Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
I stopped updating my blog after Australia so in an attemp to complete my journal I have copied Trev's entries and made some ammendments. Pah we were there together : )
We flew into Auckland on a short haul flight where we were kindly greeted by a Taxi shuttle that Trev's Aunt had organised. We were whisked away down south to Hamilton where we stayed with Trev's Aunt Glynis and cousin Terran. They were wonderful and made us feel extremely welcome.
Glynis was a superb host and she had a car waiting for us which we used in angst exploring the central area. The little Rav 4 was a nifty all wheeler which handled the terrain like a dream. The landscape in NZ is spectacular and to put it bluntly 'very dramatic and sharp'. All the features and topography are extreme from cloud formations to rolling hills and dunes, volcanic sand beaches, breath taking waterfalls, open crisp green fields etc. etc. I could go on forever. NZ is certainly one of the most naturally beautiful countries we have travelled to and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this naturally beautiful playground.
Our first few days were spent hiking and exploring the west coast. We came across a stunning waterfall which was so tranquil, peaceful and serene it was a 55m drop and we could hike down and enjoy the panoramic views from different heights, it was really refreshing to be back in a remote area and to be surrounded by such beauty. We then took a wrong turn and ended up 4X4'ing form about an hour and came out a remote volcanic beach which where the beach sand was black, and the beach stretched for miles and miles either way. It was quiet a trek to get up and then down to the beach and when we got there we laid the only footprints of the day which was special. The ocean was breaking in a weird fashion and there were about 12 - 15 breaks which is quite unique, I haven't really seen anything like it in all my maritime years. I guess the sea bed is sheeted with volcanic eruptions and it's created a hap hazard bottom which the swells are revelling in. We had some yummy fish and chips at a local and spent the day driving enjoying the vast countryside, seas estuaries and rolling mountains.
The next few days were of the same, exploring, driving and enjoying the panoramic views everywhere you looked. The great thing about NZ is there are natural free attractions everywhere you go so you don't need to cough up on tourist attraction fees you can just go out for a drive and enjoy Mother Nature which helps the bank balance. We came across some hot geyser pools and also had an incredible hike up to a 155m waterfall. It was a good hike up and I had to convince Trev to go all the way to the top as half way he was contemplating turning back. It was definitely worth the effort and the views from the top were spectacular. We had to scramble down as some ominous clouds came over us and we didn't want to get stuck in heavy down pour so we scooted down in double time. At the top there was an old man with a walking stick who put us to shame as he had just climbed up which I thought was impressive.
On the weekend Glynis and Terran had some spare time so we took them to the waterfall and we decided to take her new kayak out to Raglan beach. We had a great day paddling in the sea and the estuary and everyone had a turn paddling the new Christmas present. Fun was had by all had the Red Baron was initiated.
The following week we signed up for some Black cave tubing with the glow worms in Waitomo cave. We had a fun day out and got our first taster for underground river caving. The caves are pitch black and you need head torches to see anything. Our trip consisted of caving, hiking, viewing glow worms on the cave tops, getting thunder flashes throwing at us and watching the glow worms brighten up, sitting in a tube riding down the river, jumping off a miniature waterfall and sliding down a slide within the commercialised cave. It was an experience and we were glad to have done it but we enjoyed our warm showers and brew afterwards.
After this we headed up to Auckland and watched the Foo Fighters and Tenacious D play live in the outdoor stadium. They were totally awesome despite it raining continuosly through-out the whole gig. Some of the people attending the concert were completely mad but it all added to the atmosphere.
The next adventure was just that a pretty hairy, adrenaline fuelled escape! We arranged to go "real" caving with one of the die hard cavers/adventurers at one of his locals. It was another wet day and we found out later there had been some severe flooding in Nelson. We prepped for the expedition with all the university gear available from Wintec and headed down to the Waitomo area. Once we arrived we had a solid trek to get to the cave entrance through some pretty rugged off-road terrain. We eventually got there soaked to the bone and Jim raised our alert levels when he sang a chant in Maori offering respect to the Maori cave gods before we entered. the cave entrance was pretty spooky in the middle of nowhere down a dark, wet, small entrance dug out in the forest.
We cruised down and after about 10m had to abseil down into a smaller cavern from that point I knew we were committed as you couldn't get out the way you had come once the ropes were down. 2 minutes later our main torch and backups went from all the humidity so we were stuck in total darkness for a good 20 minutes while we tried to recover and sort the batteries out. We got them working again and trekked through the underground cave system. One section was so small both Trevor and I struggled to get through about a 5 metre tunnel totally enclosed which we leopard crawled through. All the gear had to come off and had to be passed through to make it through the clearance. It's quite an awkward feeling knowing you're in mother nature's hand and once you're in you have to get through (I was happy at this point that the Asia part of the trip made us shed a few kilos as if we were any bigger, heaven forbid we may have got stuck in the tunnel) Anyways we got through and we enjoyed the stalactites, stalagmites and ancient columns. They're all ancient gems that have been there for thousands of years and we felt privileged to see these hidden gems that not too many people have seen.
The next part of the caving upped the ante and we had to abseil down from the dry caves into the wet underground rivers. There's a network of approximately 50km of underground rivers (we're about 100m underground at this point and have been in the cave for +- 2.5 hours) where all these rivers merge and create a powerful flow. Under normal circumstances this would be ankle deep and it wouldn't pose a problem but what we didn't realise was that there had been heavy rain in the last 2.5 hours and flood waters were rising rapidly from all the rivers merging. We abseiled about 15m down and pulled the rope down (fully committed at this point) and in the time between Trev getting down until myself and Jim had arrived the water levels had risen drastically. Jim was becoming increasingly concerned as earlier on he had mentioned if the levels are knee deep we shouldn't continue and now the water levels had raised waist deep. I asked Jim how much further to the exit and was expecting a 5 minute response and he came back with 30 minutes at a scramble. At this point the penny dropped we were in trouble!
Trev took the lead, being the strongest as the anchor man as if number 2 or 3 gets washed off their feet he would act as a brake and hopefully be able to stop us going any further if we lost our footing. I knew the situation was getting very dangerous now but we all stayed calm and collected and progressed methodically through the tunnels. The terrain had changed completely now and we were in a triangular tight crevice tube like area with only a tiny bit of clearance either side and above our heads, the water was up to our stomachs now and the flow and volume was getting stronger and stronger. We carried on tabbing along using both our arms and legs to hook ourselves in - preventing us from losing our footing and being washed away. We continued whilst the water rose, the tunnel got smaller and our air pocket diminished, the flow after about 20minutes was so extreme now as the pressure had built up in the smaller surface area and it was a struggle to stay grounded even with the adrenaline pumping. We're 2hr 50mins in at this stage and our decisions have become easy, we're in a life or death situation you can't go left, you can't' go right, you can't go back and you can't up, all we could do was go forward and focus on damage limitation. If we lost our footing at this stage we would have been shot through the tube system like a ping pong pinball underwater and who knows how that would end, this was at the forefront of my mind and I used all my strength to stay grounded.
The next 10 minutes the intensity really rose, we still didn't know how far the exit was and the water was so high and powerful we were truly at battle stations. Everyone was panicked, communication was down and we just tried our best to carry on. We tabbed on turn after turn. water levels rising, and we still couldn't see the end, how long was this tunnel?? Eventually after about 30minutes of adrenaline fuelled scrambling we came around a corner and saw the exit about 30m away, a small crevice exit with an enormous amount of water spitting out directly into a big submerged rock. What a feeling of euphoria, relief to see the exit but despair to realise how are we going to get out safely. The force and volume at this point was so strong and I can only try describe it as if you were rock climbing and you were doing a grade that is above you and you try and try and eventually your muscles get so tired you start to shake, lose all your strength and fall.
Trev was in the front and we quickly worked out what we needed to create a rig system to lower him out. In theory he should have been able to drop his legs forward with his head up whilst myself and Jim held onto the rope tied to him. However, somehow as Trevor dropped back the rope was let go of and he went hurtling through the cave like a lightning bolt. He had 50m of rope on his back which got snagged on a rock at the mouth of the cave. Gallons of water was rushing over him with his head underwater and all my self and Jim could do was helplessly watch from inside the cave as we struggled to keep our footing. Somehow he managed to release the rope and fling himself onto the riverbank without flying down the river over the waterfall which was just a short distance in front.
Now it was my turn . . how on earth was I going to get out of here after seeing what happened to Trev. I decided the only way I had a chance of getting out in one pice was to push my back against one side of the cave and my legs on the other, keeping my bum above the water. This wasn't easy as the gap between the water level and the top of the cave was decreasing rapidly. I wiggled myself along the cave but was met with my next dilema - how to get my self from this position on to the bank. Thankfully, I found a tiny openong on the side of the cave and managed to launch myself out of it. Jim followed closely afterwards. We were all a bit shaken up but felt pretty lucky to be alive at that moment.
We later found out the floods had occurred in the short 3 hour period when we were underground and we were extremely lucky to have escaped before the head clearance became zero. It was an awesome experience but I don't think I'll be entering any caves again in a rush!!
We found out a few days later some cavers from the University had gone the next day and had to be recued by search and rescue after they didn't return on time. It took 6 hours to be rescued and they had to wait it out inside the hollow after the abseil. They were lucky they didn't commit to the tunnels otherwise there would have been no escape and it would have been a retrival instead of a rescue.
After being a bit banged up and bruised we chilled out the next few days and spent some quality time Glynis and Terran. We had some fab BBQ's and spent time going through Trev's old family albumns and a video his Granfather made whilst in Europe. After having a great time in NZ we were sad to say good bye and we boarded the bus and headed to the airport. Next stop Cook Islands.
- comments