The Adventure Begins: New Zealand

Arrived in Auckland on the 21st after an exhausting day of travel, having risen at 4:00am that day. Met my friend Kelly, from Calgary, and off we went to her place to sip wine, eat pizza, and catch up on all our mutual friends back home. I thoroughly enjoyed the luxurious double sofa-bed having not slept in anything but the residence's twin mattress for the last three months!

Thursday I arrived in Waitomo, famous for their GlowWorm Caves. Feeling rather adventurous, I signed up for the underground caving trip. Having had no prior abseiling experience, I was harnessed in and shown the ropes, so to speak. We were suited up in full regalia- wet suits with matching jackets, gum boots and a hard hat (I just used my own). Range of motion was seriously compressed and we waddled over to the Black Abyss we would be descending into. The Cave Network itself was only discovered in the 1950s/1960s and because it lays on a local farmers property, she gets a percentage of money each time a tourist comes through! Maybe we should all start checking our own backyards...

The first of the descents was 24m down and we were told to swing out over a deep, dark hole and just start abseiling down into the slimy cave. You want me to do what? Well, what a rush. Turns out I LOVE caving. The next three took place underneath waterfalls, so yes, I was soaked, yes I did tramp around for the next four hours with 5 inches of water in my boots, and yes, I did have a blast! There were only three of us on the tour, myself, and two UK doctors. It was a safe bunch. It can be a bit tricky getting out of these caves once you're 90m underground, so you rock-climb out. Any rock climbing experience? Again, no, but really, there is no other choice.

Two days later and I'm sniffling a bit and still a bit sore but have a smile on my face. Off to the geothermal hots springs today with a Dutch lady I met in Waitomo who rented a car and is ready for some company (enter Leah).