Day 14 - Adventure in the Underworld

So, so... another new adventure. Today, rafting, cave and glowworms were on the program, and a few other things came up as well.

We started early in the morning to Charleston, a place on the west coast with 67 inhabitants. Later we found out that more than 10,000 people used to live there and there was even a discussion to make it the capital of New Zealand. First, we had to turn around and go back to the B&B because a certain person (namely me) forgot her swimsuit. And it had to come along, at least that's what was written on our agency's note. Even Norman's racing skills couldn't make up for the delay. We wouldn't make it by 9:00 (the starting point) and I couldn't call the organizer because there was no network for 50 km... New Zealand's lonely South Island.

But in the end, we made it and we were quickly instructed and taken to change. Wetsuit, life jacket, and all that, and then we were loaded onto a minibus where angry fellow travelers sat waiting for us. :-)

We then drove through the countryside and learned that Charleston used to be a gold mining town, so it had everything: saloons, brothels, courts, police, shops... When the gold rush was over, everything was dismantled and people moved on. The rest was destroyed in a big fire. In the pampas, a little train was waiting for us, which took us into the jungle. And it was really an impenetrable jungle. Then it was time to get off and trek through the jungle armed with a rubber tire (which was still available there) over logs and rocks. I would say we struggled for half an hour on narrow paths, a suspension bridge, and up a mountain. Then, finally, we reached the entrance to the cave. We went in the darkness and marveled at... stalagmites and stalactites - don't ask me which is which, but they were all there. We walked and climbed, stumbled through the cave. We learned a lot. We enjoyed total darkness in the middle of the cave... everyone had to turn off their headlamp and feel it. It was interesting. After about 2 hours, we were allowed to try the rubber tires and floated along a cave stream, again in complete darkness, but this time we could see the glowworms. These are little worms that live on the ceiling, spin threads down, and attract small prey with their light, which then gets stuck to the sticky threads. And then they eat it. There were 1000 glowworms on the ceiling - like the most beautiful LED ceiling, only somehow more beautiful. And we were floating underneath them on our rubber tires. Eventually, the river left the cave and we got a certain Indiana Jones feeling: river, jungle, rocks, rapids... see photos.

But in the end, we were happy to be brought back to the adventure center and to be able to take a hot shower there.

On the way home, we had pancakes at the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. And then we thoroughly explored the Pancake Rocks. Limestone that no geologist knows why it's layered like that. In any case, it looks good.

And in the evening, we took a stroll on the beach in front of our door and were more than impressed by what we saw: mussel banks, starfish, cliffs, rocks, and more...

Tomorrow is a travel day and lazy Norman can write very little again, today I could have almost written a book...