this morning we left rotorua for waitomo. on the way, the driver stopped in arapuni so that we could take a look at a swing bridge. it kinda felt like being in "indiana jones and the temple of doom", however, i did not want to take my chances recreating the scene.

below the bridge was a hydro-electric plant

i could self-bungy but i chose not to... this time!

the only thing that's really in waitomo is the glowworm caves. once we heard there's no grocery store in waitomo, we revised our itinerary! originally i had planned 2 nights in waitomo but i've changed it to 1 night. this time i'm doing the kiwi experience schedule: in and out! this just gives me an extra day in taupo and i'm sure i could use it.

glowworm caves don't exist solely in waitomo, but it's in waitomo that several companies have set up adventurous ways to explore the caves and view the glowworms. namely, black water rafting. it's actually tubing. we went with the black water rafting company to ruakuri cave.

the water is cold so you put on a wet suit. full body. and warm shorts. and boots. and a helmet with a light. you look quite silly, actually. everyone has a good laugh. then you practice everyone sitting in a row as how you would in the caves. then you practice jumping down backwards into a stream with your ass in the tube. i got a lot of water up my nose! it was horrible. in the actual cave, we had to jump like this twice and i did much better in the cave than out.

we had no idea what we were in for!

the glowworm shine was much brighter and precise than i thought it would be. it looked like little lights. as if they were man-made and planted there. the glow did radiate a little bit around them, so there was some fuzz, or perhaps it was because i wasn't wearing my glasses. as i noted though, some of the glowworm lights were very sharp and precise. little lights. there weren't as many of them as i thought there would be. i know it wouldn't look like the brochure, but still. also, i was really surprised at how green the glowworm glow was.

what i didn't like, what was really disgusting, what i never should have learned about, was that there is this webby string that hangs from each glowworm. it's their trap to catch food. they shine their light in hopes of attracting something. the strings were just disgusting and for some reason i can't stop thinking about it. going in the cave felt a bit like being in the film "goonies" but when i remarked this point to twiddle thumbs, she said, "this is beyond goonies!" fair enough.

the water was very cold but the wetsuits helped tremendously. you just float your ass across some of the parts and walk other parts. i couldn't stand the slowness of floating your ass. at one point, towards the end, i got out of my tube and attempted to walk. foolishly i did this because one of the guides did it. i forgot how much shorter i am than the guide! i couldn't touch the bottom. i had to swim it. it's hard to swim when the water is so cold. you tire very quickly. that was a very dumb move on my part. i just hate slowness though. i can't stand it. i ended up pulling twiddle thumbs along (because she too was having difficulty with just floating along) as i swam to get out of there as quick as possible.

black water rafting is something i probably wouldn't do again (the water isn't that clean but i tried not to think about it) but i think if you have the chance to do it, you shouldn't refuse it. hell, i am here. i came all this way. i'm going to try as much as i can. especially when i can do it at a discounted price.

in taupo there is a killer deal for kiwi experiencers to do some skydiving. it's so low, i'm very tempted. i've never had the desire to sky dive. i'm not afraid of it. it just doesn't beckon me. but this price is almost too good to pass up. it doesn't include a full video of your jump. if you're gonna jump, you gotta get the video. adding the video costs so much more. but still it's much cheaper than in the rest of the country. so tempting. also, i want to do the 1 day tongariro crossing but it is very challenging on the body (17km). i want to see the things on the 1 day crossing but my body cannot handle it. i am torn.

the view from our hostel room

the hostel we're staying at tonight is the kiwi paka yha. it's pretty decent. it's weird though because you have to ask for dishes and utensils at reception. they don't keep them in the kitchen.