The day is finally here… or so I think. Today I jump out of a plane!

For the last ten years or so, I’ve known that I would eventually skydive. I wasn’t itching to do it, but I knew someday an opportunity would present itself and I’d have to squash down fears of imminent death and just say yes.

And what better time to ‘say yes’ than while traveling to an exotic location? I was very tempted to jump over Fox Glacier in New Zealand, as it’s rated the #2 skydive in the world (behind Mt. Everest, where a single jump costs thousands of dollars due to the high altitude). But my friend Emma had already pitched me Skydive Mission Beach — she used to work for a tour company in Oz and swore it was the best place to jump. You land right on the beach and see two national parks (Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest — both in the far distance) while falling out of a plane. I was sold.

I’m scheduled to jump my first day in Mission Beach. I show up nervous, snap some photos, and tell the world about it on Facebook. “Sounds like a good day to jump out of a plane!”, my status reads.

We watch these skydivers land on the beach just outside the office.

I’m not scheduled to go up for another hour, so I take photos of the next group suiting up and giving pre-jump video interviews for their DVDs.

How about these guys?! I love how excited Santa and James Bond are to jump out of a plane.

(I don’t know if he’s actually supposed to be dressed as James Bond, but it reminds me of that moment from the London Olympics Opening Ceremony where Daniel Craig and the Queen skydive into the stadium.)

The staff at Skydive Mission Beach are dedicated to capturing every detail of your jump. You can sign up for a photo & video package to get high quality DSLR stills and GoPro video footage. I am impressed with this camera set-up!

The group climbs aboard to head to the plane, about 30 minutes away.

I wait on the beach to capture them landing about an hour later.

What a pretty place to land! I’m so excited for my turn.

We spot the first few skydivers flying through the clouds.

I spy Santa:

And James Bond, minus the Queen:

The landing is surprisingly gracious — my sister, who has skydived herself, likens it to apparition in the world of Harry Potter. One minute you’re flying, the next you’re walking on the ground like nothing ever happened. It’s surreal.

Oh man, these guys are exhilarated! I can’t wait for my turn…

… except I’ll have to, because shortly thereafter the clouds move in and, en route to the plane, we get a call that our dive has been postponed.

But I already told Facebook!!

I was tempted to cram my own skydiving story into this post, but it would double in length, so I’ll be back tomorrow with skydiving stills and video.

In the mean time, here’s the proof that I went through with it:

See you tomorrow!

Thanks to Skydive Mission Beach for offering a 20% media discount. Opinions are my own.