Auckland New Zealand

 

A 5.45am early morning wake up call for the three hour bus drive Waitomo Grotto had us snoozing on the bus to catch-up our sleep. The caves are a labyrinth of limestone caves and formations, underground rivers, hidden waterfalls and caverns. The first cavern the guide took us into was 'Aranui Cave' where we walked along paved walkways under and around stunning pink, white and pale brown stalactites and stalagmites. He explained the history of the caves and how they were discovered and surveyed. Then we were taken into the Waitomo Glow Worm Grotto where we boarded a boat which took us through the dark underground caverns lit by the flickering blue-green light of the unusual glow worms that hang down from the cave's ceiling. It was quite romantic sitting there holding hands with DH whilst we marvelled at the sight.

We boarded the bus again to drive about 30 minutes to a dairy farm house for a sumptuous lunch prepared by the farmer's wife. I just couldn't believe the lush green colours of the surrounding countryside around the farm house. We had roast leg of lamb, beef meat loaf and various fresh salads, all made of local produce. The farmhouse luncheon was a hit. I had managed to photograph some of the features of the house.

The drive back on the bus seemed to drag but we got back in plenty of time to off load our 'day gear' and position ourselves on the back of deck eleven to witness the sail out of Auckland's Harbour.

We were unable to photograph the glow worms or in any of the caverns, so I do not have any photos to list, sorry.