On the 20th Tami and I met up with the rest of our group from Pacific Challenge. We are a group of 18 people from around the United States traveling in Australia and New Zealand together. I am the oldest at 24 and the youngest is 18.
The first day was mostly a travel day... although we did get to see Auckland a bit. We drove up to one tree hill where we had an awesome view of the city below. Then off to Waitomo to spend the night in a traditional Maori Meeting House (aka large room where 18 of us slept on the floor.)
On SSunday we went black water rafting in the Waitomo caves. The "rafting" was floating on an inner tube... but it was still really cool. The roof of the cave was covered with glow worms (actually fly larvae) but they made the top of the cave walls look light the night sky. We also did some repelling down cliffs into a big cave. It was a lot of fun to dangle so far above the ground and feel completely safe.
The first day was mostly a travel day... although we did get to see Auckland a bit. We drove up to one tree hill where we had an awesome view of the city below. Then off to Waitomo to spend the night in a traditional Maori Meeting House (aka large room where 18 of us slept on the floor.)
On SSunday we went black water rafting in the Waitomo caves. The "rafting" was floating on an inner tube... but it was still really cool. The roof of the cave was covered with glow worms (actually fly larvae) but they made the top of the cave walls look light the night sky. We also did some repelling down cliffs into a big cave. It was a lot of fun to dangle so far above the ground and feel completely safe.
Monday was the crazy day. Tami and I decided to go Caving with a group called Absolute Adventure. They promised a very non commercial trip.. and boy did they deliver. We rappelled down into the cave, climbed rock walls with our hands, slithered through narrow caverns on our belly, waded through chest high water, dangled from ropes high above the floor of the cave, and used every muscle in our body to crawl over, under and through tons of rocks and tight spaces. It was probably the most physically challenging thing that I have ever done. And it was scary! But what a feeling of accomplishment when we had mastered the cave. My muscles are still sore though.
Later that day we went to a huge waterfall. It was so beautiful with the backdrop of a very green New Zealand Landscape. We were able to hike right up to it and feel the mist all over our body. It was amazing.
Tuesday was a lot of travel as well... but we did stop for a small rafting trip along the way. We went down the largest commercially raftable waterfall in the world. 25 feet down.... it was crazy... and a lot of fun! For dinner that night we had a traditional Maori dinner cooked in the ground. The food was amazing. We also got to see a traditional Maori dance and welcoming ceremony. (Maori is the native people of New Zealand).
Wednesday is a day that I would like to forget. We woke up at 6:30 Am and drove two hours to a mountain that we would hike. It was called the Tangariro crossing.. and the mountain that we hiked was the Mountain of Doom from The Lord of the Rings. Seriously, it was the most intense hike ever. It was 8 miles long with at least a 2500 to 3000 ft elevation gain. We were going straight up for 2 hours! And not only that... but it was pouring rain the whole time! Once we got to the top... it was more sleeting than anything else. It was very challenging... but you couldn't actually see anything because of all the rain and fog. And it was really muddy.
Today we have a free day, so Internet, laundry and random things are on the to do list.
I am having a lot of fun, but I miss all of you.
