Caving in Waitomo

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Yesterday I went on an amazing adventure by going underground and exploring some caves in Waitomo. I did it with the Black Water Rafting Company, and they were a really good crew. Check them out: http://www.waitomo.com/

One of our guides, Dan, kinda looked like AC Slater from "Saved by the Bell", only with a Kiwi accent.

It was a 5 hour caving experience. We got kitted out with wetsuits and rope harnesses before we made our way out to the cave. We received some brief training on how our repelling gear (absailing gear for you Brits) works, and then we headed for the hole.

I had to work my way through a tight opening and then it opened up enough for me to lower myself down to the bottom. Our next challenge was to ride a zip line further down into the cave, IN COMPLETE DARKNESS! Our guide Andy had us turn our head lights off before we made the zip line. It made the whole experience a lot more intense. AC was waiting for us at the other end and when the person would reach the end, he would bang something against the wall to make it sound like the person had hit the wall pretty hard. Hilarious! The look on everyone's faces was priceless after that first person went.

After some tea and breakfast bars, our next challenge was to jump butt first into an underground river with our butts snugly in the middle of an inner tube. I went first and completely submerged before popping up. The water was cold, and I was glad I had the wetsuit on. I don't think theres a better way to wake up in the morning.

After everyone had jumped in, we floated down the river to explore the cave a bit more using only our headlights to illuminate the cave. We switched our lights off for a while and got to see some amazing displays from the glow worms. Glow worms are basically maggots who glow a florescent color to attract flies into their sticky strands hanging below them. The glow comes from their poop. A certain chemical in their digestion mixes to generate the glow. I think that happened to me after a burrito once.

After the float trip, we continued on foot through shallow parts. We saw a few eels along the way as well as amazing limestone walls. To get out of the cave, we had to climb up 3 different waterfalls to the exit. It was the best thing I have done so far in New Zealand. I would highly recommend it!

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Photos

Here come the men (and women) in black...
Here we are in all our gear before we head out to the cave

Practising our Repeling Skills
This is just outside the cave. Here we are practicing how to repel (absail)

And the women have a go as well
Here are the ladies practicing repelling.

Going down.....
Here I am about to descend into the cave.

Tea Break
This is after the zip line but before the inner tube jump. We are just sitting on the cliff enjoying a nice cuppa

Cannonball!!
Here is a textbook inner tube landing.

Up to our necks with it...
Here we are making our way through the cave after the inner tubes have been put aside.

Tang break
Here we are enjoying some warm Tang and some chocolate. I've never had Tang warmed up before, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds.

Surfaced!
One last team photo after we all emerge victoriously from climbing up the waterfalls to reach daylight again.

Comments

[Kendra]

Sounds like your cave experience was a little better than Sean's. Keep the entries coming! They crack me up!

[Ted]

cave creatures!
woah, I havn't gone cavin' in years! That cave looks alot more extreme then the caves I have been in.

[Brian]

That sounded like a lot of fun. I have been trying to keep up with your adventures as much as possible. Your cave expedition sounded like it was pretty amazing. You also got to meet. AC Slater's long lost brother. What more can you ask for?