Friday 16 February 2007

Starry Starry Night (courtesy of the Maggots at Waitomo)

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. or maybe "Ooooooooooohhhhhh, Aaaaahhhhhhhh" is better. Not sure.

I took the granny tour - had my fill of wetsuits, white water and "me against the water" type of activities for a while! The granny tour was a walking tour through the caves followed by a slow boat ride in absolute darkness through the glow worm caves. It's amazing, like looking at a magical starry sky, but better. I couldn't take any pictures inside because the little maggots (yes, they call them worms, but they're maggots) die when exposed to light. Everyone was completely silent... eerily so... it was like a Disney ride the way you experienced them as a little kid, when magic was possible and Mickey was real.

Ok, enough of the schmalz. It was good, ok? Don't go black-water rafting, go take the granny tour! Hip hip hooray for grannies worldwide making the tour possible! :)

Rest of the trip went by really fast on the way to Taupo (central volcanic plateau... quoting my Lonely Planet - thanks to Arthur!)

We passed by Huka Falls - really powerful waterfall fed from a huge lake - apparently its kayakable as 3 people did while we were there, but there is no way in HELL you'd ever get me on there. You could feel the vibrations as the water crashed down. Thanks to the sledging (yes, still in shock) I have a whole new respect for large amounts of water flowing through passages carved out of rocks. Amen. :)



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