Hello New Zealand – and hello again WorldNomads.
I’m off on a mini-adventure to New Zealand for the month. Sadly, most of that time was spent working but it did give me weekends to play.
I probably won’t manage to get all of my trips up here but let’s get up some of the man touristy attractions that I did manage to find time for.
First up: the Waitomo caves.
These limestone caves are justly famous for the glowworms that reside inside the dark depths shining faint blue lights making it feel as if you are staring up at a night sky as you glide on by in a boat – or shoot past if you’re up for some scarily adventuresome black water rafting.
I chose the more passive route: a quick and quiet boat ride with a tour guide. GreatSights was the group I ended up booking with and it was quite an expense coming from Auckland to Waitomo and back again in a day (with no added stops): $120 NZ. Ouch. I’d say if possible plan a longer trip and go to other places (such as Rotorua, which I had already planned for the weekend after) to try and mitigate some of that expense. Or see if you can find a way to manage the expenses yourself without a group to see if you can find something cheaper.
So anyway, tour booked, I was picked up at the Auckland terminal near Sky City and we were on our way. Our group was met at one of the entrances to the cave by a staff member who took our large-ish tour group down into a lovely cathedral of stalactites and stalagmites explaining a bit about the cave’s history as we went. Making our way downward to the river as the temperature kept dropping our group was met by a boat. As many of us that could fit were crammed on and the tour guide stepped up front. Using a rope-system near the top of the cave she pulled us along slowly as we ooh’d and aww’d our way through to the other side. The caves were full of tiny little blue dots and I felt almost as if I could start charting constellations - but ones I've never seen before.
And that was it. The whole experience took a bit under an hour.
Was it worth it? Well, yeah, because it was quite neat to see the glowworms. Wound I do it again? Yes, but I’d probably look for a cheaper alternative to a tour bus or make sure to book a long trip to make the travel expenses more worthwhile.
For more information on the caves, go here: http://www.waitomo.com/waitomo-glowworm-caves.aspx
So, for now all I can say is enjoy the worms and remember to bring a sweater.
(next up: Hobbiton!)
