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The next day we had to get up quite early as we had a three hour drive to Waitimo where we had to be for 10.45. The reason for this being we were booked in to do some caving in the famous Waitimo glow worm caves. After checking in and paying $225 (£115ish) for the activity we were taken round to be fitted into our wetsuits, massive white boots helmets and harnesses. There were six people in our group, us three a Kiwi couple who own an orchard in the south island and a German lad along with two tour guides, Mica and Allan.
We then all jumped in a mini van and were taken to the entrance to the cave. After a bit of abseiling training at ground level we were then thrown in at the deep end and had to abseil into the cave down a 35 metre hole in pitch black. The hole was hour glass shaped so about a quarter of the way down it got quite tight so we had to do a few twist and turns to navigate our way through. When we got to the bottom we were unhitched and told to stand by a rock which was covered in fossils of shells. You could also straight away see glow-worms on the cave ceiling. We thought they were cool then but we hadn't seen anything yet. We were then guided through the first section of the track, until we got to a big drop. We wasn't to abseil this time though, a zips line was the route to the bottom. As we were hooked onto the zips line we were all told to turn our head torches off so it was pitch black, meaning we wouldn't know when we would hit the bottom. Also it meant that the view of all of the glow-worms on the ceiling was amazing. There are thousands of them. Glow-worms are actually maggots, they attach themselves to the ceiling then drop down around 70 strands of slime down about 20cm long. Flies are then attracted to the glowing of the maggot and then get stuck in the strands of slime. The maggot then pulls them up and eats them. They will do this for 9 months then the sleep for around two weeks and wake up themselves as a fly. Problem is they don't have a mouth, so they only live for one day and they only goal in that day is to reproduce, tough life!!
When everybody had reached the bottom of the zip line, the head torches are turned back on and it was time for black water rafting. Not before a quick flap jack snack and a cup of hot chocolate. Black water rafting is where you get given and car tyres inner tube and float down the river inside the cave. To get in the water we had to jump off a two metre platform with our bums already In the tube so when we landed we would be sitting in the tube. The noises we made doing must have sounded so funny. The water is soooooo cold, 6°C apparently. We floated down the river for a bit then had to get out of the rings and walkswim through the water, trying not to trip on the rocks under the water and also trying to control our shivering. We stopped at various points to do some exercises to keep us warm, at one point we all had to make up a dance move each for the whole group to do which brought some laughs, especially when Tim decided to do the worm, which completely defeated the object of warming up as it resulted in his whole body being in the drink. He was on his own for that one!
We then made a train whilst sitting in the tubes by tucking our feet under the armpits of the person in front, the guide then pulled us down stream so we could take in all the views of the glow-worms. We then had to throw our tubes up to the other guide where we jumped off before we had to walkswim further down stream where we came to a small waterfall, which conveniently had a slide integrated into it. They sent us all down head first into the freezing water at the bottom. When there is a layer of water in your wetsuit, your body warms it up and it doesn't feel too bad, it's when fresh water shoots down your back or up your sleeve that gives you a right shock!
We were then sat down and were given two options, one was a 1.5 metre water fall jump or the other was a tunnel crawl. Allen was saying that it was really hard, almost trying to talk us out of it. We were having none of it and decided to go with Mica through the tunnel, whist the older couple went and did the water fall jump with Allen. The German lad also came with us. So after a small swim down the river Mica says 'Here we are.' And sent us on through, Ben first, then Lloyd, Tim and zee German. The first part wasn't too bad crawling on our hands and knees, but then as we went round a couple of corners it got smaller and smaller, tighter and tighter. Were not gomma lie it was s*** scary. At one point Ben went round a corner and even shouted back to Mica 'Are you sure this is the right way?' as the gap was so small. We were literally on our stomachs with our hands out in front of us, pulling ourselves along with our fingers and pushing ourselves along with our toes, only moving a few inches with every shuffle. This was all while in about an inch of water. There was a matter of a few centimetres gap around our bodies. It wasn't nice at all, at some points we did get a bit stuck and a moment of panic came over us before wriggling free again. After about 15-20 minutes (seemed like hours) we emerged out of the other end of the tunnel. As we came out one by one we were all saying 'Nahhhh didn't really like that, glad we've done it but never again!!' we were in a small 'room' in the cave and there was a bit of a gap a couple of metres up which we assumed was the way out. How wrong we were! As Mica came out of the tunnel we asked 'How do we get out of here the?' to which she replied, 'They way you came in!' she kept that bloody quiet. We had to go all the way back through the tiny, scary tunnel again, just after saying we wouldn't want to do it again! We all made it through safely and when we reached the other side Mica was saying 'Well done boys!' a lot and 'You should be really proud of yourselves.' apparently only 1% of the people that do the tour get to go through that tunnel as they only let people who they think are capable of doing it.
We went for another short swim to meet back up with the others. We were then given a few chunks of chocolate for a bit of energy and a hot orange flavoured glucose drink. Mica said we had made good time so we were allowed to do the waterfall jump as well, which was a bonus. The last task now was to get out of the cave. And the only way out is to climb up two waterfalls, with no harness. The guides told us where to put each foot and hand while climbing up, which was a bit annoying as sometimes it seemed it would be easier to find our own way up. At one point on the second water fall Lloyds foot slipped and was only stopped by most of his body weight landing on the guide just below him and a good grip with his right hand.
We all made it out and were all in agreement that it was 100% worth the money and would recommend it to anyone. We then travelled back to base to get out of our freezing cold wetsuits, have a nice warm shower and get into some dry clothes. We could also help ourselves to soup and bagels which was pretty decent. The hole trip took around five hours, it wasn't what we expected at all, and was definitely one of the best things we've done so far.
It was around 4 o'clock so had a couple of hours light, the guides recommended we go check out a natural bridge. It is basically an old cave that has collapsed and has just left behind the top, forming a natural bridge. It was impressive but probably not worth the half hour drive to get there. We asked around the campsites around Waitimo to see who was cheapest and ended up staying at a campsite and hostel. We got to use all the facilities in the hostel. So we cooked up some dinner and then watched a couple of films with a few of the other people staying there. We had ran out of beers in the campa and after a long knackering day we thought we deserved one. There are no bars in Waitmo , and one shop, so thought we'd get a few there, only to find that its shut every Wednesday during May, typical.
- comments
Ian (Bens Dad) Caving trip sounds amazing! Well done all of you completing it New Zealand seems to be living up to your expectations with adventure!