Light At The End Of The Tunnel

It’s funny the things we take for granted. Something that you have access to on a daily basis without fail can make you feel lost and disorientated once taken away. Since travelling, I keep adding items to a building mental list. At the top are the obvious things – family, friends and my hometown. As time drifts by, the list meanders into the minor and unexpected which, for me, are food orientated (what I wouldn’t do for a Yorkshire pudding right now!).

Today was another reminder that I have taken my bed, specifically my duvet, for granted. A sleeping bag is not the same. Nothing can ever replace that feeling you get when you loll in your own bed enveloped in a giant duvet. A perfect moment can be had when you wake up and realise you have an hour before your alarm goes off. I stretch out in sweet bliss and starfish. I envelope myself in my duvet once again and snooze until the inevitable alarm goes off.

In comparison to my life since travelling, I rarely get a duvet and if I do, it’s stale, stained and sometimes hairy. Imagine my relief when the lodge in Raglan had a soft fresh smelling duvet to settle under. It made it all the more harder to leave in the morning. It was only one night of salvation but an appreciated one nonetheless.

As the other girls in my room scurried around getting ready, I kept putting off my duvet departure. It was to my own detriment in the end. I had an extra half an hour of warmth whilst everyone else tucked into bacon sandwiches for breakfast. I had to settle for a solitary banana I bought the day before.

There were no breakfast stops as we headed straight to Waitomo Caves. In hindsight I wish I stocked up the day before as I certainly needed it for the activity I booked through Stray.

We had a wide range of choices that involved getting wet or staying dry. The majority of the bus opted for the TumuTumu Toobing which, as the title indicates, mainly involved rafting on a giant tyre through the caves. Others opted for a drier option that involved walking through the caves and a glow worm tour from the safety of a large inflatable raft. I wanted something a bit more challenging and went for the Haggas Honking Holes. The leaflet did say, “Waitomo’s most concentrated action adventure.” Sign me up!

The plan was to go all Indiana Jones, abseiling down waterfalls and rock climbing. Those responsible for making sure I didn’t do anything ridiculous were the lovely Dean and Allan.

A small group of us were taken out to a remote spot in the countryside to get kitted out for the cave trip. Wet suit, check. Helmet, check. Boots, check. Belt thingy, check. Looking like a complete loon?

I’ll let you decide!

The wetsuit felt like a second skin it clung to me that tightly. A slightly saggier second skin that restricted my movement that is. It took me a short while to get used to moving around in all the gear.

Ready to go!

I had a sudden rush of excitement as we all ventured out to tackle Waitomo Caves. Before we were let loose, there were a few safety measures and practice runs to go through. Dean stayed back with us to do this whilst Allan went off to the first cave in preparation.

Although I wasn’t the only one who had never abseiled before, I certainly was the class clown. I was all fingers and thumbs. Everyone else picked it up easily. I hoped it was just nerves behind the fact that I kept forgetting everything Dean had explained to us.

By this point, we were all introduced and relaxed around each other. Our group included Eleanor (New Zealander), Daniel (Swiss), Tam (Swiss), Jordan (Scot) and I was unfortunately left to represent the UK. Sorry!

As we walked down to the cave, I was eager to get going but nervous that I was going to faceplant the cave walls.

Our first abseil was almost instantaneous so I had to leave my qualms behind pretty sharpish. One good thing about the drop was that it was too dark to see how far down it was.

I was very shaky to begin with and the initial leap off the edge was scary. Not being able to see too much around you and leaping into nothing with only a thin piece of rope supporting you was perplexing to the system. My heart was pounding hard whilst my brain was going into panic mode. My balance was nowhere to be found but after a minute or so I got into the swing of things (sorry I couldn’t help myself).

Reaching the bottom was an achievement for me. I was relieved and elated. I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off of my face, I felt fantastic. I wanted more!

As I was the first person down, I had a chance to look around the caves and spot the glow worms. I switched off my helmet light and watched as the dark cave walls were painted in tiny flecks of luminous green.

After the last person dropped down, we went on to tackle three abseils down waterfalls.

Looking up is much better than looking down.

Once they were completed, we ventured deeper and further through the caves, crouching and crawling our way down. Now was definitely not the time to be coy. I threw myself into everything with gusto.

Sometime into the trail, we took a short refuge underneath a long stretch of glow worms. Allan went into more detail about the life of a glow worm and it’s not as glamorous as the pretty shiny lights make out.

Further on we saw oysters within the rocks. It was great how informative the tour was despite the active setting. Both guys certainly knew their stuff and everything ran smoothly. It was almost like a military operation in a sense. After we left one guide there’d be another at the next point. How did he get there? It meant that there was never anything holding us up and there was always someone around to help if you needed it. I think Allan might have regretted that decision as I fell onto his lap at one point. Whoops.

Despite my debilitating pace (I was running on empty remember!) none of the group nor the guides grew impatient with me. I wasn’t patronised or laughed at, even when I did keep forgetting how to turn my head torch on and off! I had a fantastic time. I enjoyed every bit.

I was never macho enough to be Indiana unfortunately. I squealed like a little girl when I was dropped down a dark hole. I was attached to a rope and Allan was at the bottom to ensure my safe landing. I had to tuck in my legs, head and arms it was that narrow! I knew the drop was coming but there was no countdown or anything. It was steeper than I thought! I can laugh about it all now though.

In an attempt to man-up, I later tried to tackle a difficult wall climb. I crawled through to a spot where you could use a ladder or rock climb. It was my job to make sure that everyone was clipped in securely and to shout up “climb” or “ladder” to Allan at the top. I’m not sure what made Dean pick me out of everyone...ahem.

Eleanor went up the ladder and the guys climbed. It looked really tricky but I gave it a go. It was so slippy and it was difficult to see where to put my feet. Water was tumbling down and filling my boots making it harder and harder to lift myself. My legs felt like lead weights pulling me down. Dean climbed up the ladder and spurred me on but I had no energy left and my legs were shaking with the strain. In the end I had to climb the ladder.

Although bitterly disappointed, I was rewarded with a glass of juice and a Freddo (chocolate frog) at the end of it so I felt a bit better.

We were almost near the end now. It was just a case of crawling…a lot and clambering over larger rocks to reach the top again.

Getting down and dirty!

As I stumbled into daylight I got a waft of stale water and sweat – a sign that I’d worked hard and needed a shower. Thankfully there were showers at the site so I didn’t have to get back on the bus all grimy.

Dean and Allan made excellent guides. They were helpful, friendly and informative throughout. They made everything so easy that anyone can do it, although I would recommend that you have a hearty breakfast before doing so!

Thank you Dean and Allan for one of the best experiences of my travels so far.