North Island Wandering Pt 2

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The following day saw us travelling to Taupo via Waitomo. The driver was much less annoying than the first one and so all was boding well for the day, but then, oops, a flat tyre, which resulted in an unscheduled stop in a small town for a cup of coffee for us and some maintenance for our trusted coach.

At Waitomo there was an extensive network of caves and us intrepid travellers were provided with a choice of activities within the caves ranging from a sedate walk and boat ride to view the glow worms, for which the caves are famous, through to tubing along the underground river system and abseiling into the cave. We opted for the tubing option and dutifully went to the little hut where we were provided with wetsuits, helmets and fetching white welly boots. The most arduous part of this trip turned out to be getting the flippin wetsuits on and after much hilarity and bonding (due in the most part to helping each other get the ill fitting kit on) we boarded the bus to what we thought would be the entrance to the caves. Wrong. We stopped in the middle of a field and traipsed through in all our gear, with bewildered cows gazing at a motley group of weirdos going for a walk on a lovely sunny day with wetsuits, helmets and white wellies - great photo opportunity. On reaching a wooded area we were given our rubber rings and then proceeded to walk through the wood and onto the mouth of the cave. The climb down into the mouth of the cave was steep but eventually we all made it safe and sound and the guide provided us with some of its history. The first part of the cave involves walking, but we stopped a few times to look at the glow worms which covered the ceiling. At the end of each speck of light is a slug like creature waiting to trap its next meal, by extending a silken thread which captures any poor unsuspecting insect which has made its way into the caves. There are three stages to the glow worms’ development and apparently the final stage is the fly stage lasting three days, which the creature spends doing what everyone would do if they only had 3 days to live - Lisa thought it might be eating chocolate - but apparently it’s having lots of sex - go figure. After a bit of walking we started to get to the wetter parts of the cave and formed human chains and floated down through the river beneath millions of glow worms sparkling above us on the cave ceilings, creating an impression of a starlit sky. It was a real wow moment, which stopped all the friendly banter, replacing it with a hushed reverent silence. The tubing was also supposed to include a 2m jump into some more water - bit of a scary thought - but when we got there it was obvious that was a tourist measurement. Individually we climbed some steps and stood on the precipice (not quite) and threw ourselves off backwards with our rubber rings clasped tightly to our bums. No injuries and off we went, pulling ourselves through a deeper part of the river with strict instructions not to kick our legs because we would lose our boots. Lisa promptly lost one of hers. The next adrenaline rush would be a water slide down into a lower part of the river - turned out to be not much of a rush but you didn’t know that at the time. Then finally the long trek out of the cave and back up the steps into the wood - with welly boots full of water this was really tiring - lucky for Lisa she only had one boot! Luckily the cave ended where the van had dropped us so we didn’t have to confuse the cows any more and the van took us back for a warm shower and cup of soup. We both felt this was well worth the money - to see millions of glow worms sparkling like millions of bright stars was a perfect demonstration of the wonders that nature has on offer. Also Lisa felt quite brave because her only other experience of caving (Sally will remember this) had not gone quite so well - perhaps she might turn out to be an adrenaline junky - not!

On to Taupo and the bus stopped at the Huka Falls and at the Taupo Bungy jumping stop-off where we watched some total nutter throwing himself of a perfectly good platform and into the river valley - maybe Lisa won’t be an adrenaline junky after all! Taupo was an amazing sight, a nice town, much nicer than Rotorua, nestled on the banks of the beautiful Lake Taupo where the blue water glistened and framed the view of the mountains a few miles away. The hostel was a YHA and definitely gets the award for the best view so far. An outside BBQ/eating/sun deck was a great place to watch the sun slowly sink behind the mountains. Nice. A night down the local pub, an Irish bar obviously, with a few of the other backpackers, where you could get a dollar off your drinks if you beat the barman at rock, scissors, paper (Chris turned out to be a natural), finished off our day.

The following day a number of intrepid hikers had decided to undertake the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and so started at a god awful time. We had decided to take a slightly less dangerous walk today, with the intention of doing the crossing on our way back, so we headed off along New Zealand’s longest river, the Waikato, to the Huka Falls and the Aratiatia Dam. At the Dam the Waikato River descends some 300 feet forming the Aratiatia Rapids and water is released down these rapids several times each day enabling the hydro station to harness this power. It is a very popular place for visitors and when the rapids are in full flow they are impressive - they also provided a lovely backdrop for some sandwiches after the long walk. The walk ended up being an 8 hour, 22 km, hike through some lovely scenery, taking in not only the river but also scrub land, woodland, two very nice sewage plants and steep climbs. The sun came out during the morning and got lovely and hot during the day, so much so that Lisa had to resort to wearing her hat which was so nice Chris felt she should be called ‘Barney’! On the way back we stopped to soak our aching feet in the hot springs, which filter into the river. The springs were actually really hot, a bit much after we had been walking all day, but where they joined the cold Waikato River it was pure bliss - so much so that it was difficult to leave. It was a great day out after spending a lot of time on the bus, which left us both with slightly aching joints which we would feel the next day - lucky that was only a bus ride. We felt lucky we didn’t do the alpine crossing as the wind came in very bad and the majority of hikers had to turn back, so we are hoping that it will be better when we attempt to conquer the summit on our way back. A walk to the pub was a definite no-no so after a home cooked steak (about £3 for 2 large Sirloins!!) we settled down with our international friends to discuss the important events in the world today over a few bottles of very tasty and very cheap New Zealand wine. Although Chris is still unsure how the Brad/Angelina/Jennifer triangle qualifies as world news.

The next day’s trip to Wellington, which would prove a long day with relatively few stops, started off with a trip through the Tongariro National Park with a great view of Mount Ruapehu, which still explodes every few years, and a wonderful view of Mount Doom from the LOTR trilogy. Bright sunshine, grassy planes & snow capped mountains, better than the drive to County Hall!! 8 hours later and we arrived in windy Wellington, which on a quick bus tour looked to be a very nice city. After dropping our bags off we went on a very quick walk around and were pleasantly surprised, the Aucklanders were quite disparaging, but it’s actually a really nice city, good choice of shops, bars, pretty buildings and great scenery - dare we say it. An early night called as we had to set the alarm for stupid’o’clock again, to catch the inter-island ferry over to the South Island. The ferry trip itself is supposed to pass through some beautiful scenery, it was unfortunate for us that the weather seemed to have set in obscuring most of the stunning scenery on offer, although the snippets we saw certainly whetted our appetites for more.

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Photos

Fashion Victim
Don't you all think being trussed up in rubber suits her?

Glow Worms
3 days of constant sex would finish off most creatures!!

Before the drop
Feel the groups trepidation.

Huka Falls
Really don't want to fall in

Room with a View
View from the BBQ deck at the hostel. Not bad eh?

Reunited
Yep we are still both on the trip !!

River Walk
The mighty Waikato river.

Mount Doom
The LOTR backdrop provides an impressive sight.

Mount Ruapehu
Beautiful.

Comments

[Anna]

What a great Monday morning read...I'm with Tessa, you are so touching his bum! Great pics too, with more smiling, great!

[Ben Quick]

"very nice sewage plants" Did I read that right? Whatever floats your boat, guys. I'll not judge! :)