“At 66, I found myself asking: is this really it? Is this my life now?

Mostly retired, doing a bit of part-time driving for pocket money and a sense of purpose, but undeniably closer to the end of the road than the beginning. My daughters are grown with families of their own, my youngest is fast becoming independent, and the feeling of being needed — the thing that gives so many of us our sense of value — was quietly fading. It was, in every sense, an age crisis.

I did some reading on why I felt the way I did. It’s a common thing, apparently, and the advice was always the same: invest in yourself, try something new, challenge yourself. Art classes. Bridge club. Learn a language. All the usual “retired person” pastimes.

Not for me. I’d done a couple of static-line parachute jumps years ago in the British Army so I thought, let’s go skydiving. Can’t think of much more physically and mentally demanding than that.

My family thought I’d lost the plot. And in the UK, there’s a maximum starting age for AFF training of 54 so that door was firmly shut. I started researching where else in the world I could actually learn to skydive properly, without an age limit standing in the way. A few countries came up. Some had lengthy medical requirements and unpredictable weather. Then I found South Africa — a self-declared medical, a forgiving climate, and no upper age cut-off, provided you’re reasonably fit. The one catch: at 188cm and 111kg, I had some work to do first.

Skydive Mossel Bay were excellent from the very first email, being clear, prompt, and straightforward about what I’d need to do to prepare. We set a date four months out, and suddenly I had something to work towards. I lost the weight, built up my fitness, and spent 90 minutes in a wind tunnel with a coach beforehand. This was exhausting, not cheap, but invaluable prep for the real thing. I also did a tandem jump first just to get a feel for the whole process.

By the time I landed in South Africa, I was down to 96kg, feeling stronger, and 24 hours door-to-door from home.

Day one was ground school, and I was already terrified, full of doubt, wondering what on earth I was doing there. I didn’t even make it to a jump that first day, and honestly, I was relieved. I won’t walk you through all ten AFF levels. What I will say is this: age does not need to be the barrier everyone assumes it is. South Africa does things differently, and Skydive Mossel Bay in particular don’t wrap you in cotton wool. They simply get you ready, properly. I’ve never experienced such warmth, from the dropzone to the local cafés to the person filling my car with fuel. My instructors, Braam and Arnold, were sharp, patient, and completely unfazed by my determination not to enjoy myself early on. They won me over eventually.

This has, without question, been the greatest experience of my life. It’s a genuine mental and physical challenge.  You’ll walk away with a few bruises, and I certainly did. On level 10 I had a low-speed malfunction with my main canopy, a rare, one-in-a-thousand kind of event, and my training simply took over. I cut away, deployed my reserve exactly as I’d been taught, and landed safely. You don’t really process it until you’re stood on the ground.

In the end, I completed the full ten-level AFF course with no re-jumps, and even managed a few solo fun jumps afterwards, including one from 16,000 feet, with 73 seconds of freefall. What a privilege that was.

Because I’ve now passed my AFF course, I can go on to complete my full skydiving licence back home in the UK despite the age restriction on starting out. Skydive Mossel Bay: beautiful location, wonderful people, incredible food, and a sense of friendship I didn’t expect to find on a dropzone. Watch the whales breach over breakfast, take a game drive on the windy days, and don’t be surprised if a part of you stays South African long after you’ve flown home. I’m an England rugby sport fan, but hey ‘Go Bokke’! “