Auckland Skytower Skyjump

AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ok, now I got that out of my system, let me tell you about the Skytower Skyjump.

Free Fall Base Jumping from 192 metres is not your usual way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and this morning it was not the way I had planned to spend it.

However, this was something I had wanted to do since we got to Auckland, I had a voucher, it was going to expire soon, and the the time.. so it seemed.. was now!

When I arrived, they told me I was going to jump a little earlier than planned as I had arrived so early, this got my nerves going and I spent the next 10 minutes wriggling, shaking and entirely failing to sit still. When I realised that it was going to be a little longer I calmed down.

The guy who got us ready was calm, happy and helpful - gave the little group I was in a tonne of confidence. We suited up, got the harnesses on, then headed to the top of the tower.

At the top I offered for the other girl to go first and observed what she did. When it was my turn I knew they would be stopping me 10m down for a photo and felt good about the checks they did of the harness and gear.

My turn came very quickly. I've been up the tower before, more than once, and even jumped on the glass platforms looking down to the ground, feeling completely safe. Standing on the OUTSIDE of the glass with the wind hitting you and walking along a skinny platform is a completely different experience.

When I got to the end of the platform, I glanced down briefly and instantly felt uncomfortable, so I decided not to do that again. The wind chill factor was -6degrees Celsius, and every time I grabbed the railing for stability, my fingers froze. Oh yeah I knew I was alive!

Then my harness got attached to the rigging, I got told to step forward until my feet were on the edge... oh how everything in my body was yelling at me about how wrong that was to do... and then... on the count of three... Let Go!

Getting off the top was the hardest part. Then, for the next 11 seconds I took in the view, the ground that was coming ever closer and as I neared the large red target I knew... YEAH I've done it.

Exhilarating!