New Zealand - Cave Rafting

The photos are not ours - the reason will rapidly become apparent.

The experience raises two essential questions:

1)  Why are Liz and Dick wading around in the dark in a freezing cold river 300 feet underground in the middle of New Zealand?

2)  More importantly, why are Liz and Dick staying at a Dickensian version of Fawlty Towers without even the comic relief of John Cleeves......humour is not on the agenda at the Waitomo Caves Hotel.

We like caves - France, Galapagos, Easter Island,  Central NZ is a swiss cheese of caves (300+) - rivers disappear down sink holes only to pop up miles away.  We had to try.

The process is simple......everybody puts on a wet suit, rubber boots and a miner's helmet with a light, and grabs a large inner tube.  Dickie is clearly the grandfather of the group and Liz is one of only 2 females

We practice forming a chain on land so we can raft downstream together.

Then we practice jumping backwards 6 feet into the water in daylight, so we'll be able to do a similar move over the 2 waterfalls we'll encounter underground

 

Why we are not carrying a camera becomes self evident.

We learn that underground "rafting" is a misnomer.  We stagger, lurch, dog paddle and occasionally even raft for 1.5 kilometres underground.  We discover that helmets do work and that we would not have been happy coal miners.

We had a terrific time.  The ceilings of the caves (they're not really caves, more like large culverts) are hung with glowworms - strange insects with an even stranger ecology.  They live their whole life cycle in the cave in darkness.  During the larva stage they hang from the ceiling and emit a glow (same chemistry as fireflies).  Insects swept into the cave are trapped by sticky tendrils hanging down from the larva.  The net result is that as you crawl, stumble, wade and even sometimes raft, you stare up at a ceiling filled with organic stars.

It was exhausting and satisfying.

About the Waitomo Caves Hotel.   Town was booked up.  Hotel looked great from the outside....probably once was.  A room that even Oliver Twist would have found depressing.  Staff for whom the notion of customer service was unexplored territory.  Entertainment was excellence, however, as a cavalcade if guests assaulted the uncaring front desk person (the totally negligent Fiona) when they discovered that their incredibly expensive rooms did  not vaguely resemble the brochure.

We sipped scotch and smiled, went downtown for a pizza and returned to our cell before Nurse Ratchett could punish us.  Left very early the next morning.

Comments

[Thora]

Cave rafting ! ! ! Talk about panic attacks. I get shivers just looking at the pic's. You two are true adventurers! Way to go.

[David Deland]

Oh, the photos are blurred, but it is nice of you to share pics of your experience. Good thing all of you were game enough to jump in along with everyone else. It seems you had a great time in that cave, armed to the teeth with the right gear! Weeeew!