A change of scenery for RPM’s Purchasing Manager, Joanna Boardman, on Sunday afternoon as she headed out to Auckland Sky Dive in Parakai for an afternoon of entertainment, thrills and adrenaline.

The 36 year old, originally from the UK had been sitting on the idea of doing a sky dive for some time after receiving a gift voucher for her birthday in November and finally decided that the weather felt right.

A quick phone call to the centre to check space and availability and Joanna was on the 46 minute- super long, antagonising journey from her home on the North Shore.

The safety briefing video depicted a young lady screaming, a lot – and then smiling. Enough to make any sane person question their sanity before jumping out of a plane. However with onlookers in the form of husband and son, Joanna decided that she would put mind over matter in proving that she was capable in overcoming fears, being that this is just a state of mind.

A quick change in to a custom blue jump suit and an introduction to her tandem master and Jo was off to the small plane for the ascent to 9000 ft. The rain started and the clouds rolled in, but the jump went ahead. The roller shutter door was opened and before you could say “ready, steady, go” The Tandem Sky Dive was underway, straight through the clouds.

Free fall lasted for approximately 20 seconds before the parachute was opened and the world slowed down to what felt like a halt. The view was breath-taking and a rainbow appearance added some extra special colour to the sky.

Once firmly back on the ground, Joanna was asked, would you do it again, to which she replied “Yes, totally, it was awesome, amazing, such fun…” to our knowledge she is still going on about it now.

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