November 1, 2023 JUMP!!! (Day 35)
This morning we left the calm restful atmosphere of the Convent Hotel and drove into downtown Auckland to SkyCity, an entertainment, hotels, restaurants, casino and theatre complex that boasts the SkyTower, the second tallest freestanding structure in the Southern Hemisphere! Our purpose; a 10:30am appointment to walk around the SkyDeck and to jump off of it! Thankfully the wind was a mild 7mph and the recent storm had passed. We even had some sun!
We suited up along with 3 more adventurous women and took the quick elevator ride to the top! We stepped outside!
This was actually after we finished our walk on the deck, we were all relieved to get back behind the railing!
Our guide walked us out onto the platform – sans railings, and led us through several challenges. We all got visibly more relaxed during the 20-30 minutes we were out there, even letting go of our guide rope in front of us (which Robert never used as a security handhold!)
We all headed back down to the lobby and Robert and I exchanged our SkyWalk harnesses for the SkyJump harnesses. Another woman who hadn’t done the SkyWalk suited up and was the first to jump today! I was second!
In the cable room. The guides are very vigilant about safety!
And before you know it, the wind is whistling through your hair and you don’t even notice that you’re screaming!
Robert’s turn!
I could hear him scream from the base of the tower where I waited for him to arrive!
You can see video of Robert’s jump HERE!
We were all done by 12:30! What a morning! We still had plenty of time to get to our next accomodation, a VRBO in Maketu, on the beach about a 40 minute drive north of Rotorua. It was a pleasant drive, mostly on highways, until we got to a steep drive up and over a pass in the Kaimai Range and lots of roundabouts, road construction and rush hour in Tauranga, the closest large town.
We had a rainbow guiding us part of the way to our destination, at the end of the rainbow!
We got moved in and enjoyed a glass of wine as we surveyed the view and found out we have a sunset view here!
An exciting day with a fitting end!
November 3rd, 2023 at 5:34 am
Wow! I watched the “BOB” video, too! What fun! Did it feel like t didn’t last long enough? And a rainbow…such luck….
November 5th, 2023 at 12:53 pm
OMG! That was crazy! You guys are really “living the life”! I’m happy to see you are still with us after that crazy jump! WOW!!!! That took some “B’s”. We miss you, and look forward to seeing more of your journey.. You are definately doing it right my friends! We are SO happy for you! Enjoy! ✌️
Cheers,
Claire and Ed
November 5th, 2023 at 5:04 pm
Yes, it didn’t last long enough! We both said ‘let’s do it again!”. Maybe skydiving next???
November 5th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Yes, we are! After that jump I think I’m ready for paragliding, or skydiving maybe????