Up on cloud 9!

So I finally did it!! The weather held out just about long enough for me to actually get the skydive done after it was postponed the first time.

After being rebriefed and kitted out (whilst also earning the nickname "Ribena Boy" - you'll see why from the photos!) there was a (surprisingly not so) nervous wait while we all became acquainted with the instructors who we were going to be jumping with. The plane journey up to 13,000ft felt like forever (which did nothing to ease the nerves!) but it was only till I was actually sitting on the edge of the aircraft with my legs dangling out that the reality of what I was about to do hit me! Before I knew it I heard from behind me "3-2--" and we jumped!!

The first few seconds of freefall were exhilarating and such an incredible feeling. As the g-force built up and the wind started rushing up at me I could feel my stomach tightening. However, everything after this point was totally not what you'd expect - though we were falling at approximately (I later found out!) 120mph, because there was nothing else around us there was nothing to use as a reference and so it didn't feel particularly fast and wasn't scary at all. At this point I looked up and saw blue sky in the horizon ahead of me and a whispy sea of clouds below me - it was a sensational feeling!!

Then, the parachute opened and we slowed down quite considerably. After a few twists and turns we drifted ever so slowly back down to earth (no pun intended! Honest!) One dodgy landing later and I was back on the ground, still pumped from the adrenaline rush!

As many of you know, the point of this skydive was to raise money for charity and to date i've now raised over £1000 (my original target) for the two selected charities (McMillan Cancer Research and Refuge). Also, as a team, we've now raised over £30,000 collectively! Thank you massively to everyone who have been so generous in sponsoring us...

The last few things to say are that it was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone - aside from the inital jump, it wasn't scary at all! Secondly, if this account of my skydive was not vivid enough for you, I got a DVD done too (which you'll all get to watch in good time...)!