Day 14: Around Waitomo Caves
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Today, we booked ourselves a caving expedition. We decided on Black Abyss
with the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. You can't take any
pictures during the trip because it is very wet, so you'll have to
settle for my description.
We were in a group of 8 people, plus we had 2 guides. We started by
abseiling (rappelling) down a 30m sinkhole. I was afraid about being
nervous about the big drop from the top, but the hole kinda zig-zagged
in the middle, so it was difficult to see straight down.
After the abseil, we clambered over some rocks for a bit, and then
hooked ourselves into a new rope. We zipped down the rope one-by-one to
a new ledge not far away.
We stopped for a snack and then jumped into the water with inner
tubes to float around the river. The water was pretty cold, but we were
all outfitted in wetsuits, so only our hands got cold. We paddled
upstream for a bit, and then turned out all our headlights, formed a
train, and were lead down the river by our guide. With all the lights
out, it was easy to see the glowworms on the ceiling. They looked just
like stars.
We got out of our inner tubes and began walking up a stream flowing
from a different sinkhole. Many times we had to squeeze past rocks, and
there were some tricky climbs up waterfalls. But the guides were very
helpful in getting us out. When we emerged from the hole where the
stream entered, we then had to walk back to the van in our wet, heavy
and awkward wetsuits. But then we got nice hot showers and soup back at
the company cafe.
After our adventure, we relaxed back at our B&B for a while.
This picture was taken by Ian from our room's patio. We were staying at
the Abseil Inn, which apparently has one of the steepest driveways ever.
I was relaxing on the couch in the guest lounge with one of the Inn's cats. :)
After the sun had mostly set, we drove back to the end of the
Waitomo Walkway and walked along the walkway with a flashlight. When we
got near some of the caves and overhanging rocks, we turned out the
flashlight and saw many glowworms twinkling like stars on the rocks.
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