Today we drove from Rotorua to Waitomo because I’d booked my black water rafting for today at 2 pm. When it started we were only 4 guys because 2 hadn’t shown up. After a really rough ride on a small track to the Waitomo Caves we got our gear

 

 

( wetsuits, climbing-equipment and helmets) and our first task was to abseil 35 m down on a wall. I jumped over the edge and enjoyed the adrenaline rush.

 

Then I abseiled down into the caves. Right down at the bottom the guide was waiting for us with black tyres on which we could paddle along small canals through the caves.

 

 

It was really funny and our guide gave us a lot of information and showed us a lot. We saw the glowworms and learnt, that the bum is the part of their body which is glowing and not their „poo“ .

It is a chemical reaction. We also learnt, that stalagmites grow from the bottom of a cave and stalactites the other way round, hanging from the roof. On our way through the cave we came along very narrow clefts, we had to pass through, and there were moments, when you really thought, you had got stuck, but we always figured out a way to crawl through.

We had lunch down there in the cave, and afterwards we had to climb up the 35 m high wall again. I really liked the last part of the tour, I realized, that I like climbing very much, just having perfect trust in my ability and strength.

At 7’o clock Till picked me up in front of the office and had good news:

 

one couchsurfer had replied and had offered us a place to stay for the night. It is a woman from Hamburg, who had moved over here some years ago, and her son had shot some deer, so that we would have deer for dinner.

We arrived there at 7:30 pm, enjoyed a great meal and lovely conversations. They are a really friendly family.