Day 46: Skydive and Disk Golf

With anticipation high and excitement dialed higher, a morning run was a given. After a beautiful and chilly 3.5 mile run, I showered and ate a $10 breakfast at the Red Rock Bar, which turned out to be amazing. Finished, I met with Jack and Troy, who I'd be jumping with in a few short hours. We walked to NZone, the company taking us up and dropping us. We bussed out to the fly zone, geared up, and just went for it. Having jumped once before, I knew what to expect but the good nervousness was still there. Suited up, we met our jumpers, my photographer, and piled into the plane. My jump man, Michael, was an awesome guy who loved what he did. We talked about everything from NZ life to jumping to studies and travels, and I couldn't have asked for a better pairing.

As we started off, our plane flew down the grass landing strip, and took off towards The Remarkables. We hugged them as we climbed to 6,000 feet, then doubled back for our ascent to 12,000. Before we knew it, it was go time. Troy was first out, and I was a very quick second. The view was something I will never forget. As my feet dangled out of the plane with my instructor holding me, the contentment I had was unbelievable and much better than my first jump in Homestead. A quick shove later, we plummeted towards Earth at 200 km/hr and I'd like to think the footage turned out well. Writing this post on Wednesday, I have yet to look at the footage, so I guess we'll see when the anticipation is higher. We fell for 45 seconds and then the chute decelerated us to a comfortable glide down to the ground. I asked Michael if I could steer, and he gave me the reigns and quickly explained how it worked and what to do. Pulling one arm down, one could cut the parachute into a corkscrew, dive, or pull up to what seemed to be a complete stall in the air. I played around for a bit, pulling hard corkscrews and diving down hard, then guided us in for landing. At around 500 feet, Michael took over, and we slid onto the perfectly lush grass with no issue. I'm so glad Troy and Jack were able to experience their first jump at the #1 place to jump in the world, because I know no place I or they jump at will compare in the slightest. With adrenaline spent we returned to base, took a nap in a grass lot, ate lunch at a brew house, and rented disc golf frisbees for a session at the park to even out the days pace.

Having never played before, I was horrendous. I think on the first 18 I was +26? Yeah. We played a second round and I got it down to +9 which I was extremely happy with, but boy was my ego depleted. Although I had never played before, anyone with decent throwing abilities at the age of ten could score twice a low as I did. Regardless, I enjoyed the monumental improvement and apologized to my peers for acting like a crybaby on the first 18 (although I will say, the course seemed to be trying to screw me. A ten foot putt would turn into a 100 foot roll down a hill and off a mini cliff, then to the water. If it could go wrong, it went wrong, and I fell down a steep embankment and slid the rest of the way once). This exciting night ended in town, where we drank cold beers at the beach and ventured off to Fergburger, the most recommended spot of any town I've ever visited. The line is always long, but there is a clear and obvious reason for it. I indulged in a massive burger, and we actually met three Peace Corp girls from The States who were also waiting in line. It was so incredible to meet woman who were so passionate, humble, and intentional with conversation. Burger conquered, we mutually agreed it was up there on the all-time list, and returned for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow's roadtrip was going to be the new best day of the entire trip, and we couldn't wait.