Consider yourselves warned, all of you!! Once you are hooked you will want to spend every weekend at the drop zone hurling yourself out of a perfectly good plane. The adrenaline pumping through your body during your first jump is unlike anything you would have experienced before. But fret not, the hangar is teeming with experienced jumpers that will provide you with all the guidance and insight needed.
Step-by-step you will learn the basics of skydiving without feeling overwhelmed. Instructors and jumpmasters make sure that you remain safe throughout your progression and provide you with skills needed to get to the next level. The club provides all gear required including rigs, jumpsuits, goggles, helmets and first aid kit (rarely needed). Experiencing my first freefall was a truly cathartic experience. I cannot see myself wanting to do anything else over the weekend. Plus the club stocks some really fetching jumpsuits, see below.
Getting to and from the drop zone is easy. Several people drive through from Cape Town and offer a ride-along (check with Luke to snatch one of the coveted places on the party bus). When staying over, you can choose from a variety of bed & breakfasts or, alternatively, tent on the lawn near the hangar (beware not to erect your tent near the landing zone). There is no catering as such but a fridge is always stocked with cool beer for those Saturday nights around the camp fire. Robertson does not offer much in the way of bars but there are a few places that the club members frequent. The evenings are reserved to recap the day enjoying cool beers and ciders. Embellishments and exaggerations are easily forgiven.
In the words of Leonardo da Vinci: For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.’ It has certainly been the case for me.
