The Burnhams in Kiwiland 2001-2

Continued from Episode 2: Page 1 Thames to Tongariro

There was no great sunset that night as the clouds were descending into the valley. The clouds were still around in the morning and we could no longer see the snowy slopes of Ruapehu. People were up and away even earlier, but we weren't in such a great rush, so we waited until 8:30 AM to leave. We had all day to hike to Whakapapa Village, where we would be picked up by a bus at 4:15 PM. Our only concern was to avoid the promised afternoon rain. It was warm enough for shorts and t-shirts, but we kept the rain covers on our backpacks, just in case. The first few hours of the tramp led through barren lands, which reminded Ray of the Arctic tundra, just low shrubs and lichens, with the occasional flower clump. At times we hiked in kiwi mist, but it never amounted to anything. We took a short side trip to Lower Tama Lake, a green crater lake. From this point on we crossed paths with groups of Sunday hikers, as this is a popular area for day trips. The shrubs got a little taller and the vegetation a little denser as we climbed to the highest point of our day. Down below was Whakapapa Village, but it was still a long way off. We stopped for some lunch, then started downhill to a sign post offering two route choices, both one hour to the village. We took the very pretty option past the Taranaki Falls, and through another woods beside the rushing river. We made it to the village by 2 PM, just as a light rain was falling, but before it got bad enough to put on our rainwear. We celebrated the end of our tramp with a hot chocolate and a snack in a café. We had lots of time to visit the local DOC information centre and find out more about volcanos and Tongariro Park before the bus came.

Lower Tama Lake

Taranaki Falls

The weather report for the next four days was more of the same; cloud and rain, so we decided to backtrack north and visit Waitomo Caves. The glow worm caves were supposed to be fascinating but we don't like paying large entrance fees and being herded along with hoards of other tourists. We like to do things on our own schedule, so we had opted to bypass the area. We changed our mind after talking to the only Kiwi we met on our tramp. He assured us there were other options and they would be worth our while.

We drove up to Te Kuiti, a small town near the caves, found a backpackers hostel out in the country and got talked into an ideal way to spend a rainy day. We signed up for a Rap, Raft and Rock trip. We met our guide, Marcus, and the other four participants at the info centre at Waitomo Caves at 9 AM on Tuesday, Dec 18. We all piled into a jeep and drove over dirt roads about 10 K south of Waitomo. The whole area is riddled with limestone karst caves and the company we chose has exclusive use of a long section of one of them. We stopped at a hut where we were outfitted with Farmer John wetsuits over our bathing suits and t-shirts, white rubber boots and a power pack on a belt around our waists.

We piled into the jeep once more and drove a little further to another hut in a sheep paddock. Here we got helmets with miners lights on front and waist harnesses with carabiner clips to attach to ropes to get us into the caves. We were going to rappel (or abseil) 27 Meters down to the opening of an underground river. All kitted out we walked downhill, stepping carefully through the sheep shit to what appeared to be a sink hole. There were wooden steps leading still further down and finally, a small platform and ropes attached securely, we trusted, to the limestone rocks lining the sink hole. The rocks fell straight down to a stream below. We all practised attaching the carabiner clips, the belays for the rope, and it was the first person's turn to descend. It looked like fun to me but Ray and another fellow, Richard, were not so sure. Richard was cracking lots of jokes about the stupidity of the whole experience and I didn't think he was helping the situation. The first person stepped off the platform into the void and gradually lowered herself to the stream below, detached the safety rope and sent it back up to the surface. A piece of cake. When it was Ray's turn he hesitated a bit getting off the platform. All of a sudden he was off and dangling. I told him to smile while I took his picture, then he too was down. Marcus told me he slipped off the platform, but Ray said Marcus kicked his feet out! Anyway, Ray enjoyed the ride down.

Marcus followed us quickly and once down, handed each of a us a large truck inner tube, our raft through the underground river. Instead of just getting in and floating down, we first walked up[stream into the cave against the current. A few 100 meters inside, Marcus told us to turn our headlights out. He smacked his tube in the water and the sound reverberated around the cave. We looked up and it was as if someone had strung mini white Christmas lights on the roof of the cave. Ray thought it looked like the Milky Way. These are the glow worms. They are sort of like our fire flies, but are the larvae stage of a fly. They lie suspended in webs and shine their lights. Midges and other insects fly towards to light, thinking it is sunlight they see, get caught in the webs and become glow worm lunch instead.

We got on the tubes and floated down the river, lit by the light of the glow worms, back to where we had rappelled down. We didn't stop there, we continued on with the current into the caves at the other side of the opening. The glow worms did their thing and once again Marcus smacked his tube in the water. The light doubled as more of the glow worms were shocked into action. Every now and then we stopped while we manoeuvred through an especially strong current or walked over a shallow bit. Some sections were quite narrow, but it was easy to push away from the rock sides and kept facing downstream.

We had a welcome hot cider and chocolate break, huddled on a rocky ledge above the stream. Marcus led us back through a few narrow tunnels, then back into the stream again. It was harder on the return leg as we had to walk against the current, holding onto the inner tube. It is much more fun to float down. Once back to the start, it was time to climb out. Marcus showed us the way up and out. One by one we were attached to a safety rope and then, without using the rope at all, we just climbed up the rock cliff. There were plenty of foot and hand holds so it was easier than it first looked.

Once out, we walked back up the sheep paddock, scaring all the sheep, and gave back our helmets and waist harnesses. We piled into the jeep and returned to the first shed, where we peeled off the wet suits and emptied our rubber boots. We were all wet and muddy, but there were warm showers to wash us off. We had kept warm enough in the caves, but it was good to get cleaned up again. Everybody agreed they had had a great day and wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Back in Waitomo, we had a late lunch and drove down the road to take a short walk around an underground tunnel. Boardwalks led the way through dense rainforest running beside a swift river that suddenly cascaded into a limestone tunnel, only to make a u-turn underground and emerge in a waterfall at the other end. There were several informative signs along the way explaining the phenomena of the caves and the flora covering the forest. The Kiwis do a very good job of maintaining their parks.

As you have seen from my letter head, we are back in Rotorua. We have reservations in Napier for Dec 24 and we are hoping to fit in a few more walks before then. Depending on the weather, we can do several day walks around Rotorua and we might fit in an overnighter in the Whirinaki Forest, between here and the east coast. As long as it looks like a half nice day, we will be outside somewhere.