For sure one of the coolest things we've ever done was Black Water Rafting in Waitomo Caves. We put on wet suits and drove to the tiny mouth of the cave. Our guides were young but experienced. There were a dozen other people with us. For the next hour we had such an incredible adventure! We were walking, crawling, ducking and climbing through the cave. The water level went from ankle to chest deep at times. We meandered through tiny passages but at times, looked up to hundred foot slots above our heads. We had black innertubes with us the whole time. We used them as flotation devices, paddles, wall bumpers and our safety nets when we jumped backwards off of two waterfalls (one in which Rainer asked the guide, “can I push my wife off this one”… and he said yes).
The highlight and point I guess, of this cave is the glow worms. These slimy white strings hang from the walls by the thousands. We learned, they actually aren’t worms at all, but maggots with bio-luminescent poo. The little blue/green dots light up the cave. A few times we all hook in a line, sitting in our tubes, legs underneath the persons arms in front, turn off our lights and just float through looking up at the lights. It was sooooo awesome. We couldn’t take photos of any of it, so you’ll have to come to NZ and experience it!
Road trip photos:
Giant kiwi bird
Lake Taupo with white cap mountains in background
There's 20 million sheep in this country... they are everywhere
Drove through the 'sheep shearing capitol of the world'
Black water rafting company
Cool hotel we stayed in, built 102 years ago
Rainer calls our rental car a stick of gum
Beautiful sunsets driving across the country
Nice! Black water rafting in Waitomo is so sick - we went to that same place last summer. Hopefully it was warm for you though...our wetsuits were frozen when we put them on.
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