Day 24 - Black Water Rafting

07.12.16

Wake up at 06:45 to be ready for the glowworm visit. Unfortunately, our fridge contents are still locked in the restaurant fridge, as our car fridge does not cool enough during short drives. So we have a basic breakfast - one person even skips eating and relies on last night's beer;-)

We start at 09:00, get dressed in neoprene and receive instructions. We drive to the Ruakuri Cave by car. First, we practice jumping backwards into the water with the tube in the river. Then we go to the cave entrance. In the cave, we crawl, climb, and wade through water. At two small waterfalls (max. 1.5m), we jump into them backwards with the tube. After that, we float along a long passage on the tube and admire the thousands of glowworms on the ceiling. What a magnificent sight. After about 1.5 hours, we exit the cave and look forward to a warm shower - the first warm one in 5 days - and a hot soup (included in the offer). In the info center, we use the wifi to upload the 'Intermezzo - Driving in New Zealand' post. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the Black Water Rafting, it is 'forbidden' to take them, and it is not ideal for the camera either.

We skip another cave tour as we have already seen many glowworms and limestone formations. Therefore, we go shopping in Te Kuiti and then to the Waitomo Farmstay campsite, where we spend the night. This campsite is very special and warmly furnished...

After the gourmet ciabatta double cheeseburger, there are interesting conversations with Swedes and French speakers.

Photo of the day: Drive once (Farmall tractor)