Check out this article written by blogger Me, My Pack & I:

SKYDIVE IN TAUPO – COWABUNGA!

Today I threw myself out of a plane . . . and it was the best day ever!

There’s not much more I can say about my skydive experience. It was every incredible word you can think of multiplied by 1,000.

The freefall was marvelous and it felt like I was floating. When the parachute opened and we slowed down enough to see the entire area, Taupo and its surroundings looked magnificent. Snow-capped mountains hugged a sparkling blue lake. The sky was blue and the trees and land were green. Spectacular!

I would definitely do this again in a heartbeat. No question about it.

My dive master’s name was Alan. He helped me suit up and checked all the rigging and harnesses. We were last to hop into the plane, which meant we’d be first on the flipside. Also in the plane with me were Alba and a girl named Pia. This was a momentous event for all of us, even though Alba had jumped once before.

As the plane ascended, I had to put on an oxygen mask when we hit 8,000 feet. We were on our way to 15,000 feet and the ride actually took longer than I expected. A few minutes before the door opened, Alan had me sit on his lap so he could hook me up to him. He also gave me plastic goggles to wear and told me what would happen next.

When the door opened up, it was amazing to see how high we were. But there wasn’t a lot of time to admire it as Alan moved us over to the door and we sat with our legs hanging outside of the plane. With a quick nod to our cameraman, who was literally hanging on to the door and halfway outside the plane already, Alan and I were in freefall.

Did I tell you that this was the best day ever?

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Please help raise money for 17-month-old Cullen, who has Cerebral Palsy.  Click here to visit Trade Me and bid on a 12,000ft skydive.  Proceeds will go to the “Let’s Help Get Cullen on His Feet” campaign.  Read about Cullen’s story by visiting his website.  Donations can also be made on Cullen’s website.  Let’s help Cullen get the operation he needs to get on his feet!

Located in the Central North Island of New Zealand, we are situated on the shores of majestic Lake Taupo, overlooking the mountains of Tongariro National Park. Taupo Tandem Skydiving is the original tandem skydiving operation in New Zealand and is currently the largest in the world.  Operating daily, we have the capacity to skydive over 100 tandem passengers per day.  Bring your friends and family along to witness the experience – we have a café on site and free wireless Internet.

Great news, TTS has gone wireless!  We now have a wireless network at the drop zone for our staff, customers and guests to access.  So bring along your laptop, iPhone or other mobile device and get surfing!   No password is required, just log onto our hot spot and away you go. This is great news for our customers as they can upload their skydiving photos and DVD footage to the internet whie at the drop zone. This wireless network is provided free of charge to all our clients at Taupo Tandem Skydiving.

Alan Neal will turn 50 in July of this year.  His friends & colleagues have been trying to persuade him to do a skydive to commemorate his birthday.  The only problem?  Alan is PETRIFIED of heights…

In the days following Christchurch’s February earthquake, Alan agreed to jump out of a plane if his workplace could raise $1,000 to donate to Christchurch.  They surpassed their goal and raised $2,000!  Alan was true to his word.  On 19 March, with the support of his collagues, Alan bravely took the plunge from 15,000 feet.  And what a great cause it was!  Alan’s company, Pathlab Associates, agreed to match the workplace contribution by donating an additional $2,000.  A total of $4,000 was donated to Chirstchurch on behalf of Alan’s skydive.  Now that is something to be proud of!

We were happy to be able to help out the community of Richmond Heights last week by donating 2 skydives. The first one was given to the winner of “Old Skool Games” and then they had to invite a complete stranger from their street or neighbourhood to join them. This would make a connection between the 2 households. Well, we thought this was a great idea. Congratulations to the winners!