I'm a slow mover even on good mornings and needed to be across the road at 9, so I was up at half seven. It was still raining so I donned coat and dashed across to the main building to make breakfast. I sat at a large picnic table style bench to eat and was soon joined by others, including a guy named Mark from the UK (Newcastle) who is booked on the same tour as me...or so he thought...
After breakfast we headed across the road to The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company, where it transpired that instead of being booked on the Black Abyss tour, he was booked on a tour called Haggis Honking Holes, run by a different company a few Ks up the road. Mark was keen to do what he thought he'd booked, the Black Abyss, and fortunately there was still space, so he paid for it as well and the lady behind the desk cancelled his other booking (he would have to see Stephanie about getting a refund on that one). Though it was an unfortunate mix up I have a lot of sympathy for Stephanie as Mark's accent makes him saying "abyss" sound a lot more like how you or I would say "haggis" (he uses an extremely short 'a'). It was just his and Stephanie's bad luck there is actually a caving tour named after a Scottish sausage!
So with tours sorted we sat in the cafeteria to await the call to wetsuit. Before long a Polish girl, Ola, and a kiwi guy (Dunedinite!), Ant, came to fetch us and the other four assembled tour-goers. They took us out to the kit-up area where we were each furnished with a two-piece wetsuit, neoprene booties, white rubber boots, climbing harness and a helmet with a headlamp. Those with longhair were also given a balaclava (to prevent tangles in climbing equipment) and those who feel the cold had the option of taking an extra sweater to wear under their wetsuit (I took one). Whilst all of this was being handed out two Kiwi late comers joined us; they had been booked on the slightly more extreme Odyssey tour but the female party (on whom the trip had been sprung as a surprise by her partner...how awesome is that?) had failed the pre-tour test of scrambling through a int practice cave. Apparently she'd had an attack of claustrophobia that nearly saw her take off out of the complex and run down the street (a mental image of my mother and a certain MRI machine sprang to mid when she told us...). Consequently they'd opted for the apparently slightly more spacious Abyss tour.
The other four people joining us on this adventure were two American couples, one from Colorado and one from Georgia, the latter of whom are here on their honeymoon. When it came time to remove all loose items and jewellery the newlywed bride was understandably reluctant to remove her new ring (to which her husband replied, "Don't worry honey, you can keep it on if you like--it's insured"). Apparently there is already a $10,000 ring somwhere down in the cave, unintentionally donated by a previous visitor. Upon learning this the current ring bearer reluctantly removed her ring to the on-site safe and the rest of us resolved to keep our eyes peeled for anything shiny that wasn't a glow worm whilst in the cave.
Whilst everyone was getting ready Ola got us to introduce ourselves and share our fears about the upcoming adventure. Heights and confined spaces were common fears; it seems everyone is doing this to get a little bit out of their comfort zone. I'm no exception (plus it sounds like hellova good fun!) but I spiced things up a little by adding "getting injured" to the list. Apparently this is a somewhat unusual fear for people to have, so I explained the nature of my trip and how one sprained ankle could mean the end of my journey. Everyone found it amusing that I would choose to do a tour described as 'strenuous' on a 'rest day'.
Once everyone was suited up we posed for a pre-trip photo before piling into the van to get a lift out to the cave. We were a tad delayed by the fact that as we set-off a coach pulled up to drop people off, completely blocking the driveway. Happily the coach driver soon got the message and eight eager cavers were on their way.
It's a short drive out to the Ruakuri Cave entrance and the tour begins with a 35m abseil straight down into it. Happily there's a practice abseil next to the cave entrance and everyone has to have a go on this first to get used to using the rappel rack (basically this enables you to use the pressure of your thumb to control the speed of your decent, backed up by using your freehand to hold the rope around behind your bum, which acts as a secondary break...and then if all else fails you can scream and the person at the bottom can pull the rope taut which causes the rack to bring you to a sudden stop. So it seems you pretty much can't fall--good to know!).
After practice it was time for the real thing. Each person gets a final safety check before clipping onto the guard rail, approaching the abseil platform, clipping onto the rope, sitting down in their harness, swinging out over the hole in the hillside, and lowering themselves into darkness. I didn't go first as I wanted a few more goes on the practice abseil (apart from anything else it was fun leaping backwards down a low hill and bringing yourself to a sudden stop). It was a different story once I was on the actual rope though. It was still fun, but the descent is dead vertical down the cave wall, so unlike the hillside no weight is taken by your legs. I was astonished at how quickly my arms tired (I blame the nerves!) and though I tried to do a smooth descent I had to stop twice for a few seconds just to let my arms rest and untense. About a third of the way down the hole narrows up a lot, and it's a bit of a wriggle to get down and into the free descent through wider cave below. Once at the bottom you unclip and sit to one side in the darkness, watching and waiting for everyone else to come down through the tiny window of light in the ceiling. A few tiny pin pricks of faintly blue-white light could already be seen on the cave walls, but much more wee to come.
Once everyone was down Ola went ahead and Ant the rest of us on into the cave, stoping to point out some fossils in the limestone on the way (a nice sand dollar plus some pecten/scallop shells were the obvious ones). Not far in there's another drop down, this time to be done via zip line. By this time I was tail-end-Charlie (yes, I stopped to look at the fossils!) and so was last to get clipped onto the pulley, sit in my harness, on one count of three let out over the edge, and on another count of three let go and sent hurtling down through the darkness past a wall of glittering blue-white glow worms...to be caught a few seconds later by Ola at the other end. You have to jump up and down a bit in order to be able to disengage from the zip line; this feels a bit like getting a wedgy whilst bouncing on a trampoline.
Once we'd all zipped into the cave we all sat on the edge of the rocky platform we'd landed on, dangling out feet over the river below while Ola and Ant handed out cups of hot chocolate and pieces of sweet slice. I guessed this meant the next bit was about to be wet and cold. I guessed right. After collecting an inner tube you jump off the rock legs into the river. It's less than a 2m drop but I actually found it one of the scariest moments of the trip as I didn't quite trust myself to be able to hold the inner tube under my bum and land butt first in the water without painfully back-flopping (or smacking my head on the rock ledge...I'm more used to the knees up 'bomb' style of jumping in). But after a moment's hesitation I jumped and landed squarely (roundly?) in the water, plunging under for a moment, before popping up and floating off, butt firmly wedged into the inner tube. It wasn't as cold as I had feared (it didn't feel as cold as I remembered Lake Roseberry being when swimming in that). Ant was surprised...apparently I'm the first person to say the water wasn't as cold a expected! Apparently the hot chocolate was doing the trick.
So off we floated, down the slow moving river, hauling ourselves along the guide rope, having fun bouncing off the wall of the cave (and occasionally one another) and passing underneath the glow worm-glittered ceiling. At the far end we all stopped and linked up into a chain of feet-to-shoulders, heads resting on each other's inner tube or knees. Ant first slapped his inner tube on the water a couple of times (apparently the vibrations from loud noises stimulates the glow worms to glow brighter--they think it's a nearby moth), then he towed us gently back along the river while we stared up at the even brighter glow worm-studded ceiling in silence. It was magic, like drifting through the universe...
Back at our entry point we tossed our inner tubes back up to Ola before setting off on foot, wading through a series of caverns; I chose to float most of the way--you can't fall over if you're already floating, and in a wetsuit you bob like a cork anyway so you can float in even very shallow water (plus you can travel a lot faster than by doing the 'drunken stumble' across the uneven floor of the cave). Part of the way through we stopped for another hot drink break and a piece of chocolate. We then posed with our headlamps and multi-coloured cups, attempting to write "sweet as!" And capture it with long exposure on the camera...unfortunately most I us didn't write fast enough. On through a very narrow bit where everyone had to float-crawl, we then arrived at the first of two waterfalls...Cue the scariest part of the trip for me: rock climbing a couple of meters up and around several cubic meters of water using hand and footholds that look way to small to support my weight. But Ola and Ant were pros and they knew exactly where we needed to put our feet and hands (and in what sequence) in order to get up first one and then another waterfall. I couldn't have done it without their help. You don't have too--you can opt for walking out via a different route--but is ner forgive myself I'd I didn't at least try even with my jelly legs. So I did, and right the critical and scariest moment Ant gave me a huge shove and I was all but up, and just he's to scramble over the lip of the falls. It was fun, scary as all hell for about twenty seconds, but fun.
Once passed the falls it was a short walk up and out through a small hole into daylight, where a small steam filled a shallow pool before spilling off down uni the cave. We took one last group photo before setting off along the short path back to the carpark near the cave entrance. It was a slight climb and I was stoked I find I wasn't puffing as much as some of the others; apparently I have got fitter on this trip!
A short, soggy trip back to base (and a toilet, thank goodness!) and we were able to shower and get changed into warm dry clothes. It was a relief to take the rubber boots off; while reunify one foot very well (the next size up had been too loose) my other foot had had a squished toe all trip, not that I really noticed during the adventure, but it was nice to take the boots off none the less. We dunked all out gear in a bathrube of disinfectant (after telling us all trip not to pee in our wetsuits Ant now said it was ok if we had and that it happens occasionally...eww) then left it for them to hang up again.
I skipped the shower as I can have one at the hostel and put on fresh clothes afterward. Consequently I was one of the first to arrive at the cafe for the complimentary post-trip cup of soup and bagel. Before long everyone else had assembled and we sat and watched the photos of the trip playing on the TVs over our heads; you can't take cameras into the cave but Ant had been taking pictures of us all along the way. It's $30 to get a USB stick with all the trip photos on so Mark and I went halves and I gave him my details so he can send me digital copies of them when he gets home.
Adventure over, we thanked Ant and Ola very much before they headed off to guide another group through the caves and the rest of us went off to do whatever it was we had planned for the rest of the afternoon. For me that turned out to be hanging out at the backpackers chatting to other travellers, including a Scottish girl named Sam who is also walking TA. She's had a week off in Waitomo and may or may not be setting off for Te Kuiti tomorrow. She very kindly lent me her shampoo bottle when I went to have a shower...ah! Clean hair! Also, clean clothes! It turns out that while I was caving Stephanie washed and dried my laundry for me. Feeling pampered! (Not sure how my merinos will have coped in a drier but they look ok...).
As well as Sam and Stephanie the afternoon chat group consisted of a guy named Adam (loud, young American, car-camping around NZ), Kevin (reserved, older Yorkshireman, cycling down one side of the country then back up the other), and Thierry (trail name: Billy the Tramp), a Frenchman doing TA who is laying down impressive kms per day by starting early, finishing late and moving fast. He's a chatty guy and the two of decided to both head to Rosalind's for dinner; it's a country house B&B/tourist centre that does a $10 all-you-can-eat buffet. They have a courtesy pick-up and drop off device into Waitomo but were busy at 6 so Stephanie kindly gave us a lift.
Billy and I walked in to find fillet steaks sizzling on a BBQ...apparently there's also the steak buffet option for $36 (you only get one steak but also a wider buffet selection that is AYCE). We both caved and went for the steak. It was worth it.
With plate piled high with steak, six different kinds of salad and the best crispy roast potatoes I've possibly ever tasted, we went and sat by the window to eat, looking out over the picturesque green valley below. It turns out Billy is a web developer with a lot of Japanese clients so he was very keen to hear about my plans to go and teach english there for a year, and also my thoughts on the pros and cons of Japanese culture. He also kindly shouted me a drink (I opted for ginger beer). We were soon joined by Fabrice and Jose, two Melbournian mates of Mauritian and Philippino extraction who are travelling NZ together for two weeks. Shortly thereafter Mark also showed up. They all showed economic constraint and went for the $10 buffet option. It was a merry meal. Fabrice especially was intrigued by the TA and asked Billy and I lots of questions. He's definitely the adventurous one of the Australiand pair; Jose is more inclined to sit and take in a beautiful view. Happily they're both finding what they're after here in NZ. I'm always pleased to hear when tourists love it here!
After dinner, Fabrice and Jose gave Billy and I a lift back to Juno Hall (Mark headed off to another backpackers in town; he'd planned to go to Raglan but accommodation there was booked out tonight, and unfortunately, so was Juno Hall).
Back at the hostel I sat to do some blogging. Billy was intrigued and started reading. He was understandably daunted by the sheer volume of words initially, but I was astonished when he went on to read first one blog entry...and then another. Apparently there is something in here to entertain even fellow hikers. Ron told me back when I was staying with him that he liked the detail I put into my blog as it meant he couldnt' travel along beside me on a trip that back when he was my age he might have liked to have done (but thru-hikes weren't really around then. Ever since he said that I've felt obligated to write in detail, so though I know my blog entries are getting too long--blame Ron!). Now Billy said he liked my entries because as a fellow hiker they described experiences that he could relate to, but that it was also interesting to see what different experiences other hikers have had along the same sections of trail. Here's to you Billy and Ron, I shall keep writing (though not for this entry...apart from saying "eventually I headed off to bed", this entry is done!).
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