Waitomo is a tiny little town that is well worth the stop-off to see the caves. We let Nicole choose between Waitomo and Rotorura for her 25th birthday. Our trio went with the 'budget' option, a company called Rap, Raft, N Rock. For $125 NZD we were able to get a taste of everything. Our small group departed at about 9 am. Besides the three of us, we had Alex (a kid from the UK) and a Swedish couple ~ Sara and Oscar. Tim, an Aussie, was our tour guide and comedian for the trip through the caves. [He's been doing it for 7 months now and was superb.]
After signing the release, we piled into the van. We drove to a little shed and got suited up. We received wet suits, jackets, boots, helmets with lights, battery packs, and the ever-so-important harness. Tim carefully and patiently explained the info we needed on abseiling into the cave. After passing our practice test, we lined up and took turns abseiling down about 30 meters into a cave. Abseiling was really cool. They strap you in very safely and you end up down in a cave with gushing water floating by.
After our abseil, we took off the harnesses to prepare for our caving experience. Tim gave us gloves for our cold fingers (remember: it's winter down here in NZ) and innertubes. We forged our way upstream with our headlights helping us to guide our way in the cave. When we reached the right point, Tim had us turn our lights off and sit down. There we took in the wonder of the glowworms. The glowworms are ancient little buggers and they make the inside of the cave look a bit like a starry night. It was amazing to just sit under them and see them at work. They use the light to catch insects to eat. Still in darkness, we got onto our innertubes and floated downstream.
Passing the cavern opening where we abseiled downward, we continued with the stream and climbed through a waterfall and enjoyed more glowworms. After we'd gone a long ways, we climbed off to the side and were given our snack ~ hot Gatorade and Cadbury chocolate. I love chocolate and the hot Gatorade was actually really yummy.
Having drifted way downstream, we had to make our way back upstream to climb out of the cave. We started the walk with our lights, but after a certain point we formed a line and turned our lights off so we could enjoy the glowworms again. It was an amazingly fun experience. When we finally made it back to the cavern, we each took our turn climbing the rocks out of the cavern.
When we arrived back at the shed, we had the treat of a hot shower (something that Mike and I have rarely since we typically pull off the road and sleep in the camper van which equals no shower) and some hot tomato soup. Typically, I hate tomato soup but I was hungry and a bit cold, so I slurped it down. A very memorable experience.
We headed from Waitomo to Rotorura, a geothermal playground. We arrived and decided since it was Nicole's birthday, we'd upgrade to staying a backpacker's hostel for the night. Rotorua Central Backpackers was pretty cheap and very nice. It had a hot tub out back, was nicely heated, and we all had a separate & real bed. (Most times, hostels have bunks and not the full mattress and box springs.) It was fantastic luxury for us budget travelers.
No comments:
Post a Comment