We got up pretty early and drove south to Greymouth. We were determined to join a caving tour and weren't sure when they left. Greymouth wasn't as far away as we thought it would be so we got there really early. After breakfast we booked a 2pm tour to explore the "Dragon Cave". We had a lot of time to kill so we wandered around the town in the rain for awhile and finally settled into a cafe for a glass of wine and a Scrabble battle.
Caving was an adventure! After changing into 2 layers of thermals, a wet suit, galoshes and a helmet with a head lamp six of us piled into a van and drove 15 minutes North of Greymouth. We parked the van and hiked about 20 minutes into the bush. It wasn't raining, but it had been so there was lots of water on the ground. Our guide warned us that there would be more water in the caves than usual which didn't necessarily make me feel better.
We climbed into the dark, scaling the wet walls and eventually came into water that was above our waists. We weren't wearing gloves so we knew the water was very cold. Thankfully the thermals and wet suit kept us warm and dry. After hiking down to a wide part of the cave we sat on inner tubes and turned off our headlamps so we could lay back and check out the glow worms. There were so many in the rounded ceiling of the cave that it looked like a weird constellation. As we floated down the cave we could hear the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder. Even though the guide warned us that we weren't going to go over the edge of the waterfall it was still scary. When we turned on our headlamps all six of us had been pulled by the current and were piled up together in the corner of the cave right by the crashing water.
After that, we made our way up another leg of the cave and came to a dry, elevated area where we could sit and enjoy some hot chocolate and a small candy bar. We turned off our headlamps and sat in the dark and listened to interesting factoids about glow worms. We'd been in the cave for three hours by then. My finger tips were bleeding from grasping rocks and I could feel a bruise on my left hip forming where I'd slipped and landed on a sharp point of a rock, so the snack and break was welcome.
After our rest we were ready to make our way out. Instead of going out the same way we entered we were going to leave via the "Love Tunnel" and we were going to do it without our guide. He promised to meet us on the other side. When I saw how tiny and winding the tunnel was I understood why he didn't come with us. Plus it gave him a great picture opportunity to catch us crawling through the little hole at the very top. I'm still amazed that I didn't have a freak out attack of claustrophobia.
Once we were back to daylight we walked to the base of a natural water slide where we each took a turn sliding down. We were given thin pads to sit on and very specific instructions for how to go down to avoid some nasty bumps. Of course as soon as I sat down I went sideways and hit my tailbone on the worst of it. It was an awesome ride down, but as we walked back to our car I could feel my tailbone getting more stiff. I could barely walk for two days....but it was soooo worth it. :)
When we got back to home base we sat in a hot tub and watched photos of our expedition while we were served warm blueberry muffins and a cold beer.
After a quick soak we drove a couple hours south to our next stop--the glaciers--or more specifically, Glenfern Villas in Franz Josef. The sunset was beautiful and we stopped along the way to have dinner in Hokitika.
Caving was an adventure! After changing into 2 layers of thermals, a wet suit, galoshes and a helmet with a head lamp six of us piled into a van and drove 15 minutes North of Greymouth. We parked the van and hiked about 20 minutes into the bush. It wasn't raining, but it had been so there was lots of water on the ground. Our guide warned us that there would be more water in the caves than usual which didn't necessarily make me feel better.
We climbed into the dark, scaling the wet walls and eventually came into water that was above our waists. We weren't wearing gloves so we knew the water was very cold. Thankfully the thermals and wet suit kept us warm and dry. After hiking down to a wide part of the cave we sat on inner tubes and turned off our headlamps so we could lay back and check out the glow worms. There were so many in the rounded ceiling of the cave that it looked like a weird constellation. As we floated down the cave we could hear the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder. Even though the guide warned us that we weren't going to go over the edge of the waterfall it was still scary. When we turned on our headlamps all six of us had been pulled by the current and were piled up together in the corner of the cave right by the crashing water.
After that, we made our way up another leg of the cave and came to a dry, elevated area where we could sit and enjoy some hot chocolate and a small candy bar. We turned off our headlamps and sat in the dark and listened to interesting factoids about glow worms. We'd been in the cave for three hours by then. My finger tips were bleeding from grasping rocks and I could feel a bruise on my left hip forming where I'd slipped and landed on a sharp point of a rock, so the snack and break was welcome.
After our rest we were ready to make our way out. Instead of going out the same way we entered we were going to leave via the "Love Tunnel" and we were going to do it without our guide. He promised to meet us on the other side. When I saw how tiny and winding the tunnel was I understood why he didn't come with us. Plus it gave him a great picture opportunity to catch us crawling through the little hole at the very top. I'm still amazed that I didn't have a freak out attack of claustrophobia.
Once we were back to daylight we walked to the base of a natural water slide where we each took a turn sliding down. We were given thin pads to sit on and very specific instructions for how to go down to avoid some nasty bumps. Of course as soon as I sat down I went sideways and hit my tailbone on the worst of it. It was an awesome ride down, but as we walked back to our car I could feel my tailbone getting more stiff. I could barely walk for two days....but it was soooo worth it. :)
When we got back to home base we sat in a hot tub and watched photos of our expedition while we were served warm blueberry muffins and a cold beer.
After a quick soak we drove a couple hours south to our next stop--the glaciers--or more specifically, Glenfern Villas in Franz Josef. The sunset was beautiful and we stopped along the way to have dinner in Hokitika.
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