Ron Laughlin The Ultimate New Zealand Travel Guide
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Trail of Discovery and Adventure!
by Ron Laughlin - the Guru of New Zealand Travel
by Ron Laughlin - the Guru of New Zealand Travel
Day 3 - Caving in the Waitomo Caves
So we said goodbye to the good folks at Jucy Hotel and headed south on route one then route 3 for a couple of hours to pass by the town of Otorohanga. Origin Coffee is there and one of the best at the old train station and also the Kiwi House
a top place to see a real kiwi.
A well marked turnoff to the right and you are in the world of caving............
Rachel was booked at 9am so we had got up early and were just going to make it to the Black Water Cave river run where they gear everyone up along with you own inner tube and then jump into the river that runs through the caves. This is a two hour trip.
Then in the afternoon she had chosen the big one the Odyssey trip that for four hours you climb, crawel and abseil through the cave sustem.
Not for the light hearted. Even though she had no experience she had no difficulty.
I had booked us in at the Waitomo Top Ten Holiday Park located right there so went down to check in but it was too early. i then decided it may be time for a giant breakfast and went back to the cafe at Blackwater and had just that a giant bresakfast.
Then I took a tour of the region to see what had changed if anything since my last visit a couple of months ago.........
Had a yarn with a couple of the locals, visited a few places such as Billy Black's and by the time Rachel came up from the underground river I met her..........very delighted with the trip.
So we headed back to the park and checked in. it was but a short time her second caving adventure was about to begin and away we went. She got geared up and I went to get some blogging done and sort out some of these photos to post. Getting behind already..............
Still have some photos taken in the caves to arrive................
but here is what I have now:
a top place to see a real kiwi.
A well marked turnoff to the right and you are in the world of caving............
Rachel was booked at 9am so we had got up early and were just going to make it to the Black Water Cave river run where they gear everyone up along with you own inner tube and then jump into the river that runs through the caves. This is a two hour trip.
Then in the afternoon she had chosen the big one the Odyssey trip that for four hours you climb, crawel and abseil through the cave sustem.
Not for the light hearted. Even though she had no experience she had no difficulty.
I had booked us in at the Waitomo Top Ten Holiday Park located right there so went down to check in but it was too early. i then decided it may be time for a giant breakfast and went back to the cafe at Blackwater and had just that a giant bresakfast.
Then I took a tour of the region to see what had changed if anything since my last visit a couple of months ago.........
Had a yarn with a couple of the locals, visited a few places such as Billy Black's and by the time Rachel came up from the underground river I met her..........very delighted with the trip.
So we headed back to the park and checked in. it was but a short time her second caving adventure was about to begin and away we went. She got geared up and I went to get some blogging done and sort out some of these photos to post. Getting behind already..............
Still have some photos taken in the caves to arrive................
but here is what I have now:
and so not the worse for wear and having thoroughly enjoyed a very special once-in -a-lifetime experience our gal from Virginia Beach spent a large part of her day in the world of caves hobnobbing with glow worms...............and truly loved it!
Tomorrow we had east to Turangi to whitewater raft the Tongariro River..............
Tomorrow we had east to Turangi to whitewater raft the Tongariro River..............
Waitomo Caves Main Entrance
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