Kadz and Sazmo's Great Adventure! : Kia Ora!

Waitomo

Looking well sexy!

Next we headed south to a little place called Waitomo, which is on the map because of its wonderful underground cave systems. The Waitomo caves cover a really large area and were created by water flowing through the limestone. This was our opportunity to go black water rafting! This involves clambering, swimming and floating through the dark caves with a rubber ring. Without even getting a chance to check into the hostel the bus dropped us at the rafting centre. Along with a german friend we struggled into very tight, sexy looking wetsuit and white boot ensemble. Before entering the caves we had to practice jumping off a ledge backwards with our rings. We got slightly nervous wandering down to the cave entrance which was more like a tiny hole in a rock face. We spent an hour and a half in the caves which was definitely enough because it was freezing! One of the best parts was jumping backwards down the waterfalls hoping you would land in your ring and floating along in the pitch black looking at the glow worms on the ceiling. Other than that we had to crawl through a tiny passage known as the labyrinth which tested Sarah's claustrophobia. But we survived and it became one of our favourite activities so far.

Heading into the darkness

Our practice jump...

...was a bit colder than we expected!

Clambering through the labyrinth

We survived!

After hot soup and bagels at the rafting centre, which were greatly appreciated, we headed to the hostel. We were worried that by checking in last we would get stuck with a rubbish room but boy were wrong! Instead we settled into a gorgeous wee cabin with our own bathroom, which may not seem a lot but when backpacking this is luxury.

Rotorua

We had been told about all the different activities we could try in New Zealand but we were particularly intrigued by luging. After arriving into Rotorua, which is the tourist capital of New Zealand and in one of the 7 biggest geothermal fields in the world, we immediately went up the gondola to have a go at lugging. This involves sitting in a little go kart type vehicle and racing downhill with only a handle to pull as a brake. For our first run we decided to take it easy and go down the scenic track which gave us time to figure out exactly how to drive the karts. It also let us admire the amazing views over the lake and surrounding mountains. The next two runs however were full speed, both of us leaving the track at one point and flying in the air, turns out the slow down sign shouldn't have been ignored!

Showing the 3 tracks and the gondola

After recovering from the excitement of luging we got ready for what was said to be one of the best nights out, dinner and a show in a Maori village. The Maori people are very traditional and so our bus had to pick a chief who would represent our 'tribe'. Luckily the chief couldn't be a girl and so were safe from the pickings! We had been told that when the Maori people are doing the traditional greeting we should not smile or laugh as that is considered rude. This turned out to be an easy task as their faces and actions are very intimidating and slightly frightening at times. After learning some of the games played by the Maori children and having a go at the Haka we were shown how they were cooking our food. Turns out the oven was just a hole in the ground in which they cook the food all day. The food was the best we had had since arriving in New Zealand and so we made the most of the buffet and went for seconds, even thirds when it comes to sponge cake and custard yum!

Trying to intimidate our chief

Maori greeting

The "oven"

Appropriate labelled wine

On the bus ride home our chief Willimoo led us in some singing. After some oasis (and Abba for the swedes) us outnumbered Scots sand Flower of Scotland with the help of a Maori guy who knew all thw words! Then the bus driver sang She'll be coming round the mountains when she comes while driving round and round the round-a-bout...it was such a good way to end the Maori evening.

After eating so much that we could barely move we figured we should dance it off and so went to the local bar/club Lava Bar. We met 4 other Scots who snuck away for a while and turned up later in kilts which made us feel right at home, even if the English were slagging them off for wearing skirts!

Geothermal mud pool

With all of us feeling slightly tender the next day we wandered around the geothermal park to see the natural hot springs but in the end decided to visit the spa overlooking the lake. The water was geothermically heated and the pools ranged in temperature from 38-42 degrees (42 is actually too hot to sit in for too long) but unfortunately there is sulphur in the water and so you come out stinking of egg which lingered for a while on our bikinis and skin.