New Zealand is a great place if you like adventure. There are a huge number of activities for every type of risk taker. We picked two activities we thought would be exciting but not extreme. We're both risk averse accountants so no bungee jumping or anything crazy!
We headed to Waitomo on the west side of the north island for a cave exploring trip.
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| In our gear - wetsuits, rappelling equipment and nice white rubber boots! |
To get to the cave, we got to do abseiling (rappelling) for the first time. The drop into the cave was 35 metres (over 100 feet). If that doesn't sound like much, it's the equivalent of an eleven story building.
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| Blake on the way down |
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| Vanessa rappelling |
Once we were in the cave, we did a short zipline in the dark (sorry no photos of that) and then we plunged into the cold water stream that runs through the cave. We had tire tubes that we could use to float on the water but you kept more heat in your body by walking instead.
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| Sometimes the water got pretty deep and we had to swim |
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| The current was strong in spots and the rocks were slippery |
By this point, we were had been in the cave for 3 hours. We were sure that the end was close so we were both shocked when our guide said there was still more to come - climbing two underground waterfalls! We don't have photos of us climbing the falls but here are a couple promo shots from the tour company so you can see what it was like.
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| Looking up the waterfall where we climbed |
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| It was very narrow but our guide showed us the best spots to put our hands and feet |
After the falls, we were finally done and we emerged out of the cave and into the light!
This was one of the most tiring days of our trip so far but definitely one of the most fun.
Our second adventure was jet boating on the Waikato River near Taupo. It wasn't tiring like the cave tour but we got almost as wet.
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| We started off easy with a few spins in the river |
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| It got more exciting when we got to the rapids |
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| Starting to catch some air |
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| Catching even more air |
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| Almost the whole boat was out of the water |
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| Headed back up river |
After our adventures, we were ready for a holiday so we did the same thing that lots of New Zealanders do - we headed to the quiet beach towns in the far north of the island. Highlights are in the next post.
Vanessa and Blake
