After my popular post about The Best Fun Date Ideas In Sydney, I’ve decided to start a series on the best out of the box dates I’ve found in Sydney.
I usually only write about things I’ve experienced so today I took my boyfriend out on a date to iFly in Penrith, Sydney’s first indoor skydiving. To say he was excited was an understatement – he absolutely loves adventurous things like this! iFly Penrith only opened 2 years ago and now has other centres located across the country.
It’s taken off in a big way, so here’s my review on whether iFly Penrith makes a perfect date in Sydney.
Where is iFly in Penrith?
iFly Penrith
We live just over the Harbour Bridge in North Sydney so it took us an hour to get to iFly Penrith which is located next door to Panthers, the famous RSL in Penrith. There’s even a hotel next door if you fancy staying the night. I’ve not been to Penrith before so I was actually quite excited about seeing it for the first time. As a country town, it’s amazing to think it’s just a hour out of Sydney as it felt like we could have been miles away.
First impressions
When we arrived up my face completely dropped. As soon as you enter the brand new building, you’re faced with the cylinder almost immediately which is the central focus of the centre. There were professional indoor sky divers training and it was beyond impressive.
I was actually quite terrified but I felt safe as I had the boyfriend with me. After a quick briefing, we were suited up in our onesies and ready to go.
What was it like?
First time in the cylinder – it’s a lot harder than you think so trying to keep yourself off the floor is quite difficult!
I was totally terrified. We had 3 goes in the cylinder each. Whilst watching other people have their turn, it felt like they were only in there for a minute or two but when you’re in there, it feels like a lifetime but in a good way. It’s loud so you can’t speak but the instructor is with you and makes sure you don’t crash into the glass! After the first go, I wanted to jump straight back in – it was awesome.
Second time in the cylinder, getting better at it!
The second go was even better as another instructor jumped in and pretty much flew me up to the top. What a rush!! This cost an extra $10 but who would turn this down as it was amazing. See the vid of me flying up to the top below.
Watch me flying up to the top of the cylinder!
And by the third go I was starting to get the hang of it by realising that by moving your eyes can determine what direction you go in and I was flying a little higher. You have to be as steady as possible and not move in the slightest for it to work well.
Third time round, I’m getting better and managing to go higher!
By the end, our instructor showed us how it’s really done. We caught up with him at the end and he was a really interesting guy. Brett has been working at iFly for the last 8 months after working as a parachute instructor for the Defence for 14 years. He was really professional and very approachable, taking any fear away whilst we were taking part.
Celebrating with a certificate and the instructor, Brett Summers
How does it compare to actual sky diving?
So both of us have been sky diving before, I went in Taupo in New Zealand and the boyfriend did his in Hamilton Island both about 10 years ago. I remember being absolutely terrified at the time so the beauty of iFly is the fear of jumping out of a plane isn’t there and Brett told us that they get a lot of people trying it out as a taster for doing the actual real thing.
Obviously it’s hard to compare the two because it is totally different as you’re not getting the same force of gravity but what it did do for me was it made me want to go out and do an actual sky dive again. This is something I thought I would never want to do again because I have grown into a big softie in my age and the fear of heights still alooms from time to time.
Does it make a good date?
I don’t think I’ve seen him more happier than in this shot!!
This was a brilliant date because it made us connect on a vulnerable level, where we were nervous, excited and had a bit of fear that we both related to. Adrenalin was running high and we were beaming when we left there after being there for about 2 hours. I think whether it’s someone new in your life or a partner you’ve been with for a long time, this makes an awesome date. You’ll put your trust in your date straight away which if there’s a connection, you’ll know if they are worth seeing again. Most of all we had so much fun!
