Days 23-24: Blackwater tubing
We went on a “blackwater rafting” trip through a glow worm cave in Waitomo. Blackwater rafting is riding an inner tube through a cave. We lucked out and it was just the two of us and the guide, so we got to do a lot of extra caving activities.
We did ride in tubes some of the time, but most of it was caving – crawling through small spaces, sliding down holes, swimming through deep water, and ducking underwater into air pockets. The guide gave us time to explore on our own, even though that meant finding a few dead ends. There were tons of glow worms; they looked like the night sky and we could even see with the headlamps turned off. But the best part was seeing the glow worms close up – their sticky tendrills dangling down ready to paralyze and reel up anything that flies into their threads. We also saw things that Kelly’s nightmares are made of – dinner plate sized crickets called wetas that look like enormous spiders.
There were no pictures allowed on the rafting. So enjoy this pleasant scene of some deer grazing – as seen all over NZ.
But if we zoom out a bit…. Ug.
After a glass or two of fine NZ Reisling, Marcus was having fun. (Note the steel cup. Classy!)
We went snorkelling at the Goat Island marine reserve. The birds and fish seemed to know no predators since they came very close. Our favorites were the Goat fish and the Blue Maomao. We hired some snorkel gear and the fake ID didn’t get a second glance.
My man MCR’s got a beard like a billy goat. Goat Island and surroundings.
Tags: New Zealand
Kelly & Marcus
April 5th, 2005 at 7:49 am
Marcus:
You don’t drink Riesling with farm raised deer…didn’t they teach you anything in Marlborough???
JR