Skydiving over Lake Taupo, New Zealand – A Top Travel Experience
What do you want to do for your 21st?
Well back in the day my answer was, Go skydiving!
Skydiving in Taupo
I’d never done anything quite like it before and I have never been super keen on heights, but I thought, what a great way to celebrate my 21st birthday!
I prepared myself by getting laser eye surgery beforehand so that I could see properly as I wouldn’t be able to wear glasses and I’m pretty sure contacts would have dried out pretty fast with the wind speed. Plus laser eye surgery meant it was a lot easier to travel in the years to come without having to deal with contacts and glasses in areas like Africa and South America, where who knows what could have infected my eyes!
Anyway, back to the skydive. It was a gift from my sisters that I then upgraded to go higher and get photos with. What an experience to remember!
Jumping out of the plane
It took place just over a month after my birthday on a sunny day that was good for flying. I was strapped into a professional and we flipped out of the plane at something like 15000 ft.
It was honestly so exhilarating, there is nothing quite like it. Jumping out over an incredible landscape such as Lake Taupo with the mountains all around was stunning.
Skydiving in Taupo, NZ
Skydiving in Taupo, NZ
The free-fall passed pretty quickly and then we were able to cruise on down with the parachute. The professional guy asked if I’d like to do turns on the way down, being super keen I was like ‘Yep sure!’
Little did I know that when my feet/bum reached the ground, my stomach would be a few minutes behind… let’s just say my motion sickness came back to teach me a lesson for being adventurous.
Still, it was an awesome travel experience and spurred me on to follow this with Paragliding in Slovenia, Hang gliding in Switzerland, Bungee jumping and White water rafting in Uganda. Then there was Sand boarding in Namibia and Peru, Hot air ballooning in Turkey… oh the memories!
White water rafting in Jinja, Uganda through the Nile river
These were all some pretty wicked adventures that tested my adrenaline to the max and on the odd occasion freaked me out like never before!
If you’d like to hear more about these adventures, check out my post about adventure sports here »
To see more of my before travelling experiences before I’m 30, check out 30 Greatest Experiences before I’m 30 »
