Waitomo Caves
Trip Start
Oct 02, 2005
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63
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Trip End
Sep 28, 2006
Waitomo, New Zealand
Friday, July 7, 2006
Thinking back to this, I can only really remember one thing; it was fuggin freezing.
We got suited up and walked down into these underground caves. The area around Waitomo has a vast network of caves displaying stalactites, stalagmites and glow-worms, as well as the occasional cave weta, one of the largest insects in the world. Fortunately I didn't see a cave weta, as I would have almost certainly shit myself. Here's a photo of one: http://weta.boarsnest.net/gallery.htm
So we're half a kilometre underground, in the pitch black, in FREEZING cold water floating along and watching the cave roof alight with glow worms. It was like looking up at the stars on a perfectly clear night. Quite amazing. Just a shame I couldn't feel my hands after the first 2 minutes. These caves are actually quite scary, very cramped, rough walls scraping you as you float past on your rubber ring, hearing a waterfall appraoching but having no idea where or when you're suddenly going to fall off the edge...
Unfortunately I've no photos of this remarkable experience as Sarah has the DVD I bought. :-(
