| This is Barbie, the horse that Erin rode. The views of Lake Taupo and the countryside were spectacular!!!. |
| Glenn's Journal 01-17-03 & 01-18-03 New Zealand This morning we were up as usual around 8:00 am and prepared for the day. The day was sunny and would be pretty warm by this afternoon. Today we would call to check on horseback ridng for this morning then drive over to Waitomo where we had reserved a double room for the next two nights. Erin called the horseriding place and confirmed a two hour ride for 10:00 am. She was pretty happy so we finished breakfast, packed, and were checked out by 9:45 am. We arrived at Moehiwa Horse Ventures at 10:00 am where we met Noeline (one of the owners). She took us over to the horse stalls where they would ask about our horse riding experience and decide which set of horses would be best for the ride. Erin has some horse riding experience from when she was a kid but all of my experience as been while I was on holiday somewhere (like with my sister in Hawaii). Another couple from Denmark arrived but only Johanna was going to ride as Andreas was going to wait for Johanna to return. Noeline, along with some help from Willie (another owner) and Karen helped get us situated on the right horse. Erin finally ended up on Barbie while I rode Ziggy. Ziggy was good for me as we both wanted a casual ride today while Johanna and Erin wanted a little more cantering and trotting. Willie led the way while Karen and Sam (hired hand) rode with the three of us. The ride lasted 2 hours as we rode over a small section of the possible 2500 acres. The views back towards Lake Taupo and the three volcanoes was spectacular. The ride completed at 1:00 pm as Erin and I thanked our guides and headed out. After the horse ride we returned to Taupo to buy a few things before taking off to Waitomo. We drove for better than an hour before we found a rest stop along the highway where we stopped for lunch and a chance to read our books and overall take a break. The rest stop was along a lake and surrounded by the many mountains and hills of New Zealand. We parked under a huge shade tree while enjoying the view. We finally hit the road again around 3:30 pm and arrived into Waitomo around 5:45 pm, but only after we had stopped at the grocery store in Te Kuiti before ending up in Waitomo. (Waitomo has a population of 250 "on a good day" as the guide book says.) The rest of the evening was spent enjoying another homecooked meal by Erin then I read my book while Erin worked on journals. The bar just down the road had a live band which we listened to from our room without any problem. They were actually pretty good. Tomorrow we re going Black Water rafting / abseiling. We can't wait!!! 01-18-03 New Zealand We, at least I am, excited about the fact that we are both going Black Water rafting today. Everyone at home has heard about White Water rafting but what is Black Water Rafting? Black Water rafting is rafting on underground rivers. Erin had signed up for the basic rafting tour with optional jumps off of waterfalls while I signed up for abseiling / hiking through the caves. Erin's trip included hiking into the caves and then using innertubes to ride the rapids. I would abseil three times, including the first one from 22 meters and the other two over waterfalls, and hike, crawl, and climb our way through the caves for two hours. Erin's tour started at 11:00 am while mine started at 11:15 am. Waitomo Adventures was only a short walk from the Kiwi Paka hostel where were staying. Erin took off and I hoped that she would enjoy her day. Erin was not as interested and excited as I was about rafting as she is not the fondest of fast moving white water. I joined eight other folks for the abseiling trip and we left around 11:30 am. After spending the first hour driving to a barn house to get into our gear and take a lesson on abseiling before entering the cave. Rachel and Rusty were our guides and had us prepared and ready by 12:30 pm. We parked on the hill above the cave that we would enter. Within the first few minutes we were taking our first abseil of 22 meters to get into the cave. The first abseil was the chance to become comfortable with the technique. We hiked for a few more minutes before coming across our next two abseiling points which were guaranteed to get you wet. The first waterfall was 8 meters and by the time you found the bottom you were getting sprayed by the waterfall and sitting in the water at the bottom. Then you climb through a small hole at the bottom of the waterfall to get to the next waterfall. By the time you have completed this section of the trip you are plenty wet. Later in our hike there are sections that you have to climb on your belly through the water to get through some of the cave. We were also presented with information about the development of the caves and the gloworms throughout. We spent the rest of the time rock climbing, ladder climbing and hiking back to our entrance point. It is one of those adventures that once you get started, and become comfortable, you are in no hurry to have the adventure end. The two hours seemed to go by pretty fast. We returned to the barn where we changed back into our clothes, after drying off, and returned back to the main office. The whole trip took 4 hours and was thouroughly enjoyed by all. As we were driving in I saw Erin walking back to the hostel so as I arrived I headed back that way myself. I found Erin in the room and we shared our stories about our day. It sounded like Erin enjoyed herself. I would have to ask if she would do it again but I think so. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the very quiet hostel while reading our books and soaking up the sun and the view. After dinner we watched a movie together before returning to our room around 10:30 pm. We read for a while before we called it a night. |
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| Some of the countryside, even though this was taken from Mt. Te Mata in Hastings just south of Napier. |