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Published: March 12th 2009
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Waitomo
It was necessary to go back to Jucy Rentals in Auckland to get some issues with the campervan sorted out on Saturday 28th February. Unfortunately the stormy weather had continued from the previous night, turning into torrential rain and making driving rather unpleasant.
From Auckland we drove 71km south to the famous Waitomo Caves. We arrived early afternoon and booked a Black Water Rafting trip for the following day then paid a visit to the Glowworm Cave. Admission into the Glowworm Cave was $38 each, but we got 10%!d(MISSING)iscount - thank you YHA cards. We managed to just catch the 15:30 tour which turned out to be a curse rather than a slice of good fortune because our group contained 2 toddlers who were battling it out to become the biggest screamer. Also our tour guide acted like she could not care less, obviously recounting the same jokes hour after hour, day after day had taken its toll and thus she had no enthusiasm whatsoever. The tour of the cave was a waste of time and money - we had seen bigger, better, more interesting caves on our trip already. However our opinion soon changed when we
got into a boat and followed the cave downstream with millions of glowworms above us. The fact that there were so many meant that the ceiling looked like the night sky only green instead! Whoever came up with the idea of naming the larvae of a fungus gnat a glowworm instead of what it actually is (a maggot) did Waitomo's tourism industry a great service as thousands of tourists each year flock to see this larvae and it's dangling poo!
Black Water Rafting
Underground wading and floating along a subterranean river you say? Okay seeing as so many people have raved about this experience we decided to give it a go. We opted for the cheaper, shorter (3 hours instead of 5 hours), more sedate option called 'The Black Labyrinth'. This meant that we only had a couple of 'waterfall jumps' and did not abseil or 'fox swing', but it was still a memorable experience.
After getting kitted up with wetsuits, helmets and boots we were driven to the Ruakuri Cave where we had to select a rubber ring according to buttock size and then go for a test jump in a murky river. The river
was bloody freezing and we were informed that it was the warm stuff!
We then traipsed through the forest for about 5 minutes which certainly warmed everyone up. When we reached the cave's tiny entrance we had to enter in single file and assemble in the cavernous area around the corner (see photo). Here we were given a short briefing, had to make short introductions and then headed off into the darkness...
We waded and floated our way through the cave, stopping briefly to admire the light show the little wrigglers were putting on not 1m above our heads. We got to do a couple of 'waterfall jumps' where we had to jump backwards over a small cascade of no more than about 1.5m in height. We floated the last 100-150m (difficult to assess distances in the dark) with our head torches off, hence total darkness which was very amusing, especially with people bumping into each other and off the walls!
We emerged from the cave unscathed and with big smiles having enjoyed our experience. We still had time to slide down a muddy bank in the ring and float downstream to our awaiting transport back to
the HQ. We enjoyed a hot shower, soup and a bagel before walking the 1.5km back to the campsite.
In the evening we followed up on other people's recommendations and went and did a good short walk in the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve which we seemed to have to ourselves. This made for an excellent walking experience, but left me fretting about the campervan sitting all alone in the car park.
Tongariro National Park
After doing some research, Lisa decided we should go to the Tongariro National Park, home to Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro aka Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings and a third peak called Mount Ruapehu. Lisa assured me that I would not have to climb to the summits of any of these peaks with a bunch of small people and throw away any good jewellery! She had selected the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing for us to do which went between 2 of the volcanoes so I agreed to go...
It took us a couple of hours to drive there from Waitomo and we managed to get a site in the Whakapapa Village campsite only a short walk from the start
Taranaki Falls
Spilling over an ancient lava flow. of several walks. Our first stop was the visitor information centre where we got some information on the walks plus a 5 day weather forecast and a volcanic activity alert status. We decided to book a place on a shuttle bus to take us to the start point of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and also pick us up from the end point and therefore we could leave our campervan on the site.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent undertaking the delightful Taranaki Falls walk. At 2 hours it fitted the brief perfectly. It was a 6km loop track and gave us excellent views of the volcanoes. The lower track went through tussock and alpine scrubland and into beech forest emerging out at the ancient lava flow and the impressive falls. This was the perfect warm-up for the next day.
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Getting up at 06:30 was hard work, especially when the morning in question was the coldest we had experienced in over 8 months (I now knew why we were given an electric heater in the van). Lisa made a packed lunch and somehow we got on the Mangatepopo road end bound 08:00 shuttle
Mt Ngauruhoe
Scenes from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. bus. The driver congratulated us on our choice of day to attempt the walk, saying that it was going to be the best day in 8. We were also warned that as a result, the track would be very busy.
Thirty dollars might sound a lot to go on a long walk (for the shuttle), but despite my reservations this would turn out to be the best 10 pounds (well a bit more) I ever spent. Anyone who is interested in the exact geology of this walk can find it at http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz, but basically after following a valley up to the saddle between Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, the track climbed to Red Crater (1886m) then dropped steeply down to the vivid Emerald Lakes. After passing Blue Lake, the track sidled around the northern slope of Tongariro then ascended in a zigzag down to the road end. What the previous descriptions did not tell you is that this is a fantastic walk. We got to see types of scenery that we had never seen before and the contrasting colours of the Emerald Lakes in their surroundings were remarkable. By the time we finished the walk at 14:30 we did not even
Mt Ruapehu
Views from the Taranaki Falls walk. feel tired so something must have been taking our minds off the fact that we were walking between 2 active volcanoes!
Odds and Sods in Tongariro
We spent our next 2 days in Tongariro doing shorter, free walks from Whakapapa Village. Our intention on the following day was to do two, 2 hour walks, but our aches caught up from us so we only managed one 2 hour walk, a 7km loop to the Silica Rapids. We then spent the afternoon convalescing and writing postcards.
On our final day in Tongariro, we did a 17km, 5-6 hour walk to the Tama Lakes. We started the walk up to these two in-filled explosion craters in glorious sunshine, but arrived at the upper lake (1314m) in howling winds and a bleak sky. The track had obviously suffered from erosion and we were surprised that the powers that be had not closed this track. We were a little disappointed with this walk and we certainly did not feel like going for a dip in one of the lakes. Having said that, the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was always going to be a hard act to follow.
Wellington
Crater Lakes
Their bright colour is due to the leaching of minerals from adjacent thermal areas. On our way to the South Island, we decided to spend a weekend in New Zealand's 3rd biggest and capital city. We ended up staying at a campsite in the Hutt Valley which meant that we had a fairly long train journey to get into the city centre. We spent 1 full day exploring the city, visiting Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand) which was a worthwhile venue. We had a walk along the harbour front and stopped by a free open-air jazz festival taking place outside the impressive looking library.
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