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Date: May 25, 2004
Location: Waitomo, New Zealand
Caught our tour bus, and headed out to the Waikato, the bread
basket
of New Zealand... A two-hour drive through verdant, rolling hills got us a
little acquainted with our new companions, the other 28 folks on our bus,
and
brought us to our first stop, a little chalet complex near the Waitomo
Caverns
where we were to stay the first night...
Checked in, unpacked, and headed down to the caves for a float trip down an underground river, to see the famous
glow-worms. Layered in wetsuits, boots, lighted helmets, and gloves, we
took an inner tube each and tested their buoyancy by leaping backwards into a
freezing river. All tubes proving suitable to the task, we then navigated
a jungle trail to a narrow fissure in the earth and squeezed through, one at
a time, to begin an hour-long underground adventure.
Quite stunning, the cave
varied in depth from barely enough room to squeeze below the roof with
ones face above water, to soaring ceilings a hundred feet high, hung with
dripping stalactites... The water, in some places, was shallow enough to walk - in
other places, it was deep enough that the tube was the only way to
navigate the swift-moving water... Back on the surface, we peeled of our suits and
took long, steamy showers to thaw our frozen bodies, ate some toasted bagels
with fresh butter and hot tomato soup, and returned to our little chalets to
clean up and change for a pizza dinner and a night of drinking at the local pub,
conveniently located mere steps from our accommodations.
Got to know some of my traveling companions a lot better, and ended up
sprinting in some small state of undress around the outside of the bar, as
the result of losing a pool game played by "Aussie Rules" - so, the bar for
party shenanigans has already been set high, on the very first day...
...well, must catch the bus for our next stop, Lake Taupo, but I will
write
more presently...
- Edward
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