Thomas "The Tank" Dade

Skydive Australia – Melbourne

Located in St. Kilda just outside Melbournes CBD the Skydive Australia – Melbourne drop zone was one to remember. Having the opportunity to free-fall from 4,500m/15,000ft for a good minute was special. Once the free-fall was over and I was floating under the parachutes canopy I got to take in the specatucalr, breathtaking views of Port Philip Bay and Melbournes CBD. The deep blue ocean and sandy beaches in contrast to Melbourne CBD’s skyrise buildings was something I’ll never forget.

Given to me as a Christmas present I wasn’t too keen to tandem skydive, although it was on my bucket list I was in weird state of mind were I thought traveling 40 minutes to jump out of a plane was a waist of time. Always being challenged by my own mental insecurities I felt time not working or training was time waisted. Anyway reluctantly, feeling bad for not being happy with a Christmas present I set the date to do the skydive on the last day of 2018. Surprisingly I wasn’t really anxious, I wasn’t excited either it was kind of lets just get this done. Once I arrived at Skydive Australia’s – Melbourne office which is located in St. Kilda next to the beach I waited a little bit before watching a safety video and safety briefing. From there we were driven to Moorabbin Airport (25 km from Melbournes CBD), the drive took about 15 minutes and from there we got onto the plane we were about to jump out of.

20 minutes later I was jumping out of a plane, upon request my guide got in a backflip whilst free-falling, that was pretty cool. The adrenaline rush is lucky nothing I’d experienced, unlike a bungee jump you got time to think whilst falling at a ridiculously fast speed. After a little less than a minute the free-fall was over and we floated down to the ground taking in the views of the Melbourne CBD and Port Philip Bay. After around 10 minutes I was on the ground close to the Skydive Australia – Melbourne office in St. Kilda. I ended up loving it, so much that I signed up how to learn how to skydive solo 3 hours later.