Is it falling or flying?

Taupō News editor Dan Hutchinson and Taupō Tandem Skydive tandem master Gareth Hemingway take a shortcut to Taupō Airport. Photo: Jamie Elliot - Taupō Tandem Skydive

Sitting on the edge of a plane door, 5km in the air, with a guy called Gareth strapped to my back, I’m thinking ‘How the flying fox did I get myself into this situation?’

By Dan Hutchinson

Sitting on the edge of a plane door, 5km in the air, with a guy called Gareth strapped to my back, I’m thinking ‘How the flying fox did I get myself into this situation?’

Saturday morning had actually started quite well – a beautiful, crisp morning – not a care in the world.

This is commonly called denial, and I’d been leaning into it since I agreed to do the Taupō Tandem Skydive a couple of days earlier.

I’m not a big fan of heights – I can’t even lean on a balcony that’s more than three storeys off the ground, and the only thing that terrifies me more is dangling from a great height.

Weirdly though, I do like flying, I love light aircraft – I’ve even done a few flying lessons. I’ve travelled in all sorts of different flying machines, from gyrocopters to dreamliners.

And I also like free stuff, so I figured I couldn’t turn down what was essentially flying for free. The falling part, I am reliably informed is more “surreal” than frightening.

And so it was, I agreed to take the flying leap and then spent the next few days pretending I hadn’t.

As forecast, Saturday morning dawned crisp and clear, frost on the ground and I had a quick look at the instructions to make sure there wasn’t any important information in there.

It’s mainly just making sure you wear warm clothes and closed in shoes. The summit of Mt Ruapehu is 2797 metres above sea level and we would be jumping from 4932 metres so jandals are probably not ideal. They do give you a jump suit that provides some insulation.

Freefall above Taupō. Photo: Photo: Jamie Elliot - Taupō Tandem Skydive

I dressed appropriately then did a few chores, arriving home to see the distinctive yellow stretched Humvee waiting outside the house.

I had the interior to myself, but passed the time talking to the driver, who has recently moved down from Northland but is originally from Israel.

She’s done a fair few jumps herself – and loves the way it has changed her understanding of gravity.

We stopped off at the Hilton to pick up a father and daughter from Taumarunui. It’s her 16th birthday and the jump is a present.

Arriving at the Taupō Tandem Skydive base, there’s a group shuffling around, and the combination of excitement from the regular jumpers and the silent nerves from the first-timers creates an almost tangible electricity in the air.

Taupō Tandem Skydive office manager Sophie Lister explains the finer points of the skydiving operation. Photo: Dan Hutchinson

Office manager Sophie Lister takes us through the formalities, release forms to fill out etc. Skydiving is a pretty safe sport, but there is of course inherent risks in any adventure activity.

Later, as we move into the equipment area and briefing room, she explains some of the details of the gear.

If by some chance the tandem master you are paired up with is incapacitated in some way, a device that calculates speed and altitude will automatically deploy the chute.

It’s time to get into the jump suits and watch the briefing video before the tandem master – in this case Gareth – checks the harnesses.

Basically the plan is to head up to 15,000 feet above lake level, then we sit on the edge of the plane, legs tucked under, head back, thumbs tucked into the harness.

Once the tumbling stops and we are in the correct position, you put your arms out – easy, nothing to fear there.

Nevertheless as we tracked higher into the sky, I got a little more pale and little more quiet and sucked on the oxygen mask a bit harder.

Gareth clips us together, tightening up all the gear, chatting away to pass the time and ease the nerves until we are all set for the jump.

And then we are there – 15,000 feet above Taupō and the roller door is wound up.

A group of enthusiastic people all aiming to get their skydiving licence start hurling themselves gleefully out the door.

And then we swing around into position, on the edge of the plane, legs dangling underneath and before you know it, falling forward.

The sensation of falling lasts a few seconds as we tumble once or twice and then we are just face first into the wind, cheeks pressed back and the ground far, far away in the distance, seemingly not getting any closer.

Who needs wings when you’ve got cheeks like these? Photo: Jamie Elliot - Taupō Tandem Skydive

It’s a sensation like no other – air rushing by at close to 200km/h, pushing back up against you. It’s not so much that you feel like falling, than riding at high speed.

A tandem jump means twice the weight for roughly the same surface areas as a single jumper, so a drogue is deployed to slow us down to a normal freefall speed.

The rush of wind is phenomenal but I’d been told not to forget to look around and appreciate the experience, and of course look up for photographer and videographer Jamie Elliot who jumped with us.

After about 60 seconds of freefall the chute deploys, and suddenly it’s quiet and you can see everything – from Mt Taranaki to Mt Maunganui. An unbelievable rush.

The freezing air is starting to work it’s way into the ear drums but otherwise I’m pretty comfortable and the views afforded by the crisp, clear morning are astonishing.

The goggles are removed to give me the best view as we descend.

Taupō township is sprawled out below us and you can see every detail of the surrounding landscape, except what’s under the low fog that shrouds the Waikato River at Broadlands and Reporoa.

The anxiety about heights doesn’t really kick in until we get closer to the ground, and even then, as Gareth turns the chute this way and that, it’s more like flying and dangling, rather than just straight dangling.

Then, before you know it we are swooping in to land, legs pulled up as we slide to a stop on well-padded backsides across the slick grass, just metres from where we started.

Then it’s just high fives and a dawning realisation that you’ve just jumped out of a plane.

I tell you what, if the winter blues are getting to you, this is one way cure it and plenty of people get thoroughly addicted to the sensation.

We are pretty lucky in Taupō to have such a range of activities to choose from and a tandem skydive is tailormade for a clear winter’s morning.