Some prefer a slice of cake and a nice cup of tea, but skydiving is the perfect way for Bruce Hoffman to celebrate a significant birth milestone.
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The young-at-heart South Australian resident completed his sixth skydive at Langhorne Creek to celebrate his 94th birthday in November.
Bruce completed his first skydive to celebrate his retirement at 80.
The Resthaven client has since completed five more dives, including dives with his grandson Liam and, most recently, his daughter Lori.
Bruce has always loved the skies. He grew up in the Barossa Valley and learnt to fly Tiger Moths, earning his pilot's license at 20. He then became the area's first gliding instructor.
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He held the Australian two-seater glider altitude record for eight years, gliding at just 12,600 feet, where it is difficult to find a thermal wind to glide along.
Skydiving is just one of several adrenaline-charged activities he has ticked off his bucket list.
He has flown in a hot air balloon, driven a Mustang for three laps around Talum Bend, flown low over almond trees, earnt an orange belt in Karate, and completed the Kurralta Park to Glenelg 6km City to Bay fun run, among other adventures.
"Skydiving is at the top of the list. It is an adrenaline rush, and once you've done it, you feel relaxed, and it's all good," he said.
"The wind rushes past you at around 200km/hour, and it is very noisy - but it's an amazing feeling."
While he has loved every minute of most of his adventures, not all have gone smoothly. He said his foray into abseiling was a bit of a disaster.
"I lost my legs ... I was swinging from side to side and turned upside down," he said.
"The instructors up top had to take control of my descent and let me down slowly, but I was hitting the rocks on the way down."
But despite the occasional mishap, Bruce has no plans to slow down.
He plans to continue skydiving. Other bucket list items include climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Parasailing.
In addition to flying, Bruce was also involved in the family wine company - Hoffmann Wines. He was inducted as one of the seven original Barons of the Barossa in 1975 and is the only surviving member.
He said a key to his longevity was staying as active as possible. He goes to the gym twice a week and gets out of the house at least once a day.
