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Now you may remember me mentioning in a previous blog how we had calculated the costs involved in getting the bus and in hiring a car which was our preferred option as it was far more flexible and not preventing us from visiting the Waitomo Caves (which Intercity's crappy service for all intents and purposes was doing) and found the bus to be significantly cheaper. This significant difference in cost was down largely to the fact that the cost involved in taking the car across on the ferry between the 2 islands was $220. It did not occur to us until Joe in the Bay of Islands suggested it, that we could simply rent one car on each island and avoid that cost altogether. We felt like complete idiots and so arriving in Rotorua saw about renting ourselves a cheap car.
Up early that morning we got ourselves to the car rental place as the women was opening and Lucy signed all the necessary documents and forms to say we wouldn't crash the thing. With a couple of poorly drawn maps in visitors guides we then headed for McDonald's whose location we had memorised from passings on the bus the day before and was the way to the highway we needed. We filled ourselves up with a McDonald's breakfast to sustain us for the days events and headed off on highway 1 back up towards Hamilton before turning south again for Waitomo. We successfully navigated ourselves to the caves and with plenty of time to spare so went to the tourist information centre to use the toilet, look through the gift shop and learn that there really isn't very much else to do in the area besides the black water rafting we were about to be embarking on.
We checked into the rafting centre and signed liability wavers (this would become a fairly regular occurrence throughout New Zealand) and Lucy ordered some food, which arrived shortly before we had to go and suit up so she only managed to shovel about half of it down before we had to move. I was given a small wetsuit and good god was it tight - it left nothing to the imagination every roll of fat was revealed and my crotch resembled that of a porn stars, combined with the yellow helmets we looked HOT.
We then took a minibus to the river where we got our rubber rings and were to practise jumping in. I, naturally, was chosen to go first (why wouldn't I be?) and I was highly surprised by how far under water one will go when jumping in with a rubber ring under you. The rest of the group were now well prepared. Some of them had to do it again trying different sizes, but mine and Lucy's were both fine for us. So now soaked to the skin and carrying large cumbersome rubber rings we started trekking up a small footpath into the trees (why wouldn't we?) and Lucy and I were getting definitive Inca Trail flashbacks, but after 5 or 10 minutes we reached the entrance to the caves and clambered down, having our rings thrown down to us. At this point we were now in pitch black darkness and we all started fingering at our helmets trying to find the switches for our helmets, mine was being tempermental and needed the battery seen to, another person's was actually broken and required one of the guides to switch it on or off for the entire duration of the trip.
We took a short walk, crouching down through the cave, wading through shallow pools, hearing the water getting louder and louder until it was time for our first waterfall jump to get us going. A small 4 foot one to start. Once we were all down (there were maybe 10 of us) we switched off our lamps and got our first look at the glow-worms for which the caves are famous. They all look like little stars across the entire ceiling and walls of the caves, although despite being referred to as glow-worms we're told they are in fact glow maggots (people simply refer to them as glow-worms as it sounds a bit more pleasant). Their genitals account for 50% of their entire body and they literally, in their short lives in the guide's own words, "shag themselves to death." We formed what the guides referred to as an eel by hooking our legs under the arms of the person in front and floated down a tunnel gazing up (now knowing the majority of them are in the midst of intercourse somewhat voyeuristically) at them all, all very serene and relaxed. We then came to our second waterfall, somewhat larger at 6.5 foot, and very nearly managed to fall out of my tube but managed to keep it together and regain my balance before falling out. We then floated down what is known as the tunnel of love and Lucy decided to headbutt a rock and ended up (when we finally surfaced with a massive bruise that would only in time get bigger).
The end came far too soon, as did the streaming sunlight after 2 hours or so of extreme darkness, if they'd asked me there and then I would have happily gone back to the start and done the whole thing again. Surprisingly I hadn't been cold at any point during the whole thing despite warning that the water would be cold, being underground and shielded from the sunlight and all, reckon the tight wetsuit maybe had something to do with it and removing it was a mission and a half, must have looked like I was trying to tear my limbs off, but once removed and showered and clothed once more I managed to regain some kind of composure, although I was cold now, but soup and toasted bagels were provided and very much appreciated and wolfed down whilst writing some very nice comments into their book. Then it was back in the car and off towards Taupo!
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