Yeah, this one time, the wind whistled through my ears and my hair felt like it was going to rip out! My heart was pounding and even though I could hear people yelling at me, I couldn’t really make out what they were saying. I could smell the fresh air and far below me, I could hear the sound of cars zooming past. I was horrified and yet I felt like I wanted to go to sleep. And then, I just stepped off… and dropped 192 metres.

It was my first ever sky jump and it was a pretty wild moment in my life. I’ve always been afraid of heights. I never felt comfortable in high places. I avoided doing things like going to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and you can forget about me ever getting up on a ladder for anything. Then, an unexpected trip ended up changing everything.

My friend Guntra was coming over from Latvia and she wanted me to meet up with her in Auckland for new years. We spontaneously decided to check out the Auckland Sky City Tower. We spent the entire day exploring the city and having a look at the major tourist attractions. People were jumping off the tower and it was exciting to watch as they hit the landing pad. They seemed so happy and as we got closer the excitement became more and more contagious until finally we couldn’t take it anymore. We had to try it out for ourselves.

We hadn’t seen each other in about five years and we weren’t sure when we were going to see each other again. I was covered in goose bumps, at just the thought of having to jump from the top of that huge tower. So anyways, on this incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trip, we had to decide if we were going to take the plunge and be adventurous or chicken out. It looked like I would walk straight off the platform and fall splat onto the pavement below. And there was a company offering sky jumps.

We went up to the information booth and I stood there paralysed. My throat was dry and I felt like I had to take a whizz so bad. It was just nerves. I literally said “Stuff it!” and jumped onto the queue, yep, just like that. I mean, I could talk it up and make it sound like it was this traumatic decision that took a long time to make but in reality it was just a split second. I was tired of being afraid and what better way to face my fears and start the new year than on this incredible adventure. I thought “If i’m going to do this, then I’m going to have to do it right!” So I strode up to the counter and slammed my money down!

They strapped me into the special sky jump suit and after a brief hesitation, I dove off into the abyss. I have to say, it was thrilling, it was amazing, it was exciting, it was terrifying and it was exhilirating. It felt like it was over in a second and it felt like it took an hour to get to the bottom. I struggle to even describe the feeling but the lesson that I learned was to never be afraid, the reward of exhiliration and overcoming my anxieties was well worth the price of taking a chance. Duration : 0:4:48