Because Tim McGraw Told Me To

I honestly cannot believe that it’s been nearly two months.

The thought gets me every time, and rightfully so, because it is crazy when you think about it!  Literally two months ago, I had no idea what Australia would even look like.  As dumb as that sounds, I mean it in all seriousness.  Were there going to be kangaroos and their kanga babies running rampant?  Were spiders the size of my face going to be out and about?  It’s no understatement when I say that I knew no one and little to nothing about life here down under, but look at me now.  Look at me now.  I’m not making paper, but I can guarantee that I’m doing the next best thing.  I’m experiencing life in Aussieland, and loving every second of it. 

Still…it’s still crazy.  And I can’t forget that.  I can’t get too used to things here, nor can I stop making the most of every moment.  My time here is temporary and I cannot even begin to imagine how quickly the next two months are going to fly by. 

I literally had to stop writing to think about that.  Leaving Aussieland is a very horrible and very scary thought.  Thankfully, I still have two whole glorious months to live, experience, and seize the day.  And I’m making a promise to keep carpe diem-ing until I have to pack my sad little suitcase and drag my sad little tush onto a sad little plane home.

Naturally, carpe-diem-ing entails going skydiving—which I did last week by the way!  That’s wussup!  Check ✓

Ok, so let’s talk skydiving.  Skydiving has been something that I’ve wanted to do since maybe…two weeks ago.  Ahaha!  In all honesty, it’s never been something on my bucket list only because I didn’t think it belonged there.  My bucket list is reserved for things like hiking the Appalachian or the John Muir trails.  My bucket list is reserved for things that I really hope to accomplish in the span of my lifetime.  Skydiving, on the other hand, was something that I could just throw on my calendar!  Only kidding, I actually don't keep a calendar... I actually wanted to just wake up one day and decide to go skydiving...Spontaneity at its finest!  But it actually required calling ahead of time to book an appointment, so planning was pretty inevitable.

Needless to say, I was stoked.  We (a friend and I) were jumping with a company called Skydiving the Beach, and the jump spot was actually in Wollongong, a good two-hour journey from the University.  We’d booked the ten o’clock slot, but because I’m extremely paranoid about missing buses, trains, and planes, we left the university at 7:30 for good measure, and got on the train at 8:30!  Yay!

After an easy breezy hour and a half on the train, we got off at North Wollongong station, and were picked up and driven to the skydiving offices.  There, we were geared up in the latest spring fashions: an oversized yellow and blue fleece quarter-zip, and a pair of matching parachute pants!  Don't worry, we didn't leave out the accessories.  We jazzed up our outfits with nice harnesses and belts that unzipped and doubled as emergency life vests!

Then, we pretty much waited for at least an hour until we were picked up and driven to the nearby airport, where we boarded a sketchy looking baby plane and descended for probably about 15 minutes until we reached an elevation of 14,500 feet.  Then, my instructor opened the door, and we pretty much jumped.  

Actually, it was more like we fell out, because one second we were in the plane and my instructor was messing around with the other instructor, and the next second, we weren’t in the plane, and my instructor wasn’t messing around with the other instructor…

We basically tumbled, then tumbled some more, and after about forty five seconds that passed much too quickly, the parachute was ejected and we pretty much floated to the ground from there.  Let me just say, it was way too much fun for a Thursday morning!!

Ok, but let’s talk about the things I wasn’t expecting.

1)  It was so squishy and cramped in that plane!!  It was honestly a baby plane and they squeezed in 6 jumpers along with their instructors!  So, with 12 people packed like sardines, there was actually no room on the plane for personal bubbles...Those were actually tossed out the plane before take off.

2) IT WAS COLD.  The weather and temperature did not even cross my mind when I left my room in shorts and a white v-neck that morning.  I looked out the window, saw the sun, and that was that.  Shorts it was!  When I imagined myself skydiving, I literally pictured myself in my shorts and short sleeved t-shirt, falling from the sky.  I didn't put two and two together.  I was genuinely surprised when they handed us the fleece outerwear...But a few experiences older, a few experiences wiser and you can take my word for it...If you're 14,500 feet up in the sky, you can take my word for it.  It'll be cold

3)   At the risk of possibly sounding even dumber, I didn’t realize how quickly we would be falling…The air was literally rushing up so quickly, or maybe it’s the other way around….I was falling so quickly that it was like the air was forming a blockade around my nostrils.  It was an actual struggle to breathe!  But the rate at which we were free falling was unbelievable!  I don't know what I had envisioned though...I obviously didn't expect to be falling in slow motion, but I also didn't imagine to be falling that quickly...You know how they say that a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building could kill someone?  Believe it.

4)  THAT VIEW THOUGH…you guys can’t even blame me for being a bad blogger and not having my camera, because for once, it’s actually not my fault for not having pictures, but boy, do I wish I had pictures.  It was stunning.  The jump spot for Skydive the Beach at Wollongong not only overlooks the coastline and the beaches, but you also get an amazing view of the mountains and the suburbs that surround the beach.  Just picture it.  Now picture it ten times better.  Ok, the actual thing was even better than that.  

I’m telling you guys.  If you have the chance, or get the chance to sky dive, please do it!  Take skydiving off your bucket-list, or your list of things to do once you hit your midlife crisis, because it honestly belongs on your to-do–list.  If you ask me, it belongs on your iCal for next week.  Just saying is all…but for now, I’ll post some obligatory look-I-went-skydiving photos, just because I’m pretty sure it’s on the list of things-you-must-do-after-you-go-skydiving.  Alrighty then, I'll talk to you soon!  Which, in blog time, is pretty much in a year from now...only slightly kidding... BUT, I'm trying to better about that!  Pat on the back for Kimmy, ahaha!

Happy carpe diem-ing!!

Kimmy