Day 83: Black water rafting

We looked like clowns and Michelle couldn't stop laughing. On top of the full-body wet suit, gloves, and caving helmet, we wore purple pants and giant white plastic shoes. As any woman will tell you, the shoes make the outfit.

After a short bus ride, we arrived to one of the Waitomo caves - made famous for their spectacular glow worms. Our guide sat us down and led us through ridiculous drills designed to glide us through safely. Afterwards, he had himself a good laugh and told us to forget most of it. He just wanted to see us squirm.

Our small group hiked up to the cave entrance and climbed in. Our eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. We walked carefully through the small stream, careful not to pop our inner tubes on the rocky floor. We passed through a waterfall, under low ceilings, and around obstacles.

The cave widened and the stream grew deeper. When we finally entered an area covered in glow worms, we sat down and switched off our headlights. The glow worms covered the black ceiling like thousands of bluish-green stars. Each point varied in intensity and grew brighter as our eyes adjusted to the absence of light. The effect was almost surreal, increased by the echoing sound of water washing over my feet.

The passage became a cavern and the stream grew into a river. We floated down on the tubes, enchanted by a line of glow worms hanging above us. After safely making it over a small waterfall, we continued with all of our lights off. I drifted slowly, looking up to admire the view. We floated that way, out of the cave and back to the car.

I enjoyed the trip immensely, yet the 52 (11 C) degree water froze my feet into numb blocks of ice. We took a long hot shower and drank hot soup after the trip.

A hot shower never felt so good.