Day 163: Extreme Kate joins the party. In your face Steve Moore!

High Point: 15,000 ft.

Low Point: The ground

No Point: Feeling sick as a parrot after my skydive

Day 165 was one of the shortest driving days of stage 6 but for me it was one of the hardest. Most people are aware that I have a rather competitive streak and within the FTFE crew it’s well known that I like winning, dominating, being noisy and excited. So when we arrived Queenstown – the adrenaline capital of NZ people people were a bit unsure of why I didn’t want to throw myself off a cliff, canyon or out of a cable car in the name off bungee related activities. Steve was not sure of whether to publicly mock me, goad me or laugh in my face for not being extreme. Instead of these, he decided to not say anything at all and opted for acting like he completely understood if I didn’t fancy being part of the extreme crew. This was worse than the public goading and he knew it.

I knew that if I wasn’t extreme at some point on this stage then it would come back to haunt me again and again and again for years and years to come. There was only one thing for it….I had to jump out/off something before the trip was out. During the previous days drive Steve mentioned that if he could do a solo skydive in Taupo then he would…so as I was once again forgetting my navigation duties I had a quiet little think and finally announced I that I couldn’t deal with people losing faith in my competitive and excitable streak so I was going to jump. Queue a very sleepless night and a very quiet morning for me!

The drive from the national park to Taupo was way tooooo short and the waiting around at Sky Dive Taupo (www.skydivetaupo.co.nz) seemed so much longer than it was! After the mandatory FTFE interviews, nervous photos and goodness knows how many trips to the ladies I met my lovely tandem masters partner Laci. Laci was like an excitable puppy which was strangely reassuring for me and I felt completely comfortable with what I was about to do. I think Chris might have been more nervous than me…but then again he had the rest of the crew throwing skydiving stats at him….like Kate A’s contribution of ‘I think it’s 1 in 3 people who jump out of a plane actually die’.

So…I recorded some final words for family and friends and hopped in the the worlds only pink sky diving plane! After a few minutes I was sure it was nearly time for me to hop out…and then I saw an altimeter…only 4,000 ft. climbed! Nervous? Me? Hell yes! Another 11,000 ft. to go. Easy yeah? At about 12,000 ft. the oxygen came out which was a very welcome relief as I’d started to feel a tad light headed and I was sure the feeling in my legs was going!! FINALLY 15,000ft arrives and I’m first out of the plane…As the footage and snaps show, I’m clearly screaming before I even leave the plane. The moment you sit on the edge of the plane and swing your feet as far back as you can ( always remember…your body is a banana!) is a very surreal one. 60 seconds of freefall is amazing and I was so lucky to be jumping in Taupo. I had perfect weather conditions and the view is breathtakingly beautiful.

After Laci had hit me on the shoulders repeatedly I finally let go of my harness and enjoyed the ride….it was phenomenal. As all the guys had told me it was a unique feeling and they weren’t fibbing. Certainly my highlight of stage 6. In your face Steve Moore….extreme Kate has joined the party (even if it was on the penultimate day!). There can be no goading. 15,000 ft. is HIGH!

After a little bit of lying in the shade – I can’t escape motion sickness even when I’m being extreme…we headed off to hit a few golf balls onto a small pontoon and then hit the road to Roturua. Once again we had a very weary crew so we checked in to the local YHA, found some traditional NZ Thai cuisine (jumpers choice) and hit the sack in a very cosy and warm dorm for 6…the ladies were lucky enough to fall asleep to the dulcet sounds of Hallward and Abela’s snores and squeaky bunks. Sweet dreams.

This stage has been amazing and I’m very sad to have to say goodbye to NZ, Martha, Amy, Steve, Jamie and The Kate. However, the rest of the trip is going to be incredible so you should keep on following, spreading the FTFE word and donating that cash!

Trip High Point: Jumping out of the plane (thank you Sky Dive Taupo)

Trip Low Point: My terrible, terrible navigation.

Trip No Point:  Things biting me.

Extreme K-Bart xxx

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