Waitomo Caves - Black water heaven

---

Arriving in the small town of Waitomo it was already very wet, but we figure that we were going caving so we were getting wet anyway. The selection of trips you can do here is amazing but we settled on one with the legendary black river rafting company.

We got up nice and early and headed down to the caves to meet our guides and get kitted up. Most of the morning I spent reminding Jacky that this was her idea (As we applied layers of neoprene and donned our miners helmets !) The trip was a combination of 37m abseiling into a cave, followed by a wander upto a flying fox (Zip wire) which we flew along in pitch black. We then grabbed a rubber tube and drifted off along the river to see some glow worms*do what their shiny bums do best. The latter part of the trip involved climbing up through a couple of waterfalls - the best power shower ever and a good giggle all round.

You'll note from the picture that it was fairly dark down there but i can assure you we looked good in our wet suits in the dark!

*glowworms are actually maggots from the fungus gnat. They live in caves and catch flies by spinning 'fishing lines' (up to 30 if they are feeling very busy) down from the ceiling which are drawn towards their inviting glow. The glow, beautiful as it looks is nothing more than glorified poo that they burn off (hence the glow)..... doesn't quite sound as pretty but Kiwi's decided that 'poo burning maggots' was not as enticing.

---

Photos

Inside the cave....
You get the picture, or you don't ?