3.1.20 Ruakuri Caves and heading north

Thick dark clouds hang over my paradise as I shower at 7am. It's not particularly cozy, so I have breakfast in the camper instead of outside. I am amused by a notice that instructs visitors to the shower/toilet hut on the correct use of the toilet and warns that the world will go down the drain if not flushed properly :-D.

Washing up, folding down the bed, packing everything away, and at 8.50am I leave Opal Hot Springs and drive 106km to the west/southwest. The navigation system estimates 90 minutes for the journey. The drive takes me through fields, often planted with corn, which can also be bought at roadside stands. Usually 3 cobs for 5 dollars. It starts raining, the wind blows the camper back and forth, and I grip the steering wheel.

But eventually the sun comes out, although the wind remains mean. I stop at one of the big fruit shops, Big Azz (!), where I get a box of strawberries for 3.99 NZD, which is 50 cents cheaper than usual in the supermarket. But they are from yesterday. A kilo of cherries costs 17.99 NZD... Fruits like strawberries, grapes, and cherries are always packaged in plastic. Not good for the environment, but it has the advantage that the products can be sold for longer.

I treat myself to a towering real fruit ice cream with blueberries, a New Zealand specialty that comes from a machine and is made from ice cream, usually vanilla, combined with frozen fresh fruits. It is incredibly delicious and I can hardly resist it.

Next to it, there are Kiwi fruits growing in a wide area. 20 minutes later, I arrive at the Ruakuri Cave, which is 5km behind the completely hyped Waitomo glowworm cave. Waitomo is the whole region here and offers many caves. Even on my fourth trip to New Zealand, I avoid the hustle and bustle of Waitomo, where today there are about 15 tour buses in front of the visitor center, not to mention the parking lot with cars and campers. Ruakuri seems more my thing. I'm very lucky that 30 minutes after I arrive, there is still exactly 1 spot available for a tour, as the maximum group size is limited to 18 people.

The price of 79 dollars makes me momentarily breathless, but that's how it is: I want to see it and there is no other way. In groups of a maximum of 18 people plus a guide, we walk for 1.5 hours through this cave system. For the first time in 3 weeks, I am wearing my hiking shoes and long pants (jogging pants), because the cave is not only damp but also colder than you might think, at 10-14°C. People in shorts and flip flops may look cooler, but they quickly start shivering.

First, we spirally descend and then walk through a passage into the cave system, which is approximately 30 million years old. Bright stalactites and stalagmites surround us as we carefully walk with our guide in semi-darkness. When she explains something, lights are briefly turned on and then we continue in semi-darkness to darkness.

Photography is allowed here, mostly without flash, which probably resulted in a lot of blurry pictures. Glowworms can be seen on the walls and ceiling of the cave by the thousands. They are not glowworms as we know them, which are beetles, but rather larvae that, to attract insects, let's say it dramatically, shine like the sun. When insects fly towards the light, they get caught in sticky threads that hang down below the light spots, serving as insect traps.

After being nourished, these somewhat eerie creatures pupate, new larvae are born, and the cycle begins anew after 9 months. The caves were discovered about 200 years ago and have been open for commercial visits since 1904. 80% of the cave is privately owned, as a New Zealand law states that your property includes the sky above it and everything below. The old entrance to the cave was used as a burial site for several Maori chiefs for a long time before the colonial exploitation for tourism, and is therefore tapu (sacred). Until the 1980s, this did not prevent the 'white' people from trampling thousands there over a period of 8 decades. Only the owner of the land of most of the cave decided on a different entrance for visitors, and in the early 2000s, these paths/walkways were opened here and the old entrance is now under the management of the DOC and cannot be entered.

Underneath our walkways, there is sometimes a watercourse where you can go rafting. However, not on rafts, but in large inflatable rubber tires. The 3-hour fun costs 159 dollars. We see some of the groups and as their exit from the cave is at the Ruakuri Bushwalk, I see the heroes shortly afterwards again in dry conditions. This cave is advertised as wheelchair accessible and suitable for all fitness levels. If you are using a wheelchair to get around here, you will almost certainly need someone to push or brake the wheelchair. Even the spiral ramp at the beginning going downhill and at the end going uphill would only be manageable for the fittest wheelchair users under the sun... For normal walkers, it's pretty straight paths. The smaller you are, the better. Headache Rock is called that for a reason 🤣

After the cave tour, I walk the Bushwalk. It's a circular trail, but unfortunately part of it is closed due to a landslide. Some stairs, a suspension bridge, through a small cave - and you're almost at eye level with the treetops of this beautiful 'primeval forest'.

It's half past two when I get in my car somewhat aimlessly. I still want to explore the North for the next 8 days. Since there are few campgrounds in this area that are on my route, and despite careful consideration, I don't want to go to Kawhia or Raglan again, maybe today I'll try to get as close to Auckland as possible.

Said and done. Unfortunately, my navigation system sends me on a curvy side road, SH31, as always single lane in each direction, and it's storming like crazy. Driving is really exhausting because in addition to the gusts that sway the tall camper, the testosterone-driven idiots start hunting the camper. Therefore, after about 60km on this road, I leave it and drive straight east, where I meet the well-developed SH1 below Hamilton, which is mostly two lanes and leads north. I have peace on the left lane, so I decide not to stay in Huntly, but to drive further. At 4.30pm - 2 hours after departure - I sit 125km away from Ruakuri in the sun, enjoying coffee and strawberries. The campground in Ramarama is almost empty. Maybe because here you have to pay 30 dollars 🙄. Doesn't matter. Tomorrow I have less distance to cover and maybe a chance to find a spot on the beach by arriving early. For dinner, I have leftovers from yesterday. The wind is so cold that I can't sit outside and eat. I chase the sun, but when that is no longer possible because a tree casts a big shadow, I retreat. At 7pm, I'm in the camper after my chair was blown away several times, and reading or studying maps in the wind is impossible. More wind is predicted for tomorrow.