Happy Birthday Sam! We’re going to Airkix today and are pumped. We’re a little unsure how this is going to work, but Indoor Skydiving sounds really cool. We left the house around 10am to be there for our 12:30pm jump. The complex in Xscape also had indoor skiing, bowling, movie cinema, an aquatic centre and shopping. You could stay there a couple of full days to experience it all.
We were invited into the Airkix waiting area and we sat watching live footage of groups in the box flying. It looked really awesome. Our instructor greeted us and took us and a couple of families into a smaller room where we watched a video explaining the hand signals and positions. There were 13 people in our group flying today. Our instructor then came in and repeated the hand signs and parts of video about posture. He told us that today we are not floating, but flying, and that flying or falling low to the ground would be up to us physically working our body and holding in a ‘U’ shape to allow the air to flow around our bodies. He strictly said we were NOT doing tricks, but only flying. His lecture was a little long winded and a little patronising, but necessary I guess. We were able to practice the position on a bench in the room. We really weren’t expecting it to be a physical workout but here goes...
Dylan was a little unsure if he wanted to go, but we were all suited up and he could decide once we were in the tunnel. In our sexy blue suits with trendy goggles and our helmets we followed our instructor up stairs to the tunnel. The previous group were still having their go in the hexagonal room. It seemed that some of them were flying really well, and others were struggling to stay off the ground. Their instructor assisted others and held onto them and spun them around to go higher. It looked like so much fun and he was really energetic. At the end of the group’s turn their instructor told them to stand near the glass then waved to them walked into the hexagonal room with the air blasting and shot straight up like superman. He was so fast. He performed heaps of tricks flying up and down. At one stage he was in the air, head upside down and skimming the inside walls like he was skate boarding on them. Up and down he flew doing tricks like a springboard diver. He came down once and was propelled out the door and smacked into the wall then quickly pushed himself back into the room and was up in the air again. It was very inspirational for all of us as he made flying and the tricks seem very easy. He hi-fived his group and they left.
After their performance, we were really, really pumped and couldn’t wait to be assisted by our instructor to fly high. So into the outer room we walked and sat on the bench as our instructor reminded us of the hand signals, especially “straight legs, bent legs” and “get me out”. Joseph volunteered to go first and we were both surprised and impressed. You little thrill seeker, you. The fans fired up under the grid in the wind tunnel and our hearts were pumping. The fans were very loud and it was recommended we use ear plugs but we chose not to, the noise is part of the experience. You couldn’t help but have a huge grin on your face, although little Dyl didn’t seem very comfortable.
As we looked on, Joseph grabbed hold of the doorway and jumped in and our instructor caught him. It looked difficult for him at first but he found the position then was free flying. It looked simple enough. 1 minute 30 seconds for two goes each. Dan you’re up!
Dan threw himself into the wind tunnel and nearly hit the ground straight away, it wasn’t as easy as Brosef made it look. It was actually quite difficult and at times scary. That’s right, Dan get’s a little scared from time to time. It didn’t help when he started to float to the top and not know how to get down and then suddenly nose dive to the ground. At one stage he thought the instructor pulled him towards the exit. It was so funny for the rest of us to see Dan pulling himself out of the door, and the instructor pulling him back in. Dan still had another 45 seconds to go. Inside, Dan cried. Eventually it was over.
As Dan exited the doorway, for real this time, Ev had evaluated that it seemed safe and that the worst thing of falling to the grid was not that big of a risk, so here goes. Not normally a risk taker, Ev was up and jumped. Oh My God!! It was weird how much resistance you had against your body. Like a high-pressure hose all over you. That’s a lot of force supporting you. The first thing to do was stabilise without the instructor, cause photos with him always holding you would be like needing training wheels the whole time. It was really hard making the ‘U’ shape because it did require physical strength in your back and getting your hands above your head and legs bent in the right way then holding it all was difficult. The instructor made the peace sign in front of Ev’s face to tell her to straighten her legs. In her head Ev thought that was the bend sign and he kept insisting the peace sign. Okay, okay, straight... Once she found the position, free flying was a breeze and she could relax. Most of the time the instructor had Ev facing the other room where the speed controller/photographer was. Smile!!
Ev wanted to turn, so she did and almost hit the grid. It was really hard turning without falling because one wrong move of an arm down or leg flapping and you’d lose resistance and fall. Facing the group was a fluke because you would turn then go backwards and kick the back wall then push off and almost face plant into the wall ahead. Ev was so happy she was in the air that she was waving half the time because it was such an awesome feeling. Time went very quickly ‘5 seconds to go. Find the door and don’t exit like Dan!! Few! No problems.’
Dylan had decided he didn’t want to have a go so he waited with Dan while Sam had her turn. You’re up now... Happy Birthday!! Like Dan, Sam seemed to struggle a lot of the time, going high then suddenly dipping. She said it was very hard to find the position to fly straight. There was one photo, that we won’t post, that had Sam’s mouth puffed and cheeks puffed out. It was really funny. Sorry Sam, but it was. At least she didn’t freak out like Dan...Wuss!! The rest of the group members had their turn then we each had one more go.
It seemed more difficult for all of us the second time then Ev and Joseph had an extra turn because Dylan didn’t have a go. Dan said at one stage Ev was flying high then floated down like a leaf towards the grid. Once we had all finished our instructor said he hoped we had a good time and showed us out the door. A bit of an anti-climax considering we’d seen the previous instructor’s show. We were also supposed to get signed certificates saying we’d flown, but our Instructor didn’t have them for us. Feeling a little cheated we exited the flying room and headed downstairs to take off our blue suits and ordered our photo codes to download over the internet later.
We had lunch in the Xscape complex. Cheers Sam! We agreed that Ev and Joseph definitely would do it again, but Dan and Sam really didn’t dig the experience. It’s probably the only thrill seeking activity that Ev has loved more than Dan. It would have been better if our instructor flew with us and the certificates would be good to have. Oh well. Sam and the boys told us more about their Orlando holiday and Sam suggested that we go to Disneyland in Paris rather than Disneyworld in Orlando as there are other theme parks we can see there. As it is, we’ll probably run out of time in Orlando. We’ll see how we go in Paris, but it’s definitely a good idea. It was only 1:30pm so we went back home for a bit then headed out to Salcey Forest where we were meeting up with another of Sam’s friends and her kids.
Salcey Forest
The Forest was really beautiful and a very family oriented place with play equipment and lots of walking/riding tracks to take. We all walked up to the platform in the tree tops. It was a great view. We had ice-creams back down at the cafe and watched the kids play on the swing set. Before too long there were younger kids screaming at each other and crying because they’d been hit...you know the usual things that put you off having children yourself. It was such a pleasant atmosphere...... We’re still a couple years away from having children.
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| Salcey Forest |
On our way home we admired the beautiful country side and hung on for dear life as Sam comfortably drove through the narrow winding highway. Sam told us about the lock canals and we were curious to see them in action. Luckily there were boats going through. We’d never seen them being used before. We helped open and close some of the heavy wooden lock gates to allow the canals to fill so the boats could move up and down stream.
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| Canal Locks |
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| Joseph and Ev helping to open a lock. |
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| Dylan showing us up by doing it on his own. |
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| Dan needed some help closing it. |
We continued back home and quickly freshened up to go to dinner at The Swan, the pub where Sam works. It was a lovely traditional English pub with a very friendly atmosphere. Some of Sam’s friends were already there, including a couple from the other pub yesterday. Now this pub is no ordinary pub. It’s been rated as one of the best Pubs in England and not just because Sam works there. Needless to say, dinner tasted delicious. Ev had pork ribs and mash and the meat was literally falling off the bone. Dan had Lasagne. Already completely full from dinner we couldn’t leave without having dessert from here. Ev had Bread and Butter Pudding with custard and Dan had Ice cream. We stayed for a final Birthday drink for Sam with one of the girls in the restaurant. Back home Ev skyped her parents and Dan played the Wii with the boys while Sam found the Airkix photos online and we all later watched the DVD together. We all looked like pros, especially Dan.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
