Skydiving is not for the faint-hearted

So I basically got peer pressured into taking an Advanced Freefall course (AFF) and I’m afraid of heights!
The solo course consists of 9 stages (9 jumps) with criteria’s you have to pass to move on to the next stage. For the first 3 stages, 2 jumpmasters would leap off the plane with you while they critique you on your posture and make sure you are checking your altimeter at regular intervals, after that, its all on you.
We did 8 hours of classroom training yesterday and jumped out of the plane today.
The adrenaline rush is amazing. Cold air rushing past you at 10,500ft with your life hanging off a few pieces of rope. The view is indescribable. The hardest part for first time skydivers is learning to control the canopy (parachute).
We all know how to jump of diving boards at a pool and we can learn how to arc our backs on the floor but learning to fly the canopy would be a first. We can only be verbally taught how to fly the canopy but the rest is based on experience and completing more jumps. Practise makes perfect.
Once I pass this course and sit a few tests, I will be able to leap off the plane anywhere in the world.
On my return to NZ, I will definitely be getting friends to join in, so look out and make sure you have a spare pair of underwear. Will take better pics next time.

Airbourne Sam

Gosford – Back in 10 mins

Well where do I start? Spent 3 days in Gosford last week and it was another interesting sight.
Gosford is about 90mins drive from Newcastle. Locals from Sydney/Newcastle would migrate to Gosford in the summer to take advantage of the beautiful beaches.
It was 1pm on a Friday afternoon, was warm as usual. I wanted to have lunch in an air conditioned environment. Across the road was a plaza, probably one of the main plazas in Gosford. As I approached the food court, there were 10 eateries but only 2 were open. I mean come on……..Friday afternoon, 1pm, hungry, food. Due to the over whelming selection of food, I had to settle for burger and fries.

Do you remember watching movies where the retailers would put signs out like
“Out to lunch, back in 20 mins”

Well this is a common thing in Gosford, without exaggerating; there were about 8 stores with those signs on the window. Was very amusing to me, I don’t think the locals manage to figure out why I was staring at the closed shop laughing.

Anywho, it’s only been 3 hours since I arrived back to my apartment from 4 days in Mackay. Mackay is on the Eastern Coast of Queensland, roughly half way between Cairns and Brisbane. Mining generates around AU$1.5Billion of Mackay’s annual gross product. Cash Cow?
We finished work early one night and decided to check out the night life. I think it is illegal to use the phrase “night life” in Mackay because it was a ghost town. Ended the night with dinner at hogs breath which I have to say is 10 times better tasting than any hogs breath in NZ. We jumped into a cab and my conversation with the lady went like this.

Sam: So……….Mackay is an interesting place.
Old Lady: There’s not too much to do here, although we do have nice pubs.
Sam: Really? We’ve been walking around and couldn’t find anything.
Old Lady: Well there’s the platinum which is a nice club with dancers, there’s the [Cannot remember] Hotel which turns into a strip bar at night, there’s [Cannot remember] on the corner which have girls dancing Monday, Wednesday and Friday which they fly up from Sydney and the [Cannot remember] with a pub and upstairs lounge with dancers.

So maybe Mackay can be an interesting place to be, although I did not experience it first hand. My conclusion of Mackay is every pub turns into a strip bar with dancers who fly up from Sydney.

Wow, this blog has taken me 30mins to write.

Bed time

Sam

AB’s are a disappointment

What more can I say. We all felt that this could be the year for the AB's to pull off the 20 year drought. But deep down inside, we sense that they could choke and choke they did on a cockerel bone. I was excited when England beat Australia and was looking forward to sleeping for 3 hours and waking up for the ABs vs. France (4am). But it turns out, I was robbed of my sleep. People with tickets to the Semi/Final must be quite gutted they don't get to watch the All Blacks play.
Ahh well, NZ 2011 here we come.

The sole purpose of my update tonight was because we had a cool thunderstorm. Apparently it's a regular appearance due to the tropical weather.
So it got to 32 degrees today. After 2 mins of leaving an air conditioned room, I was sweating profusely. Not a very nice feeling turning up to work all sticky.
I manage to take a short video clip of the thunderstorm along with some images. Was very rewarding. You can watch the 3.2Mb clip Here.

Sam

It is WARM!!!

Bon Soir,

Spent a few days in Cairns this week. It was extremely warm. 30 degrees heat at around 90% humidity, 23 degrees in the evenings and its not even summer. Was great with the air conditioner cranked up on high.
There are loads of Japanese tourists in Cairns as it is now an international airport with direct flights from Japan. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest attraction there.

I have also been peer pressured into taking a sky diving course which commences in 3 weeks. The course consists of 9 jumps and the final jump will be solo. I am honestly shit scared. The adrenaline rush will be amazing but I’m getting butterflies just thinking bout it. Will definitely update everyone with my progress.
Too lazy to write about anything as I am quite hung over.

Ca va

Sam