Day 7- November 9th

We left hot water beach fairly early this morning- 7.30. Me and Emma shared a double bed bunk bed which was a first, but it was actually surprisingly comfy.

The bus ride to Waitomo was 6 hours in total, but that included several stops, including one stop for a short hike at the former Karangahake gold mines. Most of the mining here occurred between the 1880s and 1950s, and during this period the area produced 60% of all gold from New Zealand.
We were supposed to be following the "Windows Walk", so called because of the "windows" in the cliff face at the end of mining tunnels, which were used to tip tailings down into the Waitawheta Gorge).

Spooky

Spot the gremlin

The walk that we did do lead through the old gold mining tunnels of the Talisman Mine, crossed the Waitawheta River over a wobbly suspension bridge, and joined  the Crown Tramway Track back along the cliffs of the Waitawheta Gorge. It was very dark, but with our trusty iPhone torches, we    managed to navigate our way through the short tunnels. As we emerged from the tunnels and walked through the undergrowth of ferns and greenery, it felt a bit like something out of tomb raider or Indiana jones, with fragments of crumbling walls dispersed amongst the foliage.

Our very own Lara Croft

  With one more stop for lunch, we arrived at the small town of Waitomo, only famous for its glow worms. This particular species of glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) is only found in New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, and everything our guide told us today about these glow worms completely shattered my beautiful, fairytale-like vision of these mysterious creatures. So number one, these glow worms are essentially maggots. They are the larvae of the arachnocampa gnat which has a luminescent larval stage. Second of all, these guys are brutal murderers. They spin long silk threads out of the silk glands in their mouth, which hang down and ensnare any poor little fly who is attracted by the cluster of tiny lights, thinking he is heading towards the night sky, filled with stars. They then reel in the poor guy, and proceed to drill a hole in the side of his head, vomit inside him, dissolve his insides then slurp them up like a slush puppy. I hope you're not eating your dinner. They are also extremely grumpy creatures and hate each other, so if one gets too close to the other, they have a fight until one chucks the other off the wall. Charming.

What you think glowworms look like

What they actually look like.

So this afternoon, Emma and I embarked on the Black Odyssey Adventure with the 'Black Rafting Co.'. We dressed up in flattering red overalls, wellies and helmets and descended into the depths of the cave. It was actually the most fun I've had in ages- we climbed, absailed and bouldered around the rock face, looking down into the dark gorge below us. We also had to wiggle into some tight spaces in the rock face, using our back, knee, shoulder or anything to pUsh off from. Obviously we were wearing harnesses, but this would still be the worst nightmare of anyone afraid of heights or claustrophobic. Our guides also talked to us about the glowworms and rock formations that we saw along the way, pointing out a delicate looking structure which appeared to have a bite out of it. Apparently, this cost some guy $10,000 for damages! We had to pay $30 for photos of our trip which we didn't fancy doing, so here's some from the website.

This trip through the darkness actually took us around 4 hours, so we arrived back at the hostel fairly late. The majority of the others had actually chosen the cave rafting experience so weren't yet back from their trip, so i had almost the whole kitchen to myself to cook up a veggie chilli sin carne which was perfect for a chilly evening. Over dinner, we met a guy whole had also gone to Durham! He also told us that he went for a run this afternoon and got chased by cows and then had to jump over a fence and through a river. Sounds like a comedy sketch. 

We've met some really nice people here so far. I'm really happy with the kiwi experience.