What a BLAST!!!!
Keith Gallaher from NZONE offered me a tandem skydive and I did it yesterday. It was intended that we would land in the Village Green to mark the beginning of yesterday's fabulous Rotorua Airshow held at the Lakefront, but high winds prevented us from doing this safely and it was decided that the jump, which I shared with two competition winners, would end back at NZONE Headquarters at Rotorua Airport.
I have always wanted to try skydiving and I was very excited to finally get the chance. I thought that I'd be pretty scared as the event got closer and especially once I was geared up and receiving my briefing, but I didn't really feel afraid at any time. The NZONE operation is clean, efficient and very professional. It's all about two things:
The fun part takes care of itself with the banter between jumpers and staff - my Tandem Master Paul would have put anyone at ease, the beauty of a small plane flight over our exquisite city and surrounding lakes and of course the sheer exhileration of launching out of the plane and into freefall! The sensation of floating free in that huge expanse beats any other form of flying and the speed is deceptive, with the only real sensation of our rocketing fall coming as we blasted downward through some light cloud. The gentle descent after the 'chute deployed and easy landing despite the wind was a lovely way to come back to earth.
Apart from the fun, everything else is about safety. There is the detailed briefing and obvious experience and care of the staff (they don't take chances), the extensive array of well-maintained equipment, the warm and well-organised facility (toilet handy) and the robust and solid little airplane. Even the very young co-pilot seemed strangely right and OK, though I only noticed him after I was back on the ground!
As a Rotorua District Councillor, I am strongly of the view that the tourist industry is a major asset to our region and a key to future prosperity of the whole city. I am delighted to have experienced first-hand, another part of what our city has to offer and can now speak more knowledgeably about this facet of what we are able to offer visitors and residents.
My thanks go to Keith, Paul and the rest of the team and NZONE. If you are game to take the plunge with them, you can be sure of a fantastic experience.
Check out the video ....
No comments:
Post a Comment