Te Awamutu had a few shops in the town centre near the beach. Amanda bought a top as clothes aren’t drying as fast as we thought they would! We had a little panic too because we left the fridge and phone charger plugged in whilst we looked around the shops – so the battery was drained a bit and it took two tries to get the car started again.
We made it to Waitomo (pronounced White-tor-mor) which was a small town and had many caves that you could explore – we booked a trip with ‘The Legendary Blackwater Rafting’ company to go to a cave called Ruakuri Cave. The guides were local, very experienced and told some great stories about the area to get the group engaged. The trainee instructor (student) kept saying ‘Sweet as’ which we found funny, and when we said that we were from the Lake District, he knew that there was great Mountain Biking there – everyone in the group liked the sound of gorge walking too – so you never know, we may get some new visitors! The name of the cave means ‘2 dogs’. It was given this name by a Mauri king that had 2 dogs killed at the entrance to the cave to feed himself and his warriors, before using their skin to make his ‘lucky’ cloak; he never lost a battle (pronounced ‘biddle – bit confused at the time) since wearing it. We wore wetsuits and funny boots in the caves, whilst we climbed, squeezed and tubed our way around to 65 meters below ground level.
We all turned our head torches off whilst floating in a long line through tunnels – where we saw hundreds of glow worms lighting our way above us – it was stunning! We learnt that glow worms are actually maggots which secrete a net to fish for 9 months, before turning in to flies. Their rudey-bits are a third of their body weight, and they spend 12-48 hours making sweeeeet lurve – which kills the male immediately – impressive eh?!! Looking at them up close, they are see through, shining at one end – an electric blue colour. It was a great tour doing something we won’t have the chance to do again. The warm soup and bagels after the amazing hot shower definitely got our thumbs up! Photos are on their way from an American couple and Essex couple (girl called Amanda! - rude) that we made friends with.
We all turned our head torches off whilst floating in a long line through tunnels – where we saw hundreds of glow worms lighting our way above us – it was stunning! We learnt that glow worms are actually maggots which secrete a net to fish for 9 months, before turning in to flies. Their rudey-bits are a third of their body weight, and they spend 12-48 hours making sweeeeet lurve – which kills the male immediately – impressive eh?!! Looking at them up close, they are see through, shining at one end – an electric blue colour. It was a great tour doing something we won’t have the chance to do again. The warm soup and bagels after the amazing hot shower definitely got our thumbs up! Photos are on their way from an American couple and Essex couple (girl called Amanda! - rude) that we made friends with.
We headed South East passing the Rangitoto Ranges, heading for Taupo (Toe-Poo), before long we reached Whakamaru (pronounced Faka-maru) where there was a huge Dam creating electricity from the Waikato River. We decided to find camp and stumbled across a free campsite with beautiful views over Whakamaru.
The camp was in a forest (and so lots of bugs!) and the toilet was a hole in the ground – nice!! Gav met a local couple who had been camping there for 3 weeks – the old man was only wearing a sarong, which was flapping around in the wind a little too much. They were a lovely couple all the same, and had a very cute puppy called Honey. We had our pasta and cheese, washed the pots in the river (avoided a swim because it was a bit dirty) and were both asleep in minutes again!
26th Jan
We woke early, got changed and fled to avoid getting eaten anymore by the bugs (itching like hell even now!). After a short drive we arrived at Huka falls, and decided to boost our adrenaline with a jet boat ride. After scoffing a cereal bar, before we knew it we were being sped at 50 miles an hour, inches from the cliffs and reeds, and being thrown in to a 360 degrees spin every few minutes! It was awesome!! £50 for a half hour trip was a bit extortionate so we would have preferred it to be cheaper! Our guide ‘Steve’ had a dry sense of humour and kept us entertained for the trip. The climax of the experience, was reaching Huka falls themselves – very powerful water over the fall (enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in 5 seconds!). Afterwards we went to the viewing spot above the falls and got some snaps of another group doing the same thing.....(saved us £30 anyway!!)
After a bit more driving, we reached Lake Taupo – with our first views of the lake from Acacia Bay, eventually brushing our teeth in the sink of a public loo (again!).
From here we had excellent views over the lake (felt very much at home) and watched ducks and children fishing, as well as people taking part in bungee jumps and parasailing.
The lake is 30km long and 20km wide. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Taupo looking in the shops (Amanda bought a piece of the local shell so that she can put it on a necklace, and a t-shirt that says ‘Sweet as’ on it – great NZ saying that means ‘I agree with what you’re saying). We cooked a three course meal by the lake consisting of Tuna Pasta (Yes, Gav ate tuna and enjoyed it!) Satay chicken skewers and chocolate chip cookies (posh nosh or what?!) We also saw the first van that looked the same as ours today! Didn’t catch what its name was on the side, but we did get a beep and wave – smiley faces all round!
From here we had excellent views over the lake (felt very much at home) and watched ducks and children fishing, as well as people taking part in bungee jumps and parasailing.
The lake is 30km long and 20km wide. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Taupo looking in the shops (Amanda bought a piece of the local shell so that she can put it on a necklace, and a t-shirt that says ‘Sweet as’ on it – great NZ saying that means ‘I agree with what you’re saying). We cooked a three course meal by the lake consisting of Tuna Pasta (Yes, Gav ate tuna and enjoyed it!) Satay chicken skewers and chocolate chip cookies (posh nosh or what?!) We also saw the first van that looked the same as ours today! Didn’t catch what its name was on the side, but we did get a beep and wave – smiley faces all round!
After finding wifi, we contacted Gav’s relative (second cousin once removed!!) called Jenny, to ask if we could pull up at her house that night in Rotorua (around 60 minutes away). It was handy that she was online, and told us to ‘head on up’. Not only were Jenny and Neil really friendly people, but they cooked us an amazing meal with Lamb and vegges and washed the pots! Felt spoilt!
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