Free-falling

Started slowly after getting home from Daintree after midnight. Took a morning walk in Kamerunga Conservation Park. Early afternoon found Trinity Beach and tested the water. My baby doesn't like cold water. Tepid so we floated about thirty minutes and decided we could manage the temps for snorkeling.

Went to the Cairns Marina and picked up skydiving, snorkeling, and diving brochures for planning later. Enjoyed some gelato. Headed downtown for Rusty's Friday open air farmers market. Fresh pineapple. Tasty truly vine ripened tomatoes. Lettuce pulled up by roots! Lazy night: dinner in, cards and reading.

Started the next morning with a hike down Barron Gorge. Went back to the house and Greg plotted strategy and I read. After a late breakfast we headed to the skydiving place he'd picked to see when they might have availabilities later in the week. Walked in and were told if we wanted to go, fill out paperwork, plane was leaving in about 15 minutes. Yes, this was on my bucket list but going through the motions of getting ready to actually DO it was a bit surreal. 

Signed life away. Watched video. Geared up and we were off. Shared the plane with six (pampered) German exchange students. When we got in the plane I realized that I would be the first one out. Great. As we climbed to 14,000 feet (yes, that's almost three miles) I was terrified. So talked myself down. Breathe.  You're past the point of no return.  Make the best of it. Relax. 

A funny thought crossed my mind. Side bar: always wanted to see a humpback whale breach. When I finally did, I was surprised. Every other time I'd seen one breach (on tv) as it was coming out of the water they switched to slow motion. In reality, the breach I saw was quick and fluid and natural. It suddenly occurred to me that once I left the plane, it would keep going. I don't know, did I think it was going to hover? 

Why did I want to do it? Some of you know that I can be a bit of a control freak. OK. Maniac. I thought this would be a good exercise to "lose" control. Sitting in the plane (on the floor, mind you) as my "partner" opened the jump door and began to edge me out I really did think, well that was just stupid. Swing your feet out. There they are dangling in the rushing wind and I KNOW what's coming next. Cross your arms (and heart). Lean back. And then we were free-falling. Yes, my eyes were closed as I left the plane. But then the strangest thing happened. I just let go. I leaned back into my "partner", opened my eyes and ENJOYED the fall. A little flutter pull when the parachute opened and an easy glide down. He even showed me how to guide the chute right and left and went "hands free". Hah. Simulated control. It was awesome. Vistas like none other. And then we steered to our landing site and nailed it. Would I do it again? Probably not. But am certainly glad I did it once. 

Booked snorkeling/dive trip for tomorrow, went to Saturday Market (arts/crafts), breezed through the Cairns Regional Art Gallery, ate a bite and called it a very good day.