty impressive sight. A few moments later however, on looking down I saw his parachute way below us between my feet and his landing. I blame the pies. He did manage to take some videos on the way down though which is more to be said than me.

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The rest of the fall was serene as we drifted down enjoying the tranquil views over the glacier. Rod then asked if I liked roller coasters, which I do. He handed me a yellow cord and told me to pull on it hard which made us suddenly turn so that we were parallel with the sky line. Pretty scary but fun. He said it was to practise steering, but I'm sure it's just something they do to the tourists to make sure that they aren't feeling too relaxed. Shortly after, the ground heading nearer, I was told to lift my legs and we had landed. Awesome.