Caving In

Do I look ever so slightly exhausted in this snap? It's because I really really am! Our caving adventure in the Waitomo Caves completely and utterly exhausted me. Kevin and I could barely lift our arms for days. But with 3 hrs underground, looking at amazing formations and even more amazing glowworms, it was so well worth it.

What are glowworms? Here is a picture of the glowworms in some daylight with these little strings coming out of them, kind of like their "fishing rods" and the means of catching food. Glowworms, despite their name, are actually algae that glow in the dark...the brighter they shine, the hungrier they are! In the dark, the glowworms actually look like those glow-in-the-dark stars we used to put on our ceilings. Very difficult to get pictures of so we don't have any of them in the dark.



To start with, we learned to abseil because we had to get down the cave somehow! First we trained on a grassy hill, and then down we went 30 meters down a tiny little dark cave hole. I discovered that I'm an abseiling pro (who knew), while Kevin's hands are full of blisters and burns.







When we did get into the cave, I discovered my abseiling prowess would soon be overshadowed by my terrible caving. I just couldn't lift those heavy, water-logged wellies up the cliffs to see all the cool stalagmites and stalagtites. I also seemed to have an equally hard time maneuvering those inner tubes through the freezing cold water.







Finally, to get out of the cave we actually had to climb some waterfalls. It was nice to see daylight again!



I think we were all pretty knackered but exhilarated by the experience.