Waitomo Caves

After leaving Napier we drive to Waitomo, in the center of the north island.  It's known for the limestone caves here, home of the glowworms.  You can take a boat tour, but we like to do something a little more adventurous. 

On the way down

We start by abseiling into the cave.  It's like rappelling, but you just lower yourself down instead of bouncing off the wall.  When you start down you're facing the wall, but if you turn yourself slightly you see what's pictured above.  It's beautiful, and it feels like you're entering someplace no one's ever been before.  By the way, it's about 100 ft deep, so it takes you a minute to make your way down to the bottom.

Check out those deltoids!

The most famous residents of the cave are the glowworms.  When you turn off your headlamp, they shine like mini LED lights on the cave ceiling.  Gorgeous!  (It also reminds me I haven't seen a lot of stars since we moved to Tokyo.)  They put out "strings" to catch bugs to eat - and only get a few in their lifetimes.  You can see the strings hanging from the rock in the picture below.

They don't bite, do they?

We also got to do a little inner tubing in the caves.

Whee!

And spelunking, too!  Yes, we're in water, a few feet deep in this spot.  It was deeper in other parts of the cave.  Steve got "caught" by our guide - he told us we could get off our inner tubes, and stand, but didn't mention it was over six feet deep.  Steve popped out of the tube and immediately went under.  The guide didn't find it so funny when Steve told him he almost lost a boot. (Safety first!  If you're going under, take off the heavy shoes!)  We're wearing boots, wet suits, and protective coverings (the purple & pink - now you know why a lot of photos are in black & white!) that belong to the tour company...wonder if the guide is responsible for any missing/damaged items?

Do THEY bite??

Turns out glowworms aren't the only species in here.  Our guide explains there are eels, too.  THAT'S what I've felt brushing up against my leg!  I'm glad he didn't mention them until near the end.  He's a couple of feet long and a couple inches wide.  We saw three at once.  I'm starting to hear the theme music to Jaws...





Finally, we get to rock climb out the 100 foot cliff.  Not too difficult, except for the one small negative degree angle...and when you're short with a bum knee, you have less hand/foot hold options.  Luckily, I didn't get stuck so we're able to continue our New Zealand adventure.

Steve made it up with no problems.