Skydiving in Airlie Beach

After the bus to Airlie Beach was delayed by 1.5 hours, we arrived at our hostel, "Magnums", which was pretty cool. It consisted of cabins located in a forest. We arrived on a Monday and were scheduled to go skydiving on Wednesday. However, due to the bad weather forecast, we were able to move it to the Tuesday. Two days before, I was super nervous and could hardly think of anything else ;-D. Dani, on the other hand, was completely chilled and couldn't understand my nervousness at all. Before the jump, we had to sign consent forms stating that the skydive company would not be held accountable in case anything happened. They also provided detailed information about all the risks involved and recommended getting insurance in case of accidents. This did not really help to calm me down. Our 7-person group was very nice, especially an Australian elderly couple who were super cool and funny. Waiting at the airstrip made me really anxious. After putting on the gear, I suddenly remembered that I had to go to the toilet, even though I had just been a short while ago. So I had to hold it in. My instructor made me even more nervous. Most instructors checked and tightened the gear of their students, as well as gave them goggles. Mine didn't do anything. I even told him that I felt like the straps were too loose, but he didn't care at all. And I got even more nervous. Then we got into the plane, where 14 people squeezed in. In a tight space, he began to fiddle with and pull on my gear. Great, he could have done that earlier! When we were already in the air, I tried to reach for my glasses, which were hanging at the back of my neck. He just said, "Don't worry about your glasses." Thanks a lot, now I'm going to jump out of the plane without my glasses, while everyone else has theirs on. Never mind, with contact lenses and going at about 220 km/h, where I will be thrown through the air for 60 seconds, I don't need them anyway. Then it started, the door of the plane was opened once we reached 14,000 ft. Finally, I got my glasses. He quickly reminded me of what I had to do and before I knew it, the first person was already out of the plane. And then I was pushed towards the opening and whoosh, I was pushed out of the plane. Before this moment, I was incredibly scared, I was afraid that I would refuse to jump when the time came. But there was no opportunity for that, you are pushed out so quickly. I can't even remember the moment when I fell out. I think my brain took a short break ;-D. And then I was flying and flying at an incredible speed that I couldn't breathe. On one hand, it was cool to fly through the air, but on the other hand, I was afraid of fainting because I couldn't breathe. The freefall seemed endless and all I could think was, "open the damn parachute already"! When it finally happened, I could breathe deeply and enjoy the view for about 5-7 minutes. We chose the most beautiful place in Australia for the jump. Specifically, over the Great Barrier Reef near Airlie Beach, where there are many islands, such as the Whitsunday Islands or Hamilton Island. Unfortunately, it was over way too quickly, I could have hung in the air forever. Although I was super nervous beforehand, I did not find it bad at all afterwards and definitely want to do it again. However, Dani and I realized that a real adrenaline rush was missing. Maybe we can experience the jump more intensely the second time, because then we already know what to expect and won't be as surprised.