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From Rotorua we headed north to Hamilton, via Matamata, where Hobbiton is. When we arrived we popped into the information to see how we got to Hobbiton Farm, to find that you had to join a $50 tour to see the area where the film was made, which has now been returned to it's original state!! So we thought "b***** that" and headed straight to Hamilton!
Hamilton is the largest inland city in New Zealand, so we had a little walk around the city then went on a little drive to search for Ugg boots! Not as easy as you think...since they are actually from Australia - we got a bit confused!!
The next day we headed to Waitomo. We had a lazy day doing all our laundry in time for the next part of our trip, when we resort back to washing in the sink! That night we excitedly headed to the nearest town with a cinema for the opeing night of Da Vinci!! Wooo hooo, we were sooooo excited! We managed to find a really old fashioned cinema, that only opens for each show and which even had an interval,that happened right in the middle of the car chase! We really enjoyed the film, but are still debating whether Tom Hanks was right as Robert Langdon; Laura says yes, Holly says no!
The next day it was time for the caving and abseil trip, the Lost World Epic Adventure! First we had to sign a medical form, declaring that we understood that we may die! Then, a little nervous, we headed to Waitomo Cave. Once we were suited and booted; we had to wear wetsuits, gum boots, helmets, lights and harnesses, we headed to the 'window' to have a look into the cave, which was VERY deep! Then it was time to abseil down into the cave! We were attached to the ropes and the safety ropes and began our 100m decent down into the cave, which was really good, not scary like we thought. When we got to the bottom, we had lunch and then were taken to be introduced to the cold water! Brrrr! Basically, we had to jump in and let ourselves be taken by the current through the cave system and then try and battle upstream to climb up a waterfall. We could hardly walk against the water, so poor Adam, an investment banker from London, had both of us banging into him and kicking him - at one point Laura had legs either side of his head - poor bloke, until he threw us through the worst of the current! The water was freezing cold, but our wet suits soon warmed us up. We then headed further into the cave system, where it was so dark that we couldn't see our hands in front of our faces, if we turned our lights off, of course! We had to swim, paddle, climb, jump, throw and squeeze ourselves through white water rapids, waterfalls, tight holes, cliffs etc so it was pretty exciting...except when Laura decided to try abseiling without her rope and fell about 10 foot into a cave - ouch! But thankfully there were no broken bones, just a lot of bruises, everywhere! One of the holes we had to squeeze through was so small, you couldnt see the opening unless you lay on the floor, then we had to pull ourselves through, with our belly on the rock and our bums were touching the roof -m although we do have big ones!! We also had to climb up this really strong waterfall, that if you got sucked under, you would not get back out. We were hooked onto the guides and a safety rope, thankfully, as Laura (again) lost her grip and was taken into the waterfall, but luckily the guides were strong boys and were able to hold her, whilst rescuing her boots that were being sucked from her feet! She made it, eventually! We then had to jump from about 15 feet into a pool of freezing water. We spent around 5 hours under the ground and near to the end of the trip, the guide made us lie on the rocks and turn our lights out, so we could see thousands of glow worms all around us. It was great, really magical!! Once we emerged into the daylight we trudged through the countryside back for our dinner. We must have looked a sight! Fields full of cows and sheep, and us in wetsuits, boots filled with water and an afro that Foxy Cleopatra would be proud of! We were exhausted! After our much earned dinner it was time to walk, slowly, back to our camper van to lie down!
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