Hunting for Hobbits and Hotpools

It was a rough and early start to the day at 5:15am in Auckland. We began our journey to the Waitomo caves in the dark, and everyone but Josh slept for the first leg of the journey. Once we had arrived, we split into three groups and descended into the rocky Ruakura caves. Equipped with spelunking gear consisting of a harness, a jumpsuit, a helmet, and a lamp, we began a five hour journey into another dimension. We saw glow worms, heard an underground river, crawled through incredibly tight spaces, scaled the walls of the caverns, repelled down 90 foot crevices, and zip-lined through the inky black and stagnant air. We later continued on our journey further south to Rotorua and settled in for the next few days.

The following day began with an early morning visit to Hobbiton. We took a guided tour through The Shire and then headed over to the Wai-o-tapu hot springs for an afternoon walk through over twenty different springs. Afterwards, we drove across the valley to Waikite Thermal Pools, naturally heated by the nearby volcano, to spend some time soaking it up. Dinner was spent in the Tamaki Maori village learning about their unique and beautiful culture as well as enjoying a traditional hangi meal, where the food is cooked in an earth oven using hot rocks.

Day 11: The Emergence of the Struggle Bus. After a late start, we headed over to a mountain biking tour company for a ride through the forest. It was a difficult two-hour excursion through thick forest and slippery underbrush, but we all came out unscathed. We ate a quick lunch and headed over to the Kaituna River to white water raft over the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. At 7 meters tall, the fall was both terrifying and invigorating. After splitting into three groups, the family group conquered around ten rapids and three waterfalls. During the whole week, roulette was enjoyed by all.

Ian and Aly