Waitomo Caves & Whanganui

Day 1 - Going Underground

We hit the road around 7am as it was over a 2hr drive to the caves. We had made good time so parked up and got a bit of brekkie. To be honest, I wasn’t much looking forward to the caving trip we had booked as it was cold and the activity included being immersed in waters of 9 degrees for over an hour. And we had paid for this!

We went to the office at check-in time and was introduced to two other couples who were as mad as we were (and regretting they had booked). A couple from Oz and two sisters from the UK. After intro’s we were taken to get kitted out. This involved wriggling into very cold, very wet heavy duty wetsuit things, a jacket and booties. Just when we didn’t think we could look more ridiculous, we were given a skull cap type thing to put over our heads. Then top it off, a helmet with a flashlight.

We spent a bit of time laughing and pointing at each other, and then trying to learn to walk again (the wetsuits were quite constricting), before we jumped in the mini bus and set off for the caves.

We drove out across farmland and parked up some 15 mins later and then had to climb up a hill (in restricted clothing) where we had some obligatory pics taken by our guide…. I do remember thinking “I don’t know why you are bothering with the pics love, do you honestly think I’m going to pay good money for photo’s looking like this? Pics done, we then descended to the cave opening and after a few more obligatory pics, the adventure began

We each had to grab a rubber ring and then climb through a small narrowing into the cave and across a slippery surface to where the cave opened out. After walking a little further our guide asked us to turn off our head torches where we were treated to 1000’s of glow worms in the cave walls and ceiling. Glow worms, who are actually maggots, emit a green light by a chemical reaction going on in their pooh track! It’s to attract small insects towards their snare which is sticky thread they produce and hang from the ceiling. So whilst they look pretty, I’d suggest keeping your mouth closed when you look up! They live for about a year doing this before they cocoon and turn into a fly. The fly has no mouth so they either get eaten by other glow worms or die of starvation. I hope I don’t come back as a glow worm! After another obligatory pic, this time with the glow worm snares above us, we moved on.

We had to negotiate a few very low and narrow tunnels (particularly for Glenn, thank god we had helmets!) before we reached the water. Where, after wading into about waist height, we had to sit on the rubber rings. We were asked to form a chain by linking our feet through the person in front’s arms and then with flashlights off, the guide pulled us through the cave system. It was really cool drifting along looking up at what looked light green twinkly lights. Only mildly spoilt by the freezing cold water that had found a weakness in my wetsuit and was slowly seeping in.

We were quite enjoying floating along and looking up at the stars until we heard a waterfall and I suddenly remembered the activity included jumping off things! Arriving at the waterfall we were each asked to climb some steps, place the rubber ring behind us at bum level and then fall backwards into the dark deep below. We were told the drop was only a couple of metres as you couldn’t actually see the bottom as it was that dark!

Fortunately the two sisters went first and whilst there was a lot of screaming, they both survived. I was up next and proud to say I managed to keep my screams internal as did Glenn but the Oz guy let out a yelp and still looked scared/shell shocked minutes after.

Next there was more floating and then another waterfall. This one was about 30 feet but we had a slide this time so easy. The only problem was that it had a nasty turn right at the bottom which made you let go of your nose so you copped a load of dirty cave water up it as you hit the bottom!

The rest of the journey was spent pulling yourselves along on ropes. I’d just about lost all feeling in my hands when we saw light, yay! It was a long slippery climb back up but we had made it!

Back on dry land and after more obligatory photos we went back to shower and grab a hot drink.  It took longer getting that wet suit off than the actual caving trek did! We thought we might as well take a look at the pics even though we wouldn’t buy any which is when we found out they were free, damn!, means we have to post them in the blog now. How do you like our look?

We then set off for Whanganui where we were staying for the night to break up the long drive to Wellington. We arrived around 4 and as our accommodation was in the suburbs, we drove to town parked up and went for a wander. We found and Irish Bar (Yes I know, wherever you go!) and had a couple of drinks before heading to our lodgings.

Accommodation in NZ is pretty expensive so I was pleased that Id managed to get a good deal on this one, and it had an en-suite for Glenn’s midnight dash too. We soon found out why as we made our way through to reception, we passed various rooms with overstuffed armchairs, flock wallpaper, bad carpet, plastic plants and that unmistakable smell. We were then shown to our room, which although was nice had ramps, widened doors and extended light cords, we were in an old peoples home.

Well, what was recently an OAP home but it didn’t bother us, but a few of the current long term creepy residents who were wandering around the corridors and in the communal areas did. We decided to picnic on left overs in our room and watched something on Glenn’s laptop before turning in for the night.