The Man Who Fell to Earth

Auckland tower has a floor that stands some 200 metres above hard and unforgiving concrete.
Auckland tower has a desk in the basement - some 10 or so metres below this concrete - where for a nominal fee you can buy the opportunity to jump from the 200 metre floor down to the ground.

So today I did precisely that. I paid my fee, suited up, and before I could even contemplate my foolishness I was standing on the edge of a platform - that juts out like a diving board - trying to look anywhere other than down below me. Axel Rose is singing "Knock Knock Knocking On Heaven's Door" on the radio and my safety supervisor is telling me that he'll count from three down to one and then I'm to let go of the rails and step over the edge - not bloody likely.

Three, two, one, go! And to my surprise I've let go and after a 10 metre free fall I'm now dangling like bait from a fishing line while the crew tries to take photos. They're shouting at me to look up so they can capture the terrified look on my face but I'm not able to take my gaze away from the city below me. I wave to the camera, give a thumbs up, and hold onto my harness for dear life.

And then I'm away plummeting down towards a bulls-eye that was a second ago the size of a one pence coin but is now rapidly gaining in size. It's close now, I feel like I'm going too fast to land properly, at this speed I'll break my legs for sure if I try to land; but at the last moment the brakes kick in and I land on my feet but with a stumble.

At the bottom the operator receives a message telling us that it's quiet enough today so we can go again for free if we like - hell yeah! This time we jump without the dangling pause, this time I go down without swearing my head off, this time my arms are spread out like a flying squirel, this time I feel like an action hero.