Jumping out of a plane was the most THRILLING moment of my life so far.

I have gone from being that person who says they would never skydive and always saying ‘why would you jump out of a perfectly good plane’ to strongly encouraging everyone I know to do it because they will never, ever regret it.

Because I was that person, convincing me to skydive was going to be no easy feat. So, my boyfriend Morgan didn’t even try, he surprised me instead.

We were at Airlie Beach for a weekend away and as part of a belated Christmas present, he bought me a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef – I was so excited, I had never seen the Reef in person.

It was an early start to head out to the airport, and Morgan told me I had to wear enclosed shoes. Neither of those clues prompted questions about our scenic flight at an early hour or the need for enclosed shoes.

We jumped in a taxi with a lovely driver who asked us if we were going skydiving since we were going out to the airport, to which Morgan casually replied, ‘no we’re taking a scenic flight over the reef’. I didn’t even question it.

Then, we got to the airport and the driver asked us which side of the runway we wanted to get dropped off at – Morgan said to the left, to the skydiving…

I proceeded to panic. Tears welled up and I felt like I was stuck to the back seat of the taxi like velcro but I got out and followed Morgan into the building. It all happened so quickly; I didn’t even have a chance to think of an escape route.

In we went, I filled out the paperwork, made a couple of nervous trips to the toilet and went outside to be briefed on what I was about to do. Strangely I found myself half excited, probably because everyone was on the same emotional rollercoaster I was, and the Skydive Australia staff were so calming and friendly.

It was a tandem skydive, so I was paired up with Tom who knew exactly what he was doing. He had a chat with me about the experience, put me in the harness and made sure I was secure and then we waited for our turn to get on the plane and jump.

Morgan was jumping as well so having the familiar face that forced me onto the plane made me feel a little better about the whole thing. There were about half a dozen of us jumping out of this plane, all with anxious looks on our faces as the plane slowly climbed up 15,000ft.

When we reached the appropriate height, Morgan was first out the door. That’s when the enormity of what I was in for hit me, he disappeared and before I could back out Tom was shuffling us towards the door so we could disappear into the clouds.

Before I knew it, I was out of the plane and free falling through the clouds. It was the most incredible feeling. Once Tom managed to get my hands free from the strangle hold they had on the harness, I was flying. It was amazing. It might’ve only been a few seconds and then Tom pulled the parachute, and we were floating through the clouds and towards the earth.

We floated down for about 10 minutes and landed softly on the ground. I was on a high for the rest of the day, it was the most incredible experience.

Morgan was right, it was a scenic flight. He just left out some details about the landing…