These pictures were taken in and around Waitomo on February 26, 2005.
Prior
to going to the Waitomo caves, we took a half-hour hike through one of
the nearby trails. They run in a four-hour marked stretch but we only
had time for this short section.
Further
along the nature trail :) It was very sunny and green. Most of my
pictures didn't turn out that well because there was too much glare :)
And
again on the nature trail :)
This
is the place we went to for our caving thing. Under all of these hills
is a vast network of 'glow-worm' caves. The glow worms are basically
larval maggots who phosphoresce and produce a glow that makes it look
like there are stars on the ceiling.
Another
view of the hills beneath which are the caves :)
Here's me in the cave. We did the "Tumu Tubing" trip which was about
three hours. It was a lot of hiking through various passages, and
although we had to watch our step and be fairly agile, there were no
terribly cramped parts. We also got to do a bit of 'blackwater
rafting' aka 'inner tubing in a cave' that proved to be anti-climactic.
It was just for two short stretches, the water was quite cold, and I was
so focused on moving my hands along the rope to pull myself through that
I did not really notice much else. Also, the hat kept falling in my eyes
:)
Prior
to going to the Waitomo caves, we took a half-hour hike through one of
the nearby trails. They run in a four-hour marked stretch but we only
had time for this short section.
Further
along the nature trail :) It was very sunny and green. Most of my
pictures didn't turn out that well because there was too much glare :)
And
again on the nature trail :)
This
is the place we went to for our caving thing. Under all of these hills
is a vast network of 'glow-worm' caves. The glow worms are basically
larval maggots who phosphoresce and produce a glow that makes it look
like there are stars on the ceiling.
Another
view of the hills beneath which are the caves :)
Here's me in the cave. We did the "Tumu Tubing" trip which was about
three hours. It was a lot of hiking through various passages, and
although we had to watch our step and be fairly agile, there were no
terribly cramped parts. We also got to do a bit of 'blackwater
rafting' aka 'inner tubing in a cave' that proved to be anti-climactic.
It was just for two short stretches, the water was quite cold, and I was
so focused on moving my hands along the rope to pull myself through that
I did not really notice much else. Also, the hat kept falling in my eyes
:)