Friday 6th April 2018 Rotorua to Auckland
This proved to be quite an eventful day. We set off from Rotorua northward in sunny weather with everything looking good. We stopped at a small town, had coffee and some breakfast, purchased some 'Pineapple Lumps' (!!!!) at a local supermarket and proceeded on to our destination which was the Waitomo Glow-worm caves.
We had started out early and were in very good time for our noon tour. But as we got close to the caves, there was a road diversion. Apparently a stock truck had overturned on the road and completely blocked it. So we were diverted off this road and proceeded down another road in a completely different direction. Some time later we arrived at an intersection with a gravel road. Following some other traffic, we proceeded down this road but found this also blocked. So, we retraced our steps and took another rote and eventually asked someone the way. It transpired we were miles out of our way and had to get back on track again. GPS is not always reliable here and often loses a signal. After having been about an hour early, we arrived at the caves about ten minutes late!! Fortunately, the staff were very accommodating and placed us on the 12.30 pm tour.
Our tour guide was a lady whose Maori name was shortened to 'T' was a descendant of the family which had originally found these caves in the 1880's and opened them to the public in the late 1800's. I cannot recall how many 'grands' she was from the founder but she was a grand X daughter! The caves were formed after the Waitomo River flower underground through some limestone deposits. We descended into the caves and T explained how they were formed by sea deposits which had become compressed into layers. She pointed out the stalactites and stalagmites and told us how they were formed. We entered a very large area called the 'cathedral'. Here the caves were very high and a young man who was in our group played the violin beautifully to demonstrate the acoustics which are wonderful. A school group from Brisbane which preceded us sand their school song and others following us sung which provided a great atmosphere. At this point there were only a few glow-worms. T showed us the webs which the glow-worms spin to catch the small insects in the cave for food.
We then proceeded to a boat which our guide pulled through the water using a rope attached to the ceiling of the cave. Here there were just millions of glow-worms and the ceiling of the cave looked like a very, very starry night. This was such a surreal experience and was conducted in silence as noise scars the glow-worms. The boat journey was quite short but remarkable. No photographs were allowed in the caves so I will try to find some stock photos on line.
We emerged into the light and passed back through the visitor center and shop and added a stuffed glow-worm to our ever-expanding stuffed animal collection!
We returned to the car to continue our journey to Auckland. We stopped at a service area and finding the food on offer not too attractive ended up eating at a KFC!! We refueled the car and carried on. Some miles later we were passed by a large SUV who gesticulated wildly at us as he passed. We were not sure if he thought we had occupied the passing lane for too long or whatever. We drove on for a mile or so and then stopped to check that the car was OK. What we found was that our left side back tire was flat!!. So we pulled off to a side road and parked the car, got out the jack, jacked the car up and changed the tire. This didn't actually take us very long about which we were quite proud. Before we left Rotorua, the morning TV Breakfast Show had had an item about how the majority of 'millennials' did not know how to change a wheel on a car. So maybe 'seniors' are not so dumb after all!! So, newly 'shod' we continued in the way into Auckland. The traffic coming out of the city was very heavy, it being Friday evening. But, soon the traffic inbound also grew and we crawled into the city. We had a little trouble finding the entrance to the hotel, The Sebel, but eventually found it and its underground garage.
We checked in and had plans to go to a secret underground bar and eat at a restaurant called Amano. But being tired we decide to postpone that adventure and eat close to the hotel and found a restaurant called the Crab Shack. Here we had a meal of mussels and local crab which was very good.
We got back to the hotel where there was a message from US State Department with whom we registered before we left. This told us that there was a cyclone developing near Fiji which would be close to the area where we would be staying on Monday and Tuesday.
We e-mailed Aspire who have been outstanding during this whole trip and asked them what our options were. They responded that we could stay in Auckland until Tuesday and fly back via Fiji then. This might involve a rough flight but it seemed to us preferable to spending two soggy days in Fiji!! We decided to accept this offer and Joanne Morgan, our contact at Aspire arranged it for us very quickly. So we will need to rearrange our hotels here and it will give us more time to explore Auckland.
So, this was our most eventful day of our trip, so far but it ended happily......so far.
We had started out early and were in very good time for our noon tour. But as we got close to the caves, there was a road diversion. Apparently a stock truck had overturned on the road and completely blocked it. So we were diverted off this road and proceeded down another road in a completely different direction. Some time later we arrived at an intersection with a gravel road. Following some other traffic, we proceeded down this road but found this also blocked. So, we retraced our steps and took another rote and eventually asked someone the way. It transpired we were miles out of our way and had to get back on track again. GPS is not always reliable here and often loses a signal. After having been about an hour early, we arrived at the caves about ten minutes late!! Fortunately, the staff were very accommodating and placed us on the 12.30 pm tour.
Our tour guide was a lady whose Maori name was shortened to 'T' was a descendant of the family which had originally found these caves in the 1880's and opened them to the public in the late 1800's. I cannot recall how many 'grands' she was from the founder but she was a grand X daughter! The caves were formed after the Waitomo River flower underground through some limestone deposits. We descended into the caves and T explained how they were formed by sea deposits which had become compressed into layers. She pointed out the stalactites and stalagmites and told us how they were formed. We entered a very large area called the 'cathedral'. Here the caves were very high and a young man who was in our group played the violin beautifully to demonstrate the acoustics which are wonderful. A school group from Brisbane which preceded us sand their school song and others following us sung which provided a great atmosphere. At this point there were only a few glow-worms. T showed us the webs which the glow-worms spin to catch the small insects in the cave for food.
We then proceeded to a boat which our guide pulled through the water using a rope attached to the ceiling of the cave. Here there were just millions of glow-worms and the ceiling of the cave looked like a very, very starry night. This was such a surreal experience and was conducted in silence as noise scars the glow-worms. The boat journey was quite short but remarkable. No photographs were allowed in the caves so I will try to find some stock photos on line.
 |
| These stock photos do not really give the full impression of what one sees on the boat trip |
We returned to the car to continue our journey to Auckland. We stopped at a service area and finding the food on offer not too attractive ended up eating at a KFC!! We refueled the car and carried on. Some miles later we were passed by a large SUV who gesticulated wildly at us as he passed. We were not sure if he thought we had occupied the passing lane for too long or whatever. We drove on for a mile or so and then stopped to check that the car was OK. What we found was that our left side back tire was flat!!. So we pulled off to a side road and parked the car, got out the jack, jacked the car up and changed the tire. This didn't actually take us very long about which we were quite proud. Before we left Rotorua, the morning TV Breakfast Show had had an item about how the majority of 'millennials' did not know how to change a wheel on a car. So maybe 'seniors' are not so dumb after all!! So, newly 'shod' we continued in the way into Auckland. The traffic coming out of the city was very heavy, it being Friday evening. But, soon the traffic inbound also grew and we crawled into the city. We had a little trouble finding the entrance to the hotel, The Sebel, but eventually found it and its underground garage.
We checked in and had plans to go to a secret underground bar and eat at a restaurant called Amano. But being tired we decide to postpone that adventure and eat close to the hotel and found a restaurant called the Crab Shack. Here we had a meal of mussels and local crab which was very good.
We got back to the hotel where there was a message from US State Department with whom we registered before we left. This told us that there was a cyclone developing near Fiji which would be close to the area where we would be staying on Monday and Tuesday.
We e-mailed Aspire who have been outstanding during this whole trip and asked them what our options were. They responded that we could stay in Auckland until Tuesday and fly back via Fiji then. This might involve a rough flight but it seemed to us preferable to spending two soggy days in Fiji!! We decided to accept this offer and Joanne Morgan, our contact at Aspire arranged it for us very quickly. So we will need to rearrange our hotels here and it will give us more time to explore Auckland.
So, this was our most eventful day of our trip, so far but it ended happily......so far.
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