Come fly with me

By BARBARA HARRIS

It was only when Allison leaped out of the plane with another man that her partner Gareth began to worry.

It was the vertigo that was getting to him. But Gareth followed her anyway and jumped from 3000m - a tandem jump, just like Allison's, over the verdant farming and fruit growing area that is Whenuapai, 20km north-west as the crow flies from downtown Auckland.

Gareth Simpson and Allison Wong Toi are just two of the thrillseekers who have put themselves in the hands of this country's largest sport skydiving club, Auckland Skydivers.

A bold move on both parts. Allison bought the jump as a gift for Gareth to help him overcome his fear of heights.

Harnessed to a tandem jumpmaster, a wide range of New Zealanders, from 4-year-olds to 70-plus, have hung outside a plane and launched into 35 seconds of freefall - plummeting earthwards at about 200km/h before the parachute opens at 1500m. The remainder of the descent, the last four minutes or so, are spent gliding back to terra firma.

But why do it?

As Auckland Skydivers president Garth Lawless says: "It's 360 degrees of freedom. It doesn't feel like falling, it feels like flying."

It's an adrenalin buzz and fun. But, says Lawless, safety is taken seriously: "When the door goes up, it's noisy. And seeing someone vanish ... well, some people just freeze. If that's the case we just take them back to base."

For the likes of Allison and Gareth, come summer they'll be back. Barbara Harris

* Contact: Auckland Skydivers Inc, ph (09) 373 5323. It costs $200 to do a tandem skyjump which includes membership of the club.