Blogs from Waitomo, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 8

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo January 13th 2006

Over to the west coast our main aim to Black Water Raft the Waitomo Caves in another thrilling adventure. Not as nerve racking or tiring as the Canyoning but still involving a couple of big drops and climbs. It was Nick's turn to be nervous this time - something to do with getting stuck in a squeeze and the wisdom of caving on big fault lines. We had to abseil into a 30 m hole, look at glow worms, float on inner tubes (very cold) and slide on a zip line in the pitch black. No injuries this time. We also spent a bit of time walking around and looking at tunnels and caves elsewhere.... read more

There must be hot water down here somewhere!

Glowing in the Dark at Waitomo

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo April 26th 2005

Guarding the entrance to the caves....

Willow

After a few days in Auckland I'd had enough of the city (everyone else seems to love it here but for me the best thing about it was buying my bus ticket out...) and was keen to get back to some smaller places. And you can't really get too much smaller than Waitomo... from what I saw in my two days there, Waitomo has a hotel, a couple of backpacker places, a small store, a bar, a tourist info place and that's more or less it. The main reason people come here is to see the caves and glow worms. And in true NZ style there are all sorts of ways to seem them - the action adventure route (blackwater rafting in oversized tyres, canyoning, etc) and the less adventurous tours where you gently float through ... read more

Glowworm Caves

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo January 26th 2005

Waitomo Caves

Family Mudpie

Drove down to Waitomo today, the main attraction being the glow worm caves. As far as we have read there is not that much more to do here than visit the caves so we decided just one night here would be fine. Another scortching day and as soon as we arrived we dumped our stuff and headed for the caves which were a five minute walk from our hostel. The glow worm cave tour was $28 each, we thought it was a bit pricey but we were only here to do that so in we went. Our tour guide was a funny guy, had a very posh accent and we couldn't work out if he was a New Zealander or a Brit. The caves were very interesting and the guide kept pointing to fallen stalegtights and ... read more

Confined Spaces

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo July 15th 2004

Caving

vikki5678

Today I signed up for Black Water Rafting which is quite different from white water rafting. Although I wasn't sure if it would be going ahead at seems to have rained non stop since late the previous night. I actually wasn't in a raft at all, but instead an inner tube from a large tyre. I donned a 9mm wet suit some funky shorts and white boots and a helmet with a lamp on that is like a miners helmet. The first test was to jump backwards off a platform (5m) into a sediment filled brown river - think the only reason I managed this was because the instructor - Jenny pulled my ankles back over the edge. I am sure it was less than a second of falling but it felt like ages. I managed ... read more

A Breath of Fresh Air

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo January 8th 2004

Adventure Kate

The first day in New Zealand, and by the end of it, I already feel like I belong here. Everyone in the group seems to mesh well, and this place is beautiful. The only sad moment was having to relinquish my Cirque juggling balls at customs because they may have had seeds in them, and the test for know for sure cost more than I paid for the balls themselves. Stepping out of the airport was like stepping into a dream. The air smelled sweet like Maine, only the temperature was perfect and the airport more remote. Our first trip took us to One Tree Hill, a monument where we spelled out “Pacific Challenge” in rocks, and I realized in climbing the hill, with some dread, just how out of shape I am. Then we went ... read more

Glow Worm Caves

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Waitomo January 30th 1990

waterfia

We got massively lost in Waitomo, which was quite an achievement given the size of the place. The Lonely Planet Guide recommended a hostel so we followed the directions and ended up at a wreck of a hut in the middle of nowhere. If that was the hostel then we were not going to stay there (obviously we'd got stuck-up since Pee Pee Island). When we did eventually find the one which was recommended, it was an improvement but only just. Anyone wanting to spend a night in Waitomo, don't bother! The following morning we visited what are imaginatively called the Glow-worm caves. We travelled into the caves by boat and in the darkness you could see literally thousands of little green lights on the roof of the cave. It was quite magical. Photographs were a ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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