The alarm sounded at 6am this morning. I will admit I did not spring out of bed like I did yesterday. Considering all the exercise I had yesterday I was feeling alright. The group had a simple bfast at the lodge again.. it was toast and peanut butter and banana for me today. We then packed up our things and headed out on the road for the 2 hr drive to Waitomo (translated means water cave or water hole). When we arrived there we signed up for a caving adventure. I signed up for a 3 hr tubing and exploring trip. About 8 of our group chose that option. We took a short van ride to another building where we were fitted with wet suits, rubber boots and helmets. We looked like a cross between miners and scuba divers. It was then a short, but HOT walk to the cave entrance. ..we walked over several green fields with sheep and cows. Luckily for our rubber boots cause there was poo everywhere.
We entered the cave by crawling down a ladder thru a very narrow opening. I think it was a test to see if any of us were claustrophobic! For the next couple of hours we navigated through a long system of caves. (Waitomo apparently sits on a system of limestone caves many km long). It involved walking, crawling (thru some very tight spaces), swimming and even tubing on inner tubes. The water was COLD but bearable. The highlight were the glow worms. These are actually small maggots that stick to the cave roofs and glow. In the light they look like long, skinny clear worms but when we turned our headlamps off they looked like stars in the sky. They only difference was that they were green on colour. They were quite beautiful. NZ is known for these glow worms because they are only found in Aus/NZ.
After the caving, we emerged for quick showers and a change of clothes. We then hopped back on the bus into the small Waitomo town to grab something at the bakery. Then we were back on the road to Rotorua. It was probably about a 1 and 1/2 hour ride. I hit the wall and passed out for most of the trip. This town is unique in that there are hot springs EVERYWHERE. There were literally steam holes and bubbling water popping out of the ground everywhere. The ground is warm and the people use this hot water for heating their homes, for cooking and for bathing. There is a distinct smell of sulfur in the air from all these hot pools. We went to meet up with a local man named Shilo who gave us a cultural lesson on the Maori people who are the natives in NZ. He showed us their spiritual house and he and his cousin gave a small presentation and sang a song. We then sang a song for them. ..Queen's We Will Rock You...not my choice!
After this little cultural tour we headed back to the bus and down the street to our accomodations for the night. We are staying at the Four Canoes Hostel. It's actually really nice. I share a room with 3 other girls but there are real beds (no bunks) and the room is quite large.
For dinner, we had a traditional Hungy (spelling?) in the dining area of the hostel. Basically it's a meal that is cooked in a hole in the ground. We had chicken and veg and what seemed a lot like turkey stuffing. It was delicious!
After dinner, most of us took a short walk down the street to the grocery store to get some snacks for the next day. Since then I've been sitting in the hotel lobby abusing my WiFi priveledges.
No comments:
Post a Comment