Day 6: Cave of Glow worms...Another early start as we headed off to "Waitomo caves" about a 3 hour drive from Auckland. By the time we arrived I needed to visit the "Ladies" so with some difficulty I made my way into the restrooms only to find the doorways a lil too narrow to allow the chair in..hmmmmm another 5 hours or so before we would be home..I doubted I could make it that long! Chris spoke to the people at the caves and they came up with a solution ...one that left me feeling mortified! They cleared out the "gents" and locked the door behind me ....gee 32 years old and finally getting to see the inside of the gents loo's...what a thrill! Anyway to cut a long story short I managed a lil better in there....somewhat distracted and humiliated by the frequent pounding on the door by desperate male travellers who needed to use the facilities! Leaving the "gents" was embarressing to say the least..trundling passed a line of men all staring in amazement..thank heavens none of them will ever see me again! Anyway...by now the tour was ready to depart..yep they had held back the whole group waiting for me..another reason to feel a little uncomfortable..anyway! The caves were an amazing sight..the limestone formations were breathtaking..stalagtites and stalacmites (spelling?)formed the most amazing "sculptures"...like pipe organs and theatre masks, animals and people..you know how you can "see" shapes in clouds well it was the same in the caves..you could see all sorts of things if you looked hard enough. Getting me thru all this was quite a task..there were steps and all sorts for Chris to contend with so I couldnt complete the tour. But I think it was the final stage that I enjoyed the most..the actual cave of glow worms. After getting down a flight of very steep narrow stairs (that scared the living daylights outta me!) we boarded a boat in the "grotto" we were all told to be silent and still as the boat moved thru the cave of glow worms. The rocking of the boat as people boarded felt a lil weird but once we set off it was an amazing sensation I am not sure if I can describe it. The cave was pitch black, I couldn't even see myself (heheh a good thing becauseI think I must have looked a mess by that stage!) the tour guide pulled the boat along on an overhead rope and we glided soundlessly into the depths of the grotto. There was no sensation of movement at all, it was like seeing the heavens slip passed within hands reach as the millions of tiny glow worms shone all around like stars. It was like floating thru space, thru many galaxies..a truely unforgettable experience. The drive home wasn't as nice, we were hot and tired and 3 hours in the car was a bit much for all of us. Mind you it served a purpose..I told Chris that being in my chair all day every day is like taking a 16 hour journey everyday for months. We arrived home hot and tired but felt good after seeing the wonders of the caves.
Today: Who knows.....I think its another trip to the shops...oh boy am I dreading that! So far the dragon and I have agreed to disagree without too many sparks flying...her stay isn't long enough to make a big issue out of things. However I did resent being told I was a burden on Chris..hell I know that already I dont need to be reminded.