Fundraising update

Its now about six weeks since I returned from my trip. I have been catching up with friends and work colleagues since I got back. I got some great news from Sarah Hewitson in that she had collected the money to-gether from Sarah Close and from Rachael Barnet for the Tandem Jumps they did for NACC. They raised the fantastic amount of £708.00. I am very grateful to all of the girls for this, this money has now been deposited into NACC's bank account. In addition to this I have totalled up all the various amounts I have been given when on my travels, along with donations from DZ's in the form of free jumps and from people who have given me free or reduced cost of accommodation, also from people back at home. It has all added up to £757.00 and a cheque has now gone off for that also. The total up to now on the web site combined with other donations is £5895 and if you add the tax refund in it adds up to £6263.08 and money is still coming in.
I would like to thank Cess, Mal, Alan Thompson and all the staff at Peterlee Parachute Centre for taking such good care of the girls on their tandem jumps. Thanks guy's
I have been asked to write a couple of articles, one for the USPA magazine and one for our own Skydive Mag -hopefully these will be published and may possibly encourage more people to visit the just giving web site and make a donation.
I will keep the blog running as long as it seems appropriate. I would be grateful on any feedback you can give me re the blog.
Regards John 22 Oct 08

Journey's End

My flight left as Scheduled, I had a pleasant surprise when my ticket to Heathrow was upgraded to World Traveller Plus, which was very welcome, it meant I had a more comfortable seat and a bit more room. I am no good at sleeping on planes (even those with seats !!!!), so the added comfort was much appreciated. We landed about 1.30 pm UK time. I am just about getting over the jet lag now. I had an onward connection up to Newcastle which got in at 5.30 pm. My wife Rosie and my Dad were there to meet me at the Airport. The weather to greet me was typically English, heavy rain and grey skies - I miss the sunshine already.
Will see what the new week has to bring, need to contact and thank so many people and start looking for a job as well as start thinking about the book. john 14 September 2008

White Rock - Canada

My flight from Vancouver was not due to leave until after 8 pm so I had most of the day free. Len Doerksen where I had been staying told me about this place on the coast which is about 30 mile South East of Vancouver called White Rock. So I went there and spent a few hours just walking along the promenade and pier enjoying the sunshine and the view. There is long stretch along the seafront and it seems quite popular. There are plenty of Cafe's and Restaurants and the railway track runs parallel to the coast, so with one thing and another it makes for a pleasant trip out. I have attached some photographs as usual. John 14/9

One Final Jump and End of Adventure

After visiting Vancouver on Monday there was a message waiting for me when I got back to where I am staying. The local newspaper the Abbotsford News wanted to do a storey on me. After contacting them on Tuesday morning (9/9) it was arranged that I would meet a photographer at Vancouver Skydiving in Abbotsford the following day. This all went ahead and I had some photo's taken next to the Porter, an added bonus was that they made space for me on the plane and I got one more jump in - no 125 of the trip. The weather was perfect, I did a very unplanned two way with Tim a visiting jumper from Germany. It was great fun and the jump went really well. By coincidence Tim knew another guy I had jumped with in Perris, another Tim, we did the balloon jump together. They are both pilots for Lufthansa - its a small world.
I am now all packed and en route for the airport, I have stopped off at the local library to do this final blog before I get home to-morrow - long journey ahead. john 11th Sept 2008

Vancouver

Yesterday I went into Vancouver, just to do some sightseeing. Things got off to a bad start in that I just missed the 7.30 mainline train (should have got up 2 minutes earlier). However I drove closer to the city to a place called Lougheed and got the Skytrain straight into the city from there. Skytrain is a rapid transport system which is a bit like the Metro but most of the time operates on a railway system going over the traffic, but it also goes underground, so its the best of both worlds. I headed for the waterfront area and Canada Place. Large cruise ships dock at the very edge of the city centre, so its really convenient. The harbour area is very large with the added attraction of sea planes going in and out all of the time.

The city is very modern, with many high rise glass buildings, but there is also a lot of greenery around so there is a nice feel about the place. You don't have to go far before you find some pretty serious shopping areas. The biggest store I was in was the Hudson Bay Company. There were at least five floors and I think two lower levels. They have tour buses which look like the tram cars in San Francisco. I only scratched the surface in my trip into Vancouver and could have spent a lot longer there. I have attached some pictures as usual, the ship that in the picture is called the Island Princess, it was so big I just could not get it all on the picture.

I am now in the process of trying to get as up to-date as I can before I leave on Thursday. Will try and get at least one more update in before I head back. John 9/9

More Skydiving

Over last weekend I planned to do my last skydiving of the trip. On Saturday 6th I went back to Pacific Skydivers at Pitts Meadow and spent most of the day there. There was no Otter this weekend so they were flying a C206 and a C182. I did a couple of jumps out of their 182. One of them a really nice three way with Kat and Dave -thanks. I must say their 182 not only is the smartest i82 I have been in - it looks brand new, but its by far the quickest. I understand its rated at 300 hp and climbs like a turbine for the first thousand feet. I was able to take some more photographs, some of them of the view on the way up, I have added these to my earlier posting. Everyone made me feel really welcome, special thanks to Debbie who made sure I got on slots whenever possible, it was a pleasure to jump at Pitts Meadow.

The following day I went back to Vancouver Skydivers at Abbotsford and did a couple more jumps. This time I got to jump out of the Porter and I was able to take more pictures, again some of them of the view as I was going up in the plane, I have also added these to my earlier posting. I did what was planned my last jump at Abbotsford, it was jump no 124. There is the possibility I might do one more as the local press want to do a storey about my visit and the reasons behind it. Thanks to Debbie and Gerry and all the crew for making me so welcome , special good wishes to Karen - keep fighting it and keep well. John 9/9

Canada - Out and about Cultas Lake

A few days ago I went to have a look at Cultas Lake which is East of where I am staying and about an hours drive. It was fairly late in the afternoon and very peaceful. The pictures have come out quite nice, I hope you enjoy looking at them, I particularly like the wild fowl. john 9/9

Skydive Vancouver

Skydive Vancouver is on the outskirts of Abbotsford and only about 20 minutes from where I am staying. Its situated in a low lying plane and the immediate area around is nice and flat. I went there to jump on Monday 1st Sept.. The facilities here are good with a large carpeted area in the hanger for packing, The landing area is quite large and there is a experienced and student landing area, they have a nice lounge type area for visitors and jumpers to relax in. They have quite a number of Aircraft, the biggest is a rather funky Porter in camouflage colouring, a C206, C182 , C180 and a C170. When I got there the cloud base was a bit low but looked as though it would clear. There is a nice relaxed feel about the DZ and everyone was quite happy to chat with me. Someone came looking for me, which was nice, to see if I was interested in a cloud base jump as it looked like we would get about 3.5k. So very quickly got kitted up, got into 206 and in no time at all was over the DZ and out of the plane, we got just over 3k. Nice no pressure jump and got my eye in for the DZ. Not long after that the weather cleared and I went up again, this time it was on a 4 way to 10.5k in a very quick C180. Thoroughly enjoyed the jump, we got a few points in. The lady who's house I am staying in had come down to see me jump, so I had a bit of an audience.

As I paid for my jumps at the end of the day, Debbie (another Debbie) who runs the manifest and one of the instructors only charged me for the low jump which was there contribution to my cause - thank you.

Really this was quite a momentous day on my trip. It is the very last DZ on my journey, no 22 to be exact. I plan to do some more jumps here before I leave. As usual I have attached some photographs. john 3/9

Pacific Skydivers - Pitt Meadows Nr Vancouver

There are two DZ's in or near Vancouver that I wanted to jump at. The closest to Vancouver is Pacific Skydivers . Its based at Pitt Meadows Airport and is close to the Fraser River. The Other DZ is Skydive Vancouver and it is based at Abbotsford which is a little further East and on the opposite side of the Fraser River. The first few days I was in Canada the weather was quite wet and no good for jumping. However the weather cleared up for last weekend 30th August. Because Pacific Skydivers were having a boogie this past weekend I decided to jump there first.

As I said in my previous entry to the blog, I am actually staying in Abbotsford, but is only about a 45 minute drive from Abbotsford to Pitts Meadow.

I had best say something about the countryside and general climate before I go on about the skydiving. From temperature point of view, when I arrived it was about the mid to high teens, over the past few days it has gradually got warmer and it is expected to reach about 24/25 degrees C and be sunny for the next week or so. The countryside is quite spectacular, from where I am staying I can see snow capped Mount Baker in the USA very clearly. There are heavily wooded areas between the towns and the Fraser River which is very wide carves its way through the countryside.

As ever when I have introduced myself at the DZ, they were really helpful. The lady I was dealing with and who sorted out all the paperwork was Debbie. The DZ as I said earlier is at the local airport. Most of the air traffic seems to be light planes with the biggest being actually from the DZ. They have two King Air aircraft, unfortunately they were off line so they brought in a rather smart Twin Otter for the boogie, there are a couple of pictures attached. They operate normally from 13.5k and open seven days a week. The facilities such as packing seem mainly to be in the hanger complex, though they had covered packing areas arranged outside while I was there and outside catering for burgers and drinks etc.

There is a big landing area for regular and Tandem jumpers and a separate area for swoop and high performance canopies. It took a while for the weather to clear up on the Saturday but by mid afternoon things got going. I just did the one solo jump to get my eye in on the Saturday, but went back on Sunday and got a couple of jumps in with other people, a 4 and 3 way. I had no difficulty in finding someone to jump with, the girls on manifest just sorted me out.

Debbie had given me my first jump ticket for free and waived the entrance fee for the boogie which was very kind and much appreciated.

I plan to go back and do some more jumping before I leave next week. John 3/9

Canada

The final destination on my journey is Vancouver, Canada where I planned to visit the final two DZ's of my trip. I left Dallas Fort Worth on Wednesday 27th August and arrived in Vancouver in the early afternoon. My base in Canada is Abbotsford. Its quite a large City East of Vancouver, about an hour and a half from the airport. The place I was heading for about ten minutes out of Abbotsford in a wooded area in the Sumas Mountain region. The journey went well and I arrived at the home of Len and Esther Doerksen who run Mountain Acres Bed and Breakfast.

The house is fantastic and in a beautiful setting, with a wood and waterfall at the rear of the house. Len and his sons have made a great job of clearing some of the area just sufficiently to allow access. Otherwise its all very much natural woodland. I have attached a few of pictures for you to look at. My room is really comfortable and I have private bathroom - absolute heaven - and Esther and Len are treating me like one of the family, Esther is filling me up with home cooking - what more could I want. They have a web site if you would like to know more www.bbcanada.com/3661.html

Goodbye USA

I have enjoyed my time in the USA immensely. I have learnt more about my own skydiving here and what I need to do to improve it. There have been so many people I have met and jumped with I cannot recount them all. I will take away some great memories of the US and the people - its all about the people. I was hoping when I made the trip, that I would get to meet the real people in the countries I visit and not the preconceptions you form from watching television. The people I have met have truly made me feel welcome and helped me along the way in so many ways. john 2/9

Skydive Dallas - Texas

When I was younger the only impression I had of Dallas and Texas is what I had seen on the TV watching such as Dallas and cowboy films. The reality, certainly in the place I am staying is quite different. I am staying just outside of a small town called Whitewright. Its about 70 miles north east of the city of Dallas. Its very much a country and farming area. Its much greener than I expected, very flat but nicely broken up by fields, areas of trees and small communities. The weather is quite hot and the humidity can be quite high also. I thought it would have been hotter, but I must say I like the climate here - I could live with this.

I am staying on the DZ at Skydive Dallas, the bunkhouse accommodation is free and there are good shower facilities. So not a bad start. As ever the people are the stars. Everyone has gone out of there way to be friendly and have been interested in my trip and I have had lots of opportunities to talk about NACC and its work.

Now more about the DZ, as I said its set out in the countryside, its on a large site with a number of large landing areas. The facilities include "The Dive" cafe which is run by Millie, and assisted by Snow and JD. There are two large indoor packing areas, there is a Pro Shop run by Debbie, Debbies husband Bo also works at the DZ.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was just how clean everything is, the packing areas are all carpeted and they were spotless. Jose is the man responsible for the way the place looks, he is up bright and early each day and if by magic the place is clean at the start of the new day. Now the aircraft. They have two main aircraft a Twin Otter and a Cessna Caravan. They operate normally up to 13,500. They also have a C182 but that was not in service at the moment.

Over this past weekend the centre has been very busy with experienced skydivers, AFF and Tandems and the two aircraft were on the go most of the time. The DZ is open five days a week closed on Tuesday and Wednesday One thing that you notice here and in other DZ's in the USA is the degree to which organisers are used, for me its been great, particularly here in Skydive Dallas I have hardly jumped alone and my own personal skydiving had improved (still a long way to go) more than its done in years. Brett and Tom were two of the load organisers I jumped with and I learnt a lot from them. There is certainly no shortage of progression training going on, its a great place to learn.

They have just appointed a new manger her Johnny Kuczaj who has only been in post a week, Johhny and his partner Laura have been really kind and helpful while I have been here and I wish them both well for the future. There have been so many people I have met in the short time I have been here that I simply cannot fit everyone in, Carol who is the owner of the DZ helped arrange with Laura for a Journalist called Chana Willis from the Whitewright Rose to come along and hear my storey. Chana brought her two sons along to the DZ with her and I was invited that night along to their local school to watch the presentation of the new football team (American). After the presentation, to which the whole town seemed to turn out to, we all went along to a local Mexican Restaurant for a meal. Texas hospitality is very much alive and well.

I went into the local town of Wrightwright at lunch time to-day, I just went in for a late breakfast but thanks to Cathy Pierce in the local information centre I ended up being interviewed by another journalist Tabetha Snow from the "The Whitewright Sun". So once again I was able to tell my storey.

I have been here only five days so far and so much seems to have happened, I feel as though I have been here longer but not in a negative way. I actually leave to-morrow Wed. 27th Vancouver and the final leg of my trip.

I just want to end with a couple of things. Some of you will remember the Otis Redding song "Sitting on the Dock of a Bay". Well there is no bay here, but for the past two nights I have sat down in the quiet at the end of the day looking over the DZ and watching the sun go down, it really is so peaceful. Finally this morning when I started to write this up this part of my blog up there was a bird picking over the grass cuttings for grubs, its was a very elegant Crane, I have included a picture in the attached photographs. john 26/8

If you like the blog, please pass on details to your friends and also ask them to consider making a donation to NACC by going to www.justgiving.com/johnhillam