Skydiving in Wollongong

19/08/2024:

Today I had to do my laundry for the first time. $5 AUD per wash and $5 AUD per dryer cycle, which I think is reasonable. After doing the laundry, I went to the beach where I watched some fishermen.
Kim (the South Korean) has since left the hostel, so I had the room to myself again (at least for a few hours). At some point, a new South Korean checked in who will be staying here for 3 nights.

23/08/2024:

The alarm was set to 5:30 the night before so I could leisurely walk from the hostel to the pick-up point. After 40 minutes, I arrived at the meeting point and then boarded the bus that took me to Wollongong. The bus driver was exceptionally friendly and talkative. After 1 ½ hours, we arrived at the landing site in Wollongong. Sunshine and 19 degrees, perfect for skydiving. After the paperwork, we changed clothes and received the safety briefing. Time passed quickly during these minutes, so the safety briefing felt like 30 seconds. Shortly afterwards, the skydiving instructors arrived. When a teacher named Elliot asked if I was Moritz, I knew he would be my tandem partner. It was a bit strange to trust my life to a guy I had just met a few minutes ago.
Elliot was about 30-35 years old and a friendly man. He checked if my equipment was securely fastened, explained how it would go, and took video footage. After everything was checked, we boarded the shuttle bus that took us to the airport. Once there, everything was quickly checked again and the plane was waiting a few meters away. There were 6 teachers and 6 students onboard, and the two pilots were already seated. The tandem partners naturally sit one behind the other in this plane. When the plane was closed, Elliot laughed and said that there was no turning back now. Shortly after, we took off. As we were climbing up, Elliot asked me if everything was okay. I nodded and asked him the same question. "I haven't slept for 2 days, my wife has left me, and now she wants to keep my dog too," was the reply I received from behind me. I turned around and saw his smiling face. He has a sense of humor 😉 When I turned back, I realized that we were already quite high. 10,000 feet / 3,048 meters. Elliot asked what kind of work I want to do here in Australia. I tried to answer but noticed that my throat was so dry that I couldn't get a proper word out. He repeated the question, but again, I couldn't answer. When he leaned forward to check if everything was okay, I coughed so hard that afterwards I was finally able to say a few more words.
Suddenly, he said that we had reached the top and that we would be the fourth to jump.
Then everything happened quickly. The detachable door was opened, and a few seconds later, the first person jumped. Then number 2 and number 3, which meant I was next. Elliot said we had to hurry, so I slid over, kept my feet out of the plane, tilted my head back, and Elliot pushed from behind, so we jumped from 4,572 meters (15,000 feet). The next 60 seconds were freefall. During those 60 seconds, I probably didn't take a single breath. My eyes were protected by goggles, but my mouth was slightly open during the jump and I couldn't close it properly because of the wind.
It was an incredibly exhilarating feeling to experience this freefall. In hindsight, I even learned that we did a somersault during the freefall, but I didn't notice it at all during the flight :D

At some point, we suddenly stopped and I felt Elliot open the parachute. I took that moment to catch my breath. I tried to regulate my breathing, but it took about 15 seconds for me to breathe somewhat normally. When the parachute opened and I could see and enjoy the view from up there, I felt great. We floated in the sky, letting the wind carry us. Eventually, he offered me the reins to steer, and without hesitation, I took them and steered from left to right and back. After a short time, Elliot took the reins back, and we floated towards the landing area. I would have liked to float up there for a few more minutes or even hours, but unfortunately, that wasn't possible. As we were nearing the landing, I assumed my landing position and bam, I was back on the ground without a scratch. The landing was super smooth, I jumped up, looked at Elliot, and gave him a big high-five. He made a short cut for the video, and then he said I could change clothes now.
Wow, that was really an incredibly exciting experience today.
When I arrived back in Sydney around noon, I went to the hostel, dropped off my things, and went to the city with the Korean guy.

24/07/2024:

The night was not good, I slept poorly, and at 00:30, a guy named Elan moved into the room. I woke up when he opened the door and turned on my phone light to see who it was because I had actually thought I had the room to myself again. We talked for a few minutes, and it was the weirdest conversation I've ever had. Because I was half asleep, I was completely out of it and asked three times where he came from. He looks like he's been awake for a few days, which gave me a bad feeling. After this strange conversation, I quickly went back to bed and slept until morning. When I woke up, I walked to the harbor, laid down on a lawn, and just relaxed. When I returned to the hostel, I asked at the reception if a letter had arrived. Yes, finally I have my bank card and I hope I receive the TFN in the next few days.