Waitomo Caves

Monday Dec 12, 2012 we left the Bay of Islands around 7:00 AM to head south, just a bit past Auckland. We checked into our hotel and then headed to CaveWorld at Waitomo Caves. We went along with a guide and one other guest on a black water tubing trip. Once checked in, we went to a dressing area where we received our gear. We wore a super thick wet suit that fit like overalls, along with a zip up wet suit jacket, booties, boots, and a lighted helmet. We boarded a van and drove about 2 miles to the cave. We picked tubes and entered the cave. We walked a bit through the caves as our guide explained the overhead glowworms and cave structure. There is an insect that lives in the caves that glows bright blue. When you look up into the dark cave roof, it looks like a million stars as the little glowworms shine bright. Then we hit the chilly water in our tubes. We floated along as our guide continued to share facts and point out interesting aspects of the cave system. There was a small waterfall that we jumped off and a slide at the end of the stream. It was a really nice tour with just four of us. The guide was quite fun and knowledgable. We had a great time, but were happy for hot showers afterward.