Up early to watch the sunrise while waiting for my shuttle bus. Got to Waitomo and the group I'm going caving with is waiting so it was immediately into another van to go out to the cave. Got suited up (farmer john wetsuit, helmet with light, gum boots, and a climbing harness) and walked down to the cave. Somehow I ended up in the front of the line so when it came time to abseil (rappel) down the 100 feet to the cave entrance I had to go first. As always it's just that first step (off the platform) that was scary the rest was fun - I've never done a completely free descent like that (at least not that far). At the bottom it was excellent. I was in a narrow canyon with walls a hundred feet up. There was a stream down the middle which disappeared into caves in each direction. The walls of the canyon were covered with ferns and there were trees overshadowing the narrow fissure, so the light was very green and alive. I savored the ten minutes that I had it to myself.
Just inside the downstream cave we picked up inner-tubes then turned on our lights and headed up stream. The water was very cold and I was really starting to worry about my upper body being exposed! After walking ten minutes we stopped and turned out our lights - suddenly we were outside on a very clear night. It sounds corny, but that's what the glow worms looked like - a desert night sky - all unfamiliar constellations of course. After gazing in wonder for a few minutes we got in our tubes and floated down the stream. The current was very slow so the illusion of being outside was pretty well preserved.
Back at the starting point we continued down stream alternating between floating and walking (the water level was low and in some places the cave wasn't wide enough to accommodate the tubes). Most of the journey was done without light under the faux-stars. There was also a small waterfall (3-4 feet) to jump off. It was cold, but not intolerably so. About a mile into the downstream cave we stopped and had a hot drink (my fingers were so numb I held the cup for a minute before I could feel any warmth). Then we hiked back up the stream with our lights on taking our time to explore the cave formations that had been hidden on the way down.
Back at the bottom of the canyon I realized there was no easy way out. When everyone else had caught up we were told that we had to climb out. One by one we roped up and climbed the 70 feet to the start of a trail. The climb wasn't difficult (lots of hand and toe holds in the rock), but it was fun and I think most of us (there were six of is in total) would have preferred it was higher.
Back in Waitomo I checked at the Information office and found out there was a night train to Wellington. Since I didn't have anything else planned in Waitomo (although the Lost World cavern with its 350 foot abseil was tempting) I decided to book the train. I had a disappointing meal at the only cafe (I hadn't had anything to eat yet), then caught the four o'clock shuttle to Otorohanga - where the train station is. The train doesn't leave until 11:30 tonight so I now had nearly six hours to waste. Set up in the local club and sat down to work on my journal, do email, and read.
About an hour later George, and Australian guy who was also taking the train joined me and we had a beer. About an hour after that Celeine, a French girl joined us for the wait. Several hours (and beers) later when the club started to clear out a couple of the locals joined us - one of them with a guitar, and then Bill, the shuttle driver, and Polly, the bartender, joined in as well. It ended up being a hilarious night and the eleven o'clock came around very quickly. We were the only people getting on the train in Otorohanga but luckil the train wasn't to full so we got seats without a problem. I'll remember Otorohanga as one of the friendliest places I've ever been!
