SKYDIVING 15000FT OVER NOOSA, AUSTRALIA

*You can watch my whole experience here*

Skydiving has always been on my bucket list. I’m a big of an adrenaline junkie, so the idea of throwing myself out of a plane into the ether appealed to me quite a bit, but I’d always promised myself that my first skydive would have to be somewhere truly stunning. That way, at least if I found I didn’t enjoy the jump itself, I’d enjoy the view.

I hadn’t actually intended to jump in Noosa, instead preferring to wait until somewhere like the Whitsundays, but when a friend of mine expressed an interest to go, I thought ‘why the hell not?’ Almost $300 lighter ($500 if you count the photo and video package I opted for), and I’d booked myself a one way ticket in a plane.

On the morning of, we headed to the designated meeting point where we were collected in a branded Skydive Australia car and whisked down the coast to Sunshine Coast Airport. Checking in smoothly, we were then advised to wait while the rest of our planeload arrived. Once all six passengers were there, we were suited and booted with a lifejacket and harness before our tandem buddy came and made sure we were properly strapped in and ready to go.

As ready as we were going to be, we were told we’d be heading to the plane shortly. So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. I think the delay was due to getting another planeload of solo jumpers ahead of us, but we ended up waiting for more than an hour, trapped inside our harnesses and not really knowing what was going on.

Eventually we got the go ahead and walked over to the runaway where our little blue plane taxied over and we hopped in – instructors first and then jumpers sat between the instructors legs. We took off and then rose, the view getting better the higher we went. Admittedly, I hadn’t thought the view was going to be spectacular (skydiving over Sunshine Coast Airport, wow…), but we were in fact flying over the whole coastline, stretching all the way from Mooloolaba up to Noosa Heads. If I looked hard enough, I could almost spot my house.

I wasn’t sure how I would react with the prospect of throwing myself out of a plane, but I found that I was actually incredibly calm. At this point, it just seemed like a nice pleasure flight above the coast, and I certainly wasn’t visibly shaking like I could see some of my fellow travellers doing.

We kept going and going, the ground getting further and further away. 15000ft didn’t really mean that much to me, but in retrospect, it is half the cruising altitude of an airplane, which is indeed pretty high. Our instructors attached us to them as we approached our jump location, and then with less than a minute to go, they pulled up the door.

Honestly, this was the worst bit for me as the icy cold air hit me like a tonne of bricks. It was excruciatingly cold, but thankfully I didn’t have to endure it for long as it was time to go. Jumper number one went (you forget that the plane continues moving as they jump, so it looked like they were whooshing off to the right rather than straight down), then jumper number two, and then it was my turn.

I swung my legs over the bench I was sitting on, and then outside the plane, tucking them underneath the metal. I was incredibly thankful for the pure speed that this whole encounter went, as leaving my seat to jumping probably lasted less than thirty seconds. Any longer, and I would have had time to look down, think about what I was doing, and who knows, panic? Head back, hands on my harness, and then we were falling, spinning upside down until we righted ourselves.

A tap on my shoulder indicated that I could let go of my harness, and then we were just in freefall. I found it pretty hard to breathe due to the cold air whistling through my teeth, but that wasn’t going to stop me from smiling. Freefall lasted a lot longer than I’d anticipated (the website says it was in fact a full minute, which is a really long time to just fall through space!), and then without warning I was yanked up as the parachute opened.

This was when my highlight started, as I had the opportunity to just sit back, float, and enjoy the view. I was glowing, having the time of my life as we cruised over the coast. My instructor even let me steer, and we did corkscrews as we descended. Our descent lasted about five minutes, and we landed right on the beach, right next to surfers and walkers out enjoying their day.

I waited for my friend to land so we could celebrate not having died, and commiserate that we were now deaf from the pressure change during freefall. And just like that, it was like it had never even happened. As we took the bus back to the airport, we revelled over how unreal it felt that we’d just jumped out of a plane. Definitely an addictive feeling, and certainly something I’ll be doing again soon.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog! Stay up to date on all my Aussie adventures by following me on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and feel free to drop me any questions below!