There’s much more to Joan than meets the eye though as she had a rush on Sunday morning 4km above Cootamundra for her 19th skydive.

The opportunity to see our town from a unique perspective, before hurtling towards it, was presented by Skydive Oz.

The company is based in Moruya but often operates west of the mountains, travelling to regional areas that do not normally have the opportunity to experience the extreme sport, from Lightning Ridge to Broken Hill.

Paul Smith started the business in  January 2000 after spending five years with Skydive Temora and says he loves the country life.

“Country people are much nicer to deal with than city people,” he said.

After spending Saturday in Young, Paul and his  team came to Cootamundra on Sunday and spent the morning escaping the heat with ten excited locals.

Whilst many were nervous, the same could not be said for Joan, who has been skydiving for over 20 years.

Her wealth of experience includes 11 solo jumps she did in Temora as part of the Accelerated Freefall Training jump course, and while Joan was unable to complete the course, she counts those jumps among her favourites.

“My best jump ever was my second solo jump, we pointed our bodies to the ground and travelled very fast,” Joan said.

Interestingly, Joan admitted she was “petrified” of heights but clearly loves skydiving.

“I would recommend it to anyone, I’ve convinced my daughters and some of my grandchildren to do it,” Joan said.

Joan first skydived above Cootamundra for her 50th birthday, but this jump also held special significance as she scattered some of her late husband Ivan’s ashes over the town where he spent all his life.

Watching her from solid ground were two of her grandsons and a granddaughter.

Earlier in the day the first pair to jump were father and daughter Greg and Laura Bruce, who both celebrate their birthday in November and decided this would be a great gift to enjoy together.

Greg described the experience as “exhilarating”.

“The first 30-40 metres is just the sensation of falling, you know you’re alive,” Greg said.

He also enjoyed the spectacular views from the sky, admiring the patterns in different crops around the district.

Laura agreed that it was great to see the perfect windrowing from the sky and pick out local landmarks.

“It was incredible, I would do it again without a doubt,” Laura said.

She says the scariest moment is looking down at the ground with your legs dangling from the plane, but other than that she was excited rather than nervous.

Later that morning Tamara Taylor, who recently graduated from Cootamundra High School, enjoyed her second jump.

Tamara first jumped with the company in Moruya for her 16th birthday and says the inspiration came from people telling her she couldn’t do it.

“This time I opened my eyes,” Tamara laughed.

The jump was a gift from Tamara’s parents as she is undergoing surgery this week and will be in leg plasters for the next six weeks.

She says the next item on her list is bungee jumping, but mum Trish Taylor still says she’s not allowed to do that.

“I don’t know where it comes from, I’d definitely never do it myself,” Trish said.

For now, Trish and Tamara agree that a Sydney Harbour Bridge climb is on the agenda.