a trip to New Zealand (part 2)

Thursday we had breakfast at an outdoor café next to the lake in Rotorua and then drove west to Waitomo past beautiful lakes, overlooks and pastoral farmlands. After checking into our hotel we were off to our glowworm/blackwater rafting cave adventure. We were fitted with uber sexy wetsuits, helmets and headlamps, armed with inner tubes and then taken to the mouth of the cave where we jumped! Part of the time we hiked and part of the time we floated down the underground river that ran through the cave. There were a few more jumps, a tiny set of rapids. And then there were rooms where we turned off our headlamps, looked up at the ceiling and witnessed an amazing display of glowworms that looked like a galaxy of indoor stars. It was really a little breathtaking. And the caving adventure was all kinds of fun! We ate a warming meal of soup and bagels (the river water was fuh-reezing!) and then cuddled into bed to watch a movie and get a well-deserved night’s sleep.

Friday we drove back to the cave site and took a nature walk around the outside this time. Then drove to the city of Hamilton, stopping by the LDS temple grounds along the way and then wandering through the city museum, an art gallery, pedestrian area and the river walk. It was the perfect rest stop on our drive back to Auckland.

Jenny has family living in Christchurch who have family that live just outside of Auckland and they graciously opened their home to us. So owe drove through the city and over the bridge to the charming area known as Narrow Neck. No one was home when we first got there so we parked the car and walked five minutes down the road to the beach where we dipped our toes in the water and gazed at the Auckland skyline across the way. That evening we were fed blue lipped mussels, a New Zealand specialty (which unfortunately neither of us loved), along with a few other NZ favorites like jaffas and pineapple lumps (both delicious!) among other truly delicious dishes and visited with our hosts Anne and Neville and their boys Campbell and Oliver, some of the nicest people around.