Skydiving in New Zealand/Australia

[peckerhead 0]

I will be in NZ next month (April 2005) and would like to make some skydives while I am there. I will be flying into Auckland and renting a car. Return flight is also from Auckland. I am mostly interested in the north Island and maybe the northern part of the south island.

What are the best DZ's for experienced jumpers? Most of the info I found here on dz.com is about tandems only. I don't mind making solos, I mostly want to get in the air for the scenery. I may also be making a sidetrip to Sydney while I am there.

My wife is going there on a business trip and I am just going along for the ride so I need dz's that are open mid-week while she is working. I can make some weekend jumps also.
Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

PS how is Quantas about flying with your rig?

[pyke 0]

Search for New Zealand on this thread...and you'll find COUNTLESS detailed descriptions of dz's.

If you have any questions - PM me...I can help.

Kahurangi e Mahearangi,
Kiwi, RB #926, AFF-I, FAA Snr. Rigger, RN/BSN/Paramedic

[Travman 6]

If you make it to Sydney, there is Sydney Skydivers, at Picton just south of the city. They run a Skyvan or a Twin Otter, or both if there is demand and sometimes the beaver.

There is jumping all weekend, and in the mornings during the week - number of loads depends on demand.

[fergs 0]

PS how is Quantas about flying with your rig?

[rhys 0]

if you really want scenery and dont mind flying solo. then you should really think about the lower south island. fox glacier has a d.z. and you have beautiful views of aoraki (our tallest mountain) with surroundin rain forest, lakes glaciers and ocean. queenstown(my d.z.) has a 6300ft agl
mountain only a couple of miles from the d.z. spectacular.
glenorchy and te anau d.z.' are on the edge of fiordland national park wich is a world heritage park. i'm not saying there is not nice views up north but it is somthing else down here. we have a turbine cresco 750 and operate every day we are able.

there is a stronger sport skydiving scene in the north island but if you are coming to new zealand you really would want to see our amazing veiws. lord of the rings was filmed right here for this reason.
i hope you enjoy your stay in new zealand.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[bob.dino 0]

Yup. That's probably the only mid-week option, though you might have some luck at Wollongong, though it's mainly a tandem factory.

[op5e 0]

I remember bow saying that you need an APF D (or maybe c) license to jump there because I remember being quite bummed. But I was also quite drunk so I am probably way off.

Temora can jump weekdays too Trav if we get enough people.

If you go to the APF website it tells you if the DZ is 7 days or weekend.

[bob.dino 0]

The 'gong has too small a landing area to safely allow A licences there.... you'll just have to do a load of jumps .

[op5e 0]

dino, you know im up for a few jumps when I get back. I should try to be there when you are there, but you will have to learn how to fly belly between now and then Come up to learning curve in august. Mind you I am thinking of buying a book of tickets from picton soon. Oh and yay for me, just ordered my jumpsuit form rmw. Dont mind me I am bouncing. Cant wait only 2 months to go.

[bob.dino 0]

Cool... no learning curve for me - I'll probably be in Ireland about that time. I have to remind my parents what I look like .

[Jasmin 0]

Nope Op5e, you were weren't drunk enough to not which resulted in their canopies in the drink, not to mention a few jumpers who've landed in it too

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[bob.dino 0]

When you've got a beach-side DZ, you really should look before getting out of the plane .

[op5e 0]

I did have some fun talking to some people from the gong that had a few wet canopy experiences. But I guess that happens anywhere there is water.

I definately felt for the guy who ruined his cypress due to landing in the drink the other weekend. Mind you being a wingsuiter he was lucky it didnt end out any worst.

Dino when you going?

[bob.dino 0]

Looking at August for a round-the-world-via-Perris trip.

[Jasmin 0]

Yeah I heard about that.
One of the most important things when wingsuiting is to keep an eye on where the heck you are! That individual should've known better, but hey all wingsuiters do it (land off) at least once!

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[op5e 0]

Jasmin, I definately hope to flock with you and the other wingsuiters hopefully later in the year when i get my numbers up. But I wont be doing it over the water for a while.

[rhys 0]

Quote

When you've got a beach-side DZ, you really should look before getting out of the plane .


when you have a 6500' mountain and a huge lake only a couple of miles away form the d.z. you should always look before you get out...........

........you should always look out.

even if others have already gone, getting out without looking is a bad habit. g.p.s. and pilots can fail but you can't blame them if you end up in the drink or hitting a mountain. if you don't know how to spot, learn.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

• Quote

[britboynz 0]

Come down to Taupo in the central North Island (3hrs drive south of Auckland) We have a PAC 750, a lake bigger than Singapore, mountains, forests, & nightlife

Taupo is a tandem factory though - there are 3 operators at the airport, catering to the *huge* backpacker tandem market (plus AFF). You should have no problem getting on a load as a solo, and prob manage to jump with sporties at the weekend or staff who aren't working. But if you want to do headdown with 10 others at Taupo, it ain't gonna happen! I jump at TTS (big yellow hangar next to the control tower) cost of a lift to 12k is NZ$35.

The main sport DZ in the North Island is at Mercer, 40 mins south of Auckland, they've got a super Porter & go to 14k on each load. Not so scenic as Taupo but they do LOTS of sport jumping at weekends.

Have a great time in NZ

Russ

[bigway 4]

On a saturday we have about 30 jumpers here at mercer. The cost of a lift in the super porter is 30 nzd to 14k. the turn around of loads is 12 minutes. we have a wicked tavern down the road and free accommodation. you want to do a 10 way head down or a nauti dive or freefly coaching, come to us. If this is scott who posted the original post, i think i just put you on a load. if you want to do a 18 way out of the porter and 2 185's, come to us. We have some great load organisers and are not a tandem factory. We have a sweet boogi coming up on an island off the coast of the coromandel this weekend and three days of balloon jumping at the balloons over waikato. You will find some cool planes in taupo. queenstown is gorgeous though they charge you 60nzd a load for sportys. if you want to jump in queenstown head to glenorchy and visit wendy smiths dz. Wendy is currently living here in our house at mercer and doing lots of coach jumps and tons of AFF. We are organising a swoop comp with $5000 up for grabs on waihi beach. if you buy a 100 jump package off us you will be paying 22nzd a slot to 14-16k.
We are about to resort our dz with the new hanger that starts in a couple of weeks with pool and more accommodation. every couple of sundays we will be heading to our new dz in hamilton where we share the airport with microlites, and you know what that means

Any questions on deals and packages and accommodation, give me a call on 0274500737 and i am sure i can make you up a decent package that will cater to what you need.
Gary.

.Karnage Krew Gear Store
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