I passed through Mission Beach on my way south. I just wanted to do my skydive here and move on, so I planned on 2 nights and 2 day. I pre-booked my dive with my Hostel and got a minibus down to Mission Beach, as part of the cost of the skydive. The bus was full of Japanese. I was the only Western person on board and the only English speaking person. No worries, I just slept on the way down.

When I arrived in Mission Beach I texted one of the guys that was on my diving trip who was also on his way down that day. He was on the Oz Experience bus and said that him and all the girls that were on his b us were staying in Scotty’s Hostel. Easy decision, I went and checked in.

I went back to the beach to watch the first group of sky divers come in to land. The excitement was starting to build up at this point. Doing a skydive has been an ambition of mine for almost 15 years. Seriously, it is the one thing that I have always wanted to do, I have just never been in a situation to do it. And finally here it is. As I watched the first group come in one by one I could see huge smiles all round. There was one scary moment where we saw one of the chutes fail. As the main chute was deployed it tore and the skydiver had to cut it away and deploy the reserve. Yep, this is potentially a dangerous sport, which just adds to the adrenaline factor.

When they came in, it was my turn to get on the bus, get kitted up and go! I got teamed up with a skydiver called Barry, who was a silver-haired older man who looked a little like Peter Stringfellow, just with shorter hair. He was a really nice guy and a lot of fun. We went through the practice on land where they tell you how to exit the plane with your arms crossed over your chest and your head back. As soon as you exit the plane they shout “Banana” and you throw your arms and legs back and keep your head back. They also tell you for the landing to keep your legs well up and hold under your knees and only stand up when they tell you. Otherwise you can break your legs and the skydiver will land on top of you and it probably will hurt. A lot. No worries.

We head off to the plane and all the while you are being filmed There was a choice of a handy cam, where the skydiver you are teamed up with has a camera strapped to his wrist for the filming, or you can pay a bit more for a separate cameraman to jump out with you. I decided to go for the cheaper option to save money and also because you don’t get any footage of you when the chute is deployed or coming into land. So I figured it would probably be better to go for the handy cam one.

We walked over to the plane and got in. We were first in the plane, which mean we were to be last to jump out. The plane was quite a large plane compared to the one they normally use and purpose built for skydiving. It could take about 20 tandem skydivers up at once.

We were on our way to 14,000 feet and it certainly did look high. When we got to our required height it was a very quick move to the door. As we were last out I watched everyone else go first and it really was quick into the doorway and out.... Quick into the doorway and out. As it all happens so fast there isn’t time to get scared. I get a small bit of vertigo and thought that might be an issue, there was no chance that I was going to bail, but I though the adrenaline would be pumping. Because you are so high up, I don’t think it really kicks in. You look out the door and can’t really believe that you are so high up... and then we were out. Banana!

From 14,000ft I got around 60 seconds freefall. It takes a few seconds to register what is going on and then you get the sensation of falling, but it doesn’t feel fast. There is a rush of air against your face, and you feel it through your nose and mouth and your cheeks are flapping around a bit. I was surprise that I could hear Barry talking to me. I thought it would be a lot louder. With great ease he turned us around to look over the beach, the Islands just off shore and out to see. It really was the most amazing sight, and well worth waiting all those years to do it in a place as beautiful as Mission Beach.

After 60 seconds, which felt much shorter than 60 seconds the chute was deployed. There is a slight jolt to start with as the chute comes out, then a slightly larger one when

it unfolds and slows you down. It really wasn’t that strong though. When you see it on TV it looks like a real jolt, but to be honest, if I had seen him do it, I could have missed it. I thought it would be much more of a jerk.

At this point we floated down a lot slower and I had a go at controlling the chute. Leave both arms straight up and you go straight, pull the right one and you go right, pull the left one and you go left. Easy. Pull the right one hard and you start spinning, almost horizontal with the chute. That was fun! I was surprised just how much movement you have in the ropes. You never go out of control when you pull them all the way down and to stop you spinning you just put your arms straight again.

After a few more minutes Barry took over again and brought us in for the landing. As you get closer to the ground you get much more sensation of speed and when you are skimming in over the beach you feel like you are going really fast, then he pulls hard on both ropes and you kind of stall in the air, he puts his feet tells me to stand up and I put my legs down. A perfect landing!

It was the most amazing feeling. Compared to Snowboarding, Motorbikes, Wakeboarding, this was the best adrenaline rush. It almost feels a bit of a hazy memory now as it is a lot to take in and over so quickly. I would love to do another one now that I know what to expect.
A fantastic experience and definitely one recommended for all!

When I came into pay for the skydive I had a bit of an issue. My credit card was rejected. ***. I went to the cash point and I was not allowed to get cash out. ***. I phoned the

bank and it appeared that I have managed to max out my credit card and hit the limit on my overdraft. Oops. I knew I was nearing my limits, but didn’t realise I was that close. I was stuck and there was no way for me to pay the guys. Speaking to the bank, they couldn’t extend my overdraft and I would have to wait about 5 hours for the telephone banking to open in the UK. Why the hell is telephone banking not 24 hours?! Rubbish.

I really started to panic at this point, and ended up having to phone home and embarrassingly ask for a small loan to get me through the next couple of weeks. I have already asked my mortgage company to take out extended borrowing on my flat in Reading which will secure me a few extra thousand pounds, but that won’t be available for 4-6 weeks and I don’t really want to get myself into more debt.

After getting the loan sent through (Thanks so much for that...) I went back to the cash machine, withdrew the money and pay the guys for the skydive.

I spent the rest of the afternoon evaluating my situation. When I started my travels, after Whistler I knew that I didn’t have anywhere near as much money as I was initially hoping.

I even posted in my blogs that I thought I would have to cancel my trip altogether due to a lack of funds, but I chose to persevere and keep going until they ran out. That time was now.

It also came at an interesting point. Since I have been in Australia I have felt a little over travelling. I spent a month on the beach in Malaysia to have a break from it all and thought that would be enough. Even though everyday out here I am having the most amazing time, I am just feeling that I need a break from travelling. I have been out since January 1st which is almost 9 months. I think it has been long enough.

My options are these;

  • -  to see out the rest of the trip and deal with the money when I get home,

  • -  to cancel the rest of my trip, go home early and work for a but then come back out to do Australia and New Zealand when I have earned some more money and have the right mental will to travel.

At the moment I have decided to go for the latter, And the more I think about it, the more I think that is the best option. I have been terribly missing a friend back home who I have been in touch with since meeting her in Saigon and the thought of meeting her again soon is very exciting, I have also been missing my niece so much. Over the last few months I have been hearing about how much she is growing, crawling, walking, talking and I am missing the whole bloody thing. I also have been thinking about my family more and also wanting to meet up with the friends I have met on the road. So the more I think about it, the more I am accepting that I am officially over the travelling for now. Like I said, I am still having the most amazing time everyday and meeting so many more cool people that if I did stick it out I know I would still have the best time.... But overall, I need a holiday from travelling.

I have also been thinking about how I can manage to get some time in snowboarding this winter, as I owe my mother quite a bit of money for the car crash I had in America, and would not be able to justify getting home, going snowboarding for a month and not paying her back first. This way, I might be able to pay her back and still get a couple of weeks or a month in snowboarding after Christmas. It all just seems to make sense to finish now..... for the time being.

I think I will quickly make my way down to Sidney and get a flight home. I will try not to do any major activities on the way and will probably miss a bunch of the main sights, but that doesn’t really matter as I will be back here in a year’s time, probably with a working holiday visa as well.

I had one night in Mission Beach. I met up with Iain in the hostel later that day and we went to the hostel bar for a few drinks. My bus in the morning was at 10:30 to Ayr, so a few drinks wouldn’t hurt. Then the Jaegerbombs flowed, then the slippery nipples, then the vodkas... oooohhhhhh dear! It ended up a rather messy night, and I ended up sleeping in the TV room. So much for paying for a room!!

After only a couple of hours sleep I was on my bus to Ayr. Before my money ran out I had booked a diving trip to the SS Yongala, one of the top 5 wrecks in the world, and an activity that I figured I would still like to do and probably my last main activity on the trip.

I got off the bus in Ayr and was met by a guy from the Dive Centre who was meant to take me to the hostel associated with the dive centre. He gave me the bad, but expected news that the dive was cancelled due to strong winds. I had been expecting this as I checked the weather before and saw it at around 25-30 knots. He said he thought it would likely be back on on Tuesday and there were a few spots left, but for now I would be better off staying on the bus to Airlie Beach and getting a day trip from there on Tuesday. That is what I did, and that is where I am now.