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Since my last blog this is what I have been up to...
We went to Hot water beach - where there is a thermal stream underground so you hire a spade and dig your own hole until it fills with water and you get your own spa. Well we had a go at that but all our holes were cold! Everyone around us had steam coming out of their holes though, so in the end we pinched someones hot hole when they left. But then it rained so we went back to the van and found a campsite for the night.
We then moved on to a place called Rotorua, it is a thermal town, and the campsite we stayed at was built over a thermal area so we had naturally spring heated hot tubs! It was so nice - they have to put the water through a tank first so they can restrict the temperature to 36-40 degrees so it doesnt burn us - but it was so nice just lying in there and they are outside so it all seemed very natural. People back home pay good money for that sort of thing!
The next
Caving
Getting swept away day we went for a look around Rotorua we saw the lake, and walked around the town. On the way into town we could see loads of steam so we went to investigate and it turned out to be just pools of water that were steaming because of the thermal activity below ground - it was amazing! But the sulphur does make the whole town stink a bit!
The day we were leaving Rotorua we stopped at the geysers, we had a tour of the geysers - one had water flowing 30ft into the air when it errupted. We also saw mud pools that were actually boiling! We got to see some of the Mauri (Original inhabitants of New Zealand) culture which was really good. We saw them carving, our guide showed us how to make rope and the funny skirts they wear out of a leaf (flax). We saw some kiwi birds (funny looking things). Then we went to a Mauri concert which was excellent! It was so much fun they told us about some of their traditions, and they sang and danced on stage in Mauri outfits. They performed the Haka for us too (the one they
do before a rugby match) - it was so good, i think it helped to get our attention that one of the guys doing the dancing was Gorgeous.
That same day we drove to Waitomo, where the famous Waitomo caves are - they are full of glow worms. So we booked a trip to see them for the next day.
Yesterday was our Waitomo caves trip - Oh My God! We got all dressed up in wet suits, with trousers over the wetsuits, a wetsuit jacket, wellies, hard hat with head lamp, harness and battery pack. The opening to the cave was in a field 27meters below us! We abseiled down 27 meters to the cave bottom, where they was shin deep water. We then started walking into the pitch black caves with our head lamps on - suddenly the water was up to my waist, then up to my chest (luckily that is as deep as it got though). It was mainly about knee level but occassionally it would get very deep. The guide then got us to shut off our lamps grabbed the shoulder of the person in front of us and walk in the darkness -
Rafting
Black water rafting you couldnt see the hand in front of your face! But the cave then opened up wider and the whole roof was absolutely covered in glow worms it was pretty amazing. I am not sure what he used but the guide made a huge bang - scared the hell out of us all but it was to show that the glow worms get brighter (because our fear produced adrenaline, which effects your eyes making everything brighter).
I was a little scared in the caves because i am not a big fan of water, and it was pitch black, then when we could put our head lamps on again the guide was pointing out the eels swimming passed our legs (yuk). When at the end of the cave we got into our own black rubber rings, where just your bums sit in the hole in the middle and rafted back to the opening of the cave, it was quite slow most of the way. Then we floated passed the opening and into the other side of the cave where the water got a bit rougher and i was banging into the wall and all sorts. Our lights were still off
at this point and we couldnt see each other so i had hold of Sarahs foot and she had hold of Katies foot to keep together.
Next the caving began, we were going through some tight squeezes, anyone claustrophobic would have freaked out it was so small, i had to duck down, and go sideways to get through. I was first through one of the tight tunnels and a jumping spider (he had told us about), fell to the floor next to my foot and then jumped away - which freaked me out, spiders are bad enough but ones that jump! Once at the end of this side of the cave we had to make our way back, this time walking against the current which was so tiring i got swept away at one point (but didnt go far), we were climbing over slippery rocks making our way back to the opening. By the time we got to the opening i was exhausted. But it wasn't over yet, we now had to rock climb 20 meters up the side of the cave to get out. The guide was at the top holding a safety rope in case we fell
Rock Climbing
Made it to the top! but other than that we were on our own, and as it had been raining the rocks were pretty slippy, it was hard work but i made it up in the end. We were all covered in mud, soaking wet, smelly, exhausted, but we had a great time!
After that trip we drove to Taupo and just crashed out for the night, this morning we all have aching arms from the rock climb! But it was good fun, and i felt a sense of achievement because in half a day i had done abseiling, black water rafting, caving, rock climbing, and i saw glow worms! Pretty cool!
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