Despite having the entire cottage to ourselves, we are actually booked in on a bed and breakfast basis, so after a wonderful but filling breakfast provided by Liz our host. we set off to Te Kuiti as we had planned to walk around the town as the map we picked up in tourist information yesterday identified a few interesting buildings that were worth a look, but consultation of the map on route we noticed a waterfall that seemed to be worth a visit so we set off to find Waitanguru Falls which is a tiered waterfall, unfortunately it is rather hidden away but worth the walk. After following the tourist signs along a quite bendy road, then you had to be paying attention as there wasn’t a car park just a small sign showing the start of walk so we pulled up on the side of the road, then started walking down the steps to the viewing platform. The steps were a bit slippery, probably due to the amount of rain, but once we got to the bottom it was worth the climb. Once we got back to the car it was time to head round to Waitomo Glowworm caves, we had booked the ‘three cave combo’ as that way we would see everything, but unfortunately Aranui Cave wasn’t open, it was hard to tell why as the sign said that there had been a power cut, but when we checked in they said it was due to maintenance, but whatever the reason we couldn’t go into it so we did two of the caves instead. The first was the glowworm cave. This was fascinating as you walk through then cave with the guide explaining how the stalagmites and stalactites had formed, then it was time to turn off the lights to see the glowworms. They were stunning and so many of them, it was amazing to see them all, everywhere you looked there were lights sparkling it was just like a very spectacular night sky but without he Milky Way! The final part of the tour was a boat ride through to the old entrance, this was really special as it is totally dark and the guide pulls the boat through on a road so there was very little noise and you could see so many glow worms. When this finished we had about 45 minutes until the next tour so we went and got a coffee but decided that we were still full from breakfast so didn’t bother with lunch. Then it was time to be driven round to Ruakuri Cave which is about 10 minutes drive away, our guide was Ross who was really good, the entrance has been created as a spiralling walkway which takes you down to the bottom of the cave, this was built as the previous entrance was through a Waihi Tapu or sacred area, Ross explained that this was actually a burial site and although it had been used as the entrance the Maori had asked for a new entrance to be created. This was quite a different cave as we were much closer to the Glow worms and we could actually see them, their eggs, and the webs they sew to catch their prey. It was also good that we could take photos in places although trying to capture the glowworms was very hard as it was totally dark. THe whole thing was fascinating and we were underground for over an hour before climbing back up and being taken back to the car park. We decided to go in search of another waterfall, but this one was a bit of a walk away and across fields which looked rather waterlogged so instead we set off back to Otorohanga in search of something to eat. The choices are quite limited so we ended up having a steak in the pub before heading back to the cottage where Liz had left some chocolate cake for us – we are definitely not going to loose any weight this holiday!
