Waitomo, New Zealand

Day 3 Waitomo, New Zealand

I was planning on going to Raglan, a big surfing town with some cool beaches but the weather is supposed to be cloudy, so I scratch that idea and go to Waitomo instead.

I arrive by bus in the morning, grab some tea at a country store, and walk about 2 miles to the nearest hostel.  I have a feeling that walking is going to be a common activity out here.  Not really a big deal though considering the countryside is pretty unbelievable.  The air in the country is fresh, and smells like honeysuckles the entire walk to the hostel. This place must be some kind of utopia. I check in without reserving a room this time.  I quickly realize reserving rooms on-line is for rookies. If you get there early enough in the day, they always have plenty of space.  The Korean girls I'm rooming with for the next two days seem to agree.

I'm in Waitomo to explore the glow worm caves.  Apparently, they are only found in New Zealand and Australia.  I go to the 5:30 tour because they tell me most of the tourists are gone by then that come during the day in buses.  I arrive early, talk to the guy working the front (from Washington state) who tells me to go across the street and do some tramping (Kiwi term for hiking) up the mountain.  There is supposed to be a good view.  I do.  On the way to the top I see a couple, and I ask how far it is to the top.  "Not far, about another 500 meters"  I continue on not really knowing how far that is.  She turns back around and tells me she just got engaged on the top. "I just needed to tell someone!" she exclaims excitedly. Her fiancé nods in agreement.  I congratulate them, tell them I'm honored to be the first one the know, laugh, and continue on.

Back at the caves, the tour begins.    The tour guide takes us through the cave explaining the specifics of the cave ecology and so forth.  We then get in a boat and ride down the river...in the cave.  It's pitch black except for the hundreds of thousands of glow worms on the top of the cave.  It was like looking at stars in a really dark sky.  It was awesome!  The guide instructed everyone to be dead silent, no pictures.  It felt like I was in some kind of dream or something floating down an underground river with glowing worms dotting the cavern walls.  More of this to continue tomorrow except there will be repelling equipment, and wet-suits involved.  Should be wild.

The only other noteworthy thing about the day was dinner.  I ordered a hamburger and fries at the only bar in the area.  The burger had a slice of beet and lettuce (Dwight Shrute would be proud) and it was surprisingly good.  The ketchup tasted a little different too, not bad, just different.  It's kind of neat how even familiar things are made a little different, and taste a little different out here.  

Walking to the hostel

Countryside

Day 4 Waitomo,   New Zealand

I start off the day doing more glowworm caving.  Glen is our guide, somewhere around my age, painted head to toe with tattoos.  There is a group of 8 of us; 3 from Singapore, 2 from Denmark, 1 from Germany, and me and another guy from the USA.  We start the day off with a standard issue wetsuit, caving boots, harness and abseiling (repelling) lessons.  We then pile into a van and head to the cave.  The guide puts on some type of electronic/reggae music which I like.  We start by repelling down about 120 feet into the cave, followed by a short walk through the cave. Along the way the guide gives a lesson on the caves, glowworms, etc.  He asks us if we know what the caves are made of (limestone) and how long it takes a stalagmite to grow 1 cm (100 years).  I volunteer the answers while everyone else is silent; perhaps thinking I’m some kind of Jeopardy champion.  Truth is I learned all of this from the tour I went on yesterday.  I didn't offer that information though.

We then zip-line to another part of the cave in the dark and they give us hot chocolate.  At this point my I start to worry that I was duped into some stupid tourist excursion.   Luckily I was wrong.  We hand back our cups and walk deeper into the cave to the underground river.  I see a bunch of black tubes which I only imagine are for floating down the river to see the glowworms.  The guide tells us that we can either jump from a 3 meter platform into the river or take the steps down.  I was the first in line and of course go for the jumping option.  I step up to the platform, look down, and immediately look over to Glen to confirm that I’m supposed to jump and keep the tube under me (you want me to do what!)…since it kind of high and we are jumping into pitch black water in a cave.  I hit the water, which is freezing cold, and follow a rope down the river.  Everyone else follows.  There are glowworms everywhere.

We then ditch the tubes and continue on foot, the water was shallow.  I see and eel in the water, and move on.  One of the girls from Singapore falls over into the deeper water and the guide gives her a piggy back the rest of the way into the shallower water.  This shit is no joke.  We rock climb up a couple waterfalls with guidance from Glen (the girls from Singapore take another easier route) and we finally make it out into the light of day.  Crazy.  Back at the starting point they give us lunch and everyone hangs out.  The German girl bought the pictures and said she would send them to me via email.  I learn that her, the guy from the US, and I are taking the same bus to Rotorua tomorrow and that they are engaged.

Back at the hostel I decide to read for about an hour before doing some tramping on a 3.3 km track through the countryside, into the rainforest, and around a couple more caves.  I sit down on the porch outside hoping the read, but instead start talking to an older man from Canada.  We talk for an hour; I pick up my kindle, put it away, and head out to the trail.  I see all kinds of crazy birds, one of which was a parrot…like a real red, green, blue, yellow colored parrot.  I had no idea they even had those here.  It reminded me of seeing some episode of Lost where the people see a polar bear in the middle of the jungle.  Odd.  It’s dark when I get back, the guy is still sitting on the couch outside and we talk about Amsterdam, having kids, saving money by not having a car, etc.  The stars are plentiful and I notice that Orion is upside down in the Southern hemisphere.

Glowworms!

Best. "Torch." Ever.

Move it cows!