Waitomo: The Lost World

This morning we woke up and ate breakfast near our hotel in Ponsonby before hitting the road to Waitomo. The drive to Waitomo was about 2 hours long and we passed lots and lots of farmland. There were tons of cows and sheep and tiny little towns but most of Auckland and New Zealand is pretty secluded.

Kiwi breakfast: corn fritters, bacon, avocado, sour cream, & tomato salsa- yum!

We got to Waitomo early so we had lunch.  We had pretty low expectations of food since the little town is pretty remote but we actually have been surprised and pleased with the quality of food everywhere in New Zealand thus far. We had lunch at this adorable little Huhu cafe and then headed to our excursion.

For our activity for the day, we were doing the 4-hour Lost World excursion. First we drove about 20 mins to to a big farm where we got suited up. Then we hiked about 10 minutes to the entrance of the Lost World cave. Looking down was pretty scary!  Luckily no one else signed up for our time frame so it was basically a private tour of just me, Will, and our guide, Chris. After getting all of our gear checked, it was time for the abseil down: 300 meters (about 33 floors down).  It was so fun and not at all scary except for the first time you get out over the ledge. It was pretty awesome!

Once down in the cave, we walked around exploring, hiked through various rock formations and crevices, took lots of pictures, and went to a part of the cave where a river was running through it where we saw a big eel. Then we turned off our head lamps and you could see glow worms light up the cave like stars. Glow worms are only native in New Zealand and parts of Australia. They're basically larva that burn off their own waste and become an energy source which is why they glow up. Unfortunately it is too dark to get pictures of it but it really does look like a bunch of little stars. After that, it was the worst part. To get out, you have to climb up a 100 foot metal ladder. It was quite the workout and pretty tiring. Once we got out of the cave, we were back on high ground, on the farm, surround by lots of sheep! It really did feel like a Lost World and was super fun!

 

 

After that, we drove back to Waitomo and had dinner. We went to the Occidental in the Central Business District (CBD) where we had New Zealand's famous green lipped mussels. We got a bunch grilled and steamed. While they were delicious, they were so HUGE (compared to our American mussels), that it kind of grossed us or a bit. Haha!  Then it was time to get packed up and get some rest before heading to Queenstown the next morning.