In contrast to Kate and Toby Yates, who were introduced to the sport of skydiving on Saturday, Janine Hayes and husband Ken Hills have been jumping for decades.
The Aerial Skydives’ owners and operators from Gippsland in Victoria are in town for the 50th Australian National Style and Accuracy Parachuting Championships and just can’t get enough of the sport.
In fact on the weekend alone, Janine jumped more than 10 times.
Her passion for skydiving dates back to her childhood.
She wrote a poem when she was 13 years of age about wanting to jump out of a plane.
By the age of 21 she was doing her first parachuting course.
And 30 years on, and over 4000 jumps later, she’s still going strong.
Ken, too, has been living the high life since 1970 and has performed over 6000 jumps.
It’s a sport that has taken them around the world, Janine said, from China to Japan, Europe and England and beyond.
The highlight for Janine was jumping over Cheng Du in China where, at the time, the entire population of Australia was squeezed into the land space below.
She said she loves the freedom of the sport and helping people step out of their comfort zones, so too for Ken.
Competing is also a challenge they like to take on readily, hence the reason they came to Port Macquarie.
