Last Saturday, a group of us went and checked out the Sydney Aquarium. It didn’t quite have the effect it would normally of had if we hadn’t just returned from scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. It was still nice to see some of the more exotic fish, seals, and great white sharks. So, no complaints. After the aquarium, we headed back to the Rocks Markets where we did a little souvenir shopping and picked up a few things. I always find interesting things there.
Once the markets closed, we ventured into Pancakes on the Rocks. The menu is mostly breakfast food with a twist. Like I had Mexican crepes with chips and guacamole and Annie had a breakfast pizza. Sean and I split a dessert… two pancakes topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, walnuts, and bananas. Wonderfully delicious!
At ICMS, I have two “sick” days that don’t count against me at all… Annie and I both have our longest days of class on Tuesdays, so we decided to do a very Australian thing and have a “sickie” (aka play hookie). We went to the mall and explored a little. It was a nice four day weekend since I hadn’t had class since the Friday before.
Nothing really exciting on Wednesday.
On Thursdays, most of us don’t have class anymore, so Annie, Stephanie and myself made the trip to Bondi Beach. It was Beautiful! It wasn’t as long as Manly Beach, but it was like over three times as wide as Manly. Bondi is where the beach volleyball games were held during the 2000 Olympic Games. There were a lot more surfers and it was a younger crowd than Manly’s normal family scene. We grabbed lunch at a small café and just layed in the sun all day. We headed back to Manly and went down to Shark Bar for our late night festivities. Good stuff… Always a good time.
Friday evening, a group of us headed into Sydney. We were meeting up with some friends from college down on Oxford St at The Columbian Hotel. Oxford Street is the road that the Gay Pride Mardi Gras Parade goes down. So, you get the picture. We were hitting up some gay bars… All I knew was that I wanted some crazy lasers and smoke machines. While we were at the Columbian, Annie happened to ask a drag queen where the bathrooms were and the drag queen pointed her in the right direction, but then asked her where she was from. Annie said Michigan and the drag queen looked excited. Apparently, this drag queen studied abroad from Australia at Michigan State!! How bizarre!!
After meeting for some drinks at the Columbian Hotel, we headed down to the Midnight Shift Club. It was so cool. Crazy colored lights all over with smoke machines going off everywhere. It was a riot. About an hour after getting there, a group of drag queens come out onto the stage and perform a couple dances for the crowd. It was hilarious and I loved it! We took a cab home from the city at about 3:00am. Not too shabby of an evening.
Saturday was very unproductive in preparation for Sunday…
At 4:30amon Sunday morning, 17 students from the school met in the courtyard to head to a small town called Picton, about an hour and a half from Sydney. Once we arrived at Syndey Skydivers, I knew there was no turning back. We all got signed in and my group of 6 (Sean, Annie, Caitlin, Stephanie, Brett, and Me) got called to suit up for the first plane. I was not very stable at this point. I was slightly spazzing out. My instructor, Mick, was great. He started videotaping and immediately started making jokes about the parachute not working and he was doing a damn good job of freaking me out.
We started loading into the plan about 7:30am and Annie and I were in the back of the plane. Once the other jumpers and their instructors were piled in, the door closed and we were on our way up to 14,000 feet! After about 20 minutes and no turbulence, the red light turned on. This signaled that we had approximately 3 minutes until jumping. Yellow light switched on, 1 minute until jumping. Mick was bust checking all the hooks and straps and gauges that were connecting us together for our tandem freefall jump. Green Light… GO! Door opens and within seconds, out goes Brett… Then Stephanie, and Caitlin, and Sean. Oh Shit, I’m next. I crawled to the door, crossed my arms, head back…
The view was INCREDIBLE. Supposedly it is really cold up there, but I definitely wasn’t paying attention to that. You could see for miles and miles. Over 50 seconds of freefalling for 9,000 feet. It was still a bit surreal and the feeling wasn’t like falling. I don’t know quite how to explain the it, but I recommend it to everyone.
At 5,000 feet, Mick pulled the parachute cord. Once it caught wind, we were floating. The world was quite and everything was beautiful. It took about 5 or 6 minutes to get into position for landing. While up there, he let me steer the parachute and spin us around. It was really fun. We definitely landed going much faster than I thought we would, but I was still happy to be back on land. I will DEFINITELY be skydiving again.
Thursday morning we are doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. That will take a couple hours, but should be a good time. Heard it’s a great view?!
Today, we spent the day planning our 5 days in New Zealand after our term ends. We are going white water rafting, bungy jumping, and swimming with dolpihins… All with the help of our rented 4-person campervan… and yes, the driver sits on the opposite side of the car than we are used to. This should be exciting.
Hopefully everyone is doing well. I can’t believe I am home in 33 days! WOW! Time has flown by. Talk to you again soon. xoxo.
Love&Miss.
Erica Jo
Annie and I at Bondi Beach
Steph, Sean, Annie, and I at The Columbian
Us with our MSU Drag Queen!
My Australian friend, Matt, and I
I got my Lasers!! Yay!
The Drag Show at the Midnight Shift Club
Walking to the plane! Ah!
On the plane right before jumping...
NO TURNING BACK NOW!
Let the FREE FALLING BEGIN! Dropped 9,000 feet in about 50 or 60 seconds.
Check out the view!!
There's my parachute... It's a beautiful thing!!
My instructor, Mick, let me steer the parachute.
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Back on the Ground... I survived!
The MSU group that made the jump! :)
1 comment:
Jo:
What a wild and crazy gal you are. I can't believe how much you have squeezed into the time you've been there. You have done things that I wouldn't ever think of trying, and skydiving has to top the list, not for me, but I do love the pictures.
You've really surprised me too. You are a very good writer. If you don't find a hospitality job, you could probably write. I love reading your comments as much as the adventure itself.
I'm getting ready for our vacation. Definitely need a "getaway". Your mom has probably told you that we're all squeezing into Bill's van for the trip down. That will be our first adventure. Of course we've had to tell your dad that he can't take a bin full of shoes. Have no idea how he'll get thru the week on a couple pair of shoes!!! But definitely looking forward to the vacation. It's always fun to travel with friends, as you've found out. Keep up the blog, it's great reading. We all miss you and look forward to seeing you back. Have a good week.
Judi
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