Jumping out of a plane wasn't exactly on my bucket list. Never in a million years.
I'd go so far as to admit to having basophobia (i.e. a fear of falling). At least, that was my mindset before I met a pair of professional skydivers while spending the holidays in Australia.
They sold me on how safe it is to go skydiving in Australia, as more thrill seekers flock to this adventure destination. Its combination of strict regulations and highly skilled instructors make Australia the perfect place to go skydiving.
The skydivers I'd met worked as tandem instructors for Skydive Australia. They described how they'd been diving five times a day, five days a week for the past twenty-five years without a single incident. According to Mandy Hambleton, sales manager for Skydive Australia Cairns, this destination has some of the most stringent safety rules and regulations in the world. Hambleton praises the company's 100 percent safety record, a reputation that corroborates with the instructors' accounts.
Anyone who skydives in Australia is automatically signed up as a member of the Australian Parachute Federation (AFP). The AFP regulates the nation's skydiving industry and sets high standards for operation, issuing licenses, certifications and instructor ratings. The APF also conduct exams and distributes materials so that skydivers are up to date with safety requirements.
The organization works in conjunction with Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), which assists with surveillance duties and controls parachute rigger and packer standards. The AFP is also affiliated with various other organizations such as the Australian Sport Aviation Confederation and International Parachuting Commission, contributing even more safeguards to regulate the industry.
Once I was sufficiently satisfied with the regulations, my second concern was my own capabilities. What was to stop me from going up on the plane only to chicken out when the time came to take the big leap?
I thought about how I felt when I was a child and had to climb down from the high dive because I was too scared to jump. What if I froze and held up the rest of the skydivers? Even worse, what if I went into shock, forgot to pull the chord, or did something else to compromise my own safety?
The instructors assured me that these were common concerns, yet most first time skydivers find the experience to be easy and worry-free.
Less-experienced skydivers and students are securely strapped to a qualified instructor-known as tandem. The instructors are the ones who do the actual jump, which spares students the option to hesitate at the top.
From start to finish, the instructor does all of the work; from fastening the equipment and providing moral support to deploying the parachute and safely navigating the landing. It's virtually impossible for students to do anything wrong. All they have to do is lean back, relax and enjoy the ride!
The only request made of tandem students is that they don't grab their instructor's arms or curl into a fetal position.
Yet, for some people, this is an instinctual reaction, which is why Australia's skydiving instructors are trained to deal with these types of responses, though it also helps when students lift up their legs during landing.
The conversation I had with the professional skydivers granted me the confidence I needed to give it a go. Life's short, seize the day, carpe diem, am I right? As author Lewis Carroll once wrote, "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."
I booked my adventure through a ground operator called Global Travel Services, who organized a customized day tour that included other excursions, as well.
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The package's morning skydive was with Tandem Cairns, another great skydiving company that operates in Australia. The driver who picked me up from my hotel helped ease my nerves. He explained how the car ride to the skydiving center was statistically more dangerous than participating in the actual skydive itself.
My instructor, Mark, could sense my anxiety as well. We were ascending into the clouds when they opened the hatch for the first set of skydivers. It suddenly all became entirely too real. I tried to stay brave, but I remember crying.
Mark responded with a promise that nothing bad was going to happen. He described how much he loved his wife and children at home with an assurance that he would never do something that put our lives in jeopardy.
Mark's sincerity and comfort helped me to regain my conviction. I imagine less professional instructors might be more apt to psych out their students, but Mark's pedagogy was calm and supportive. He made me feel safe when I would have otherwise been petrified. As our turn to jump from the plane was approaching, I put my head back on Mark's shoulder and trusted his capabilities.
My heart raced as we inched closer towards the door as I was expertly and securely attached to the front of Mark's harness. It was a relief to have zero control of the jump, with no option to hesitate or to try to turn back.
Mark pushed off from the airplane's platform, and the next thirty seconds seemed to unravel in slow motion.
I experienced a state of utter disbelief as I looked down through my safety goggles into the empty void beneath us. There was nothing but distance between us and the ground.
The initial sensation was like I'd left my stomach on the plane as we dropped off the platform and plummeted downwards through the sky. In an instant, we were at the mercy of gravity, plunging towards earth in a rapid free fall of euphoria. I don't know how else to describe this feeling of exhilaration except that we jumped from a plane. We literally jumped out of a plane.
I was grateful I'd worn jeans as we intercepted the clouds and crystallized drops of moisture pelted at my clothing. That is when Mark pulled the rip chord to the parachute. I
n an instant, we went from a high-velocity nosedive to harmoniously wafting through clouds as serenely as a jellyfish floats through the ocean. I suddenly felt more aware of my breath and the fact that I was alive as we hovered over the lush rainforest and the Coral Sea below.
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The real rush kicked in after we'd landed and I had my feet firmly planted on the ground.
I'd done something in my life I never dreamed I would do. I felt proud to have faced my fear of falling.
I would never have tried skydiving if I hadn't gone to Australia, where companies like Skydive Australia and Tandem Cairns uphold the country's outstanding record for safety. Following the experiences I had with Australia's qualified skydiving instructors-who helped me feel safe and learn more about the APF's regulations-I feel confident in the soundness of Australia's skydiving industry.
I would recommend it for both seasoned skydivers as well as tourists who are looking to try something new and exciting.
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