Waitomo and The Lost World

Waitomo, on the north island of New Zealand, pretty much looks like any other area of countryside in New Zealand, except for the limestone formations and underground cave and stream systems that are found throughout this area. In fact, there are more than 300 mapped cave systems here!

Waitomo Adventures has many options for exploring these cave systems – you can walk, swim, abseil (repel), tube, or raft through a few different areas. We chose to combine a few of these options and make a full day of it. Please note that all of the following photos were taken by our guides at Waitomo Adventures.

The Lost World Cave system is accessed by descending into a giant hole in the ground; the bottom of the cave is 100 meters or 300 feet down! We free abseiled down into this beautiful cave. Rion has done some climbing, but I had never done anything like this before. Looking 300 feet straight down, I thought I was going to be freaked, but I loved it.


Behind us is the hole that we descended through. It would be 4 hours and 2.5 km before we would see daylight again.


Our way out included walking, wading, swimming, jumping into the river from 10 foot ledges, and rock climbing. Rion attempted some of the more difficult free climbing, while I was too chicken!


They did manage to coerce me into some more of the tighter spaces, however! We had to belly crawl under this rock for about 10 feet – doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but I was a bit nervous about getting stuck under there!!! Especially if there were cave spiders……. I might add here that a cave spider did manage to find its’ way onto my helmet at some point and hitch a little ride. Luckily, Rion saw it and removed it before telling me about it. Who knows how long he’d been there!!

 

Around the Bay of Islands

The Bay of Islands, which has been long-loved for its’ beautiful coastline, is one of New Zealand’s premier attractions. The Bay has many turquoise coves and roughly 150 small uninhabited islands. It is also the sight of the first permanent English settlement.

Taupo Bay, just north of the Bay of Islands, is a great surf beach.

Sailing is one of the most popular pastimes in this area. We hooked up with a small group of 6 people for a day of sailing on “She’s A Lady”, a modest 40-foot sailboat run by one guy.

Other options include sailing aboard the R Tucker Thompson, a schooner that has sailed around the world.


We were dropped off on one of the small islands for lunch, some snorkeling, and kayaking in the little lagoon. Birds, such as these Oystercatchers, were walking along the beaches looking for a midday meal.

 

Cape Reinga – The End of the World

Driving along the Aupouri Peninsula to the northern-most tip of New Zealand definitely feels like driving to the end of the world: it is 22 km of dirt and gravel, with the Tasman Sea visible on the left, the Pacific Ocean on the right.

The Maori, New Zealand’s native people, believe in legend that Cape Reinga is where the spirits of the dead depart to the Underworld. This is easy to believe, after seeing the chaos that takes place here.

It is off this point of land, which is now looked over by a lighthouse, that the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, head on, in fairly shallow waters. It is said that in stormy weather waves up to 10m (30 feet) high are generated!


It was a fairly calm day when we were there, but the wind was fierce and the crashing of the waves against each other mesmerizing. Sunset was a great time to be there – all the tour buses had long since departed and couples were able to share a few quiet moments together.


As the sun sets, this northern sentinel lights up to protect the fishermen who venture into these tumultuous waters.

 

Northland, New Zealand: Ninety Mile Beach

On the beautiful Tasman Sea, running the length of the rugged Aupouri Penninsula at the tip of the country is Ninety Mile Beach (dont ask me why, but this is the only measurement in the country that is not metric!). It is a beautiful, never-ending expanse of hard sand and giant sand dunes and is almost completely undeveloped.

Sunset on the beach was very magical as the light played off the dunes and the expanse of the beach.

Driving is permitted along the length of this beach, although there are very few access points. There are signs posted at all access points that warn you to avoid driving on the beach around high tide, as cars have hit soft spots before and been swallowed by the tides. Because rental cars are not allowed to drive on the beach, you can actually take a bus tour and travel along the length of the beach. This bus almost hit Rion while we were out trying to enjoy the "serenity" of the beach.

While we were lamely obeying our rental contract and driving up the traditional gravel roads of the North, the giant dunes of the beach were visible beyond the pastures and wetland areas.

A little side trip towards the very tip of the penninsula took us out to an area of immense, giant, expansive (I could go on...these things were HUGE) sand dunes. We couldn't resist a walk out onto the dunes, but it was so far and uphill to the beach, that we never made it.

 

Our home While in New Zealand

A few of you have asked about our living arrangements while we are here in New Zealand, so by popular demand, here are some pictures of our home away from home (for now, that is).

The popular, and very easy option, for sleeping arrangements in New Zealand is to rent a camper of some sort, from the smallest mini vans to the 6 berth mansions on wheels. Our budget permitted us a very modest, but I must say, pretty cool mini bus that has been converted into a camper van. The top has been cut off and replaced with a raised plastic top that adds at least another foot, so you can actually stand up inside.

This is what the living quarters look like during the day. There are seats along the side, with storage space underneath, and if you want a table for eating at, there is a pole that is inserted into a hole in the floor, and a stored table top fits onto that. On the left is our sink, with cutting board, on the right is our mini fridge with 2 burners on the top. We actually manage most of our meals from here, believe it or not!

In this picture, above the kitchen area, you can see our towel rack, our microwave, our dish storage area, plus what we have turned into our linens storage.

At night, a board slides accross the aisle and the cushions form a puzzle mattress. It's actually not a bad bed!! Most nights we sleep in Holiday Parks so that we have showers and electrical hook-ups, but in New Zealand, unlike the United States, it is not illegal to pull off and sleep in parking lots or at the beach, etc., so there have been a few nights spent in miscellaneous parking lots.