Hey You Guuuuysssss

Waitomo! Glow worm caves extraordinaire! This place looks like any other idyllic farmland- rolling hills, lots of grass and sheep, but just underground are crazy limestone caves. And these aren't just any limestone caves- they are full of glowworms. And underground rivers. Touring the caves is the big activity in the area, and we could have gone like normal people on a walking or little boat trip through them. But, seeing as we are in New Zealand (adventure capital of the world) we decided to try out a little Blackwater Rafting in which you are put in a wetsuit, boots and helmet, given a floaty inner tube, and sent out over rapids in the freezing cold water where you can look up and see the glow worms on the cave ceiling. But, naturally we took it one step further and opted for the most extreme package that included absailing (repelling) into the cave, a flying fox or zip line in the dark, and jumping backwards into the water and climbing water falls.

To make everything even better, there has been a lot of rain in the last few days and the caves were closed due to high water levels yesterday. Fortunately today they were open for us, and there were only the three of us on the trip! We had two excellent guides, Doug and Brydie, who got us all suited up and took plenty of ridiculous pictures of us (to come when I can get a computer that is fully functional!). We got out to the caves and did some practice absailing on a little hill. I totally fell down on my butt- not really a good sign. Then we had a quick run down of safety lines that could save your life, and off we went!

Caitlin was the first down the hole- and it really was a hole. You start off on a platform probably 10 feet above this narrow little passageway you have to shimmy yourself through, and once you pass through that it is a 30 meter descent. Into the dark. Of course. Tiffany and I followed- Doug was holding the safety line luckily! Even though none of us had done anything like that before, it wasn't nearly as scary or difficult as it seems! Once underground we got to see some fossilized sand dollars and shells- the rock had been the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago and has been pushed upwards through lots of tectonic movement. That was pretty cool, but not as good as the flying fox! Once again we were attached to a line, our helmet lights were switched off, and one at a time we went zipping into the pitch blackness- all you could see were little blue glowworm buts in the "sky"! I could have zipped around for ages- it really was a bit better than the playground a few days ago- but we had hot chocolate and cookies- the strangest tea party ever- then had to jump backwards off a ledge into the dark, freezing water. I was really graceful and fell off my tube straight away, but managed to shimmy back on. Tiffany and Caitlin were a little concerned I was floating towards the sound of a steadily rushing waterfall, but we all managed to get into the water in one piece.

We floated around and pulled ourselves along a rope tied to the side. We checked out some cave formations- stalactites, shawls, cave coral, and then came to a little waterfall that we slid down which was good fun. We all hooked ourselves together in a line- someones feet under your armpits, turned out our headlamps, and Doug paddled us down the river so we could lay back and look at the glowworms above. These crazy insects are in the larval stage. They drop little silky threads to catch little bugs, and create some sort of substance in their butts that glows- so the glowing bits are kind of like their poo. This attracts the insects to their threads where they get tangled, then the worms munch them down. Kind of gross, but it looks really cool from below!

We did some more floating and walking and jumping off things, then came to a tunnel where we had some juice and chocolate and prepared for the next adventure. The water in the caves was pretty high- another 10cm and the trips would have been cancelled- so in some areas we were up to our necks in water, with just enough room for our heads under the rock ceilings. So when we saw the rushing waterfalls, and they told us we were going to climb them, it didn't seem that surprising. But out of all the crazy things we did, this was by far the most insane! To let you know how much water there was, imagine standing under Niagara falls. No, not really, but there was a lot, and we had to climb straight up. Rock climbing is tricky at the best of times, but we were really getting pelted. At one point Doug told Tiffany it would be easier if she had her eyes open, but easier said than done. The water level in the cave was about 48cm, and even the guides can't climb the waterfalls if it is above 50cm. But after a lot of struggling and ungraceful maneuvers, we all emerged...above ground! The hole we came out of was tiny, and there was a proper river running into it, which is what we fought against coming up. Like I said, it was insane, but thankfully less scary at the moment than in hindsight!
Since there were only 3 of us and we were rocking right along, we actually got to do everything the shorter tours do as well. So we walked a little ways, went down another hole into the ground, and boom! Back in the dark. This tour was much more mellow. We jumped backwards off a waterfall with our tubes on our butts. Caitlin went off while Tiffany and I watched. Doug counted "three, two..." and then she just kind of disappeared. Apparently she thought there was a step behind her and went over the edge, surprising all of us as much as herself. But again, no harm no foul. We got to do another glowworm float in the dark which was really just mind blowing. It kind of felt like a Disneyland ride but for real. When we finished we came out into a beautiful forested grotto. All told the trip lasted about 5 hours, and it was really one of the coolest/craziest/best things I've ever done!