Pt 15 - Rapids Jet; Waimangu Valley; Gondola & Luge; Mitai

Saturday 27 February –, Rapids Jet, Waimangu Thermal Valley, Gondola and luge and finally Mitai

It’s just as well our booking for the Rapids Jet doesn’t require us to be out and about until after 9:30. We are supposed to rock up at 9:45 am. The trip is supposed to start at 10am, but we are a little late departing as we wait for some people to show up. We have supplied our own waterproof jackets, but others take advantage of the longer, black rapids jet coats which were being washed when we were here yesterday. Noone seems anxious to leave to see the rush of water when the flow from the dam arrives.

We don our life jackets, sign our “yes we understand we might die” forms then it’s photo time before jumping on the jetboat. We speed upstream with the wind in our faces to check out the wall of the power station and do a few 360 degree spins. The ride starts out with a few manouvres and then our skipper checks everyone is doing OK and the thrills gradually increase, jumps and such downstream across some mild rapids. It’s great fun. Similar to what Dad used to do in his speed boat on Pittwater/Broken Bay when I was a little thing of 6 or 7. Back before Pittwater was too congested. I spend a goodly amount of the time thinking about my Dad and the fun we used to have in his speed boat when I was little, as I grin into the wind which sends my hair streaming back and whipping up a mass of minor tangles.



The rapids jet photographers are standing on the banks of the river during the fun. We take a jump through the rapids and land with waves of spray enveloping the boat.


We head back up stream and make multiple passes through the rapids, narrow passes to obstacles and last minute swerves to avoid trees or rocks. It’s awesome fun. Hubby’s loving it! When we come off the boat we go and look at all the photos they’ve taken. There’s some pretty awesome shots. You can have the whole set on disk for $35. A nice little earner there though most on the boat leave without buying today. The jet boat ride was $90 pp. What a great start to the day. We are wet of course but the day is warm and fine and we’ll be dry in no time.

From the jetboat we head straight on to Waimangu Thermal Valley. It’s midday by the time we arrive, so first things first we grab some lunch at the café. A bacon and egg pie with an accompanying organic cola drink for hubby and a zucchini slice for me. Hubby wins yet again! His was probably the healthier option and was quite nice. Mine was a bit dry.. the zucchini slice I make is way better!

It’s 12:35 by the time we are setting off down the path. Paved at the start, the path as you move down the slope is level but rough. Loose stones make it a little slippery if you aren’t careful. Good walking shoes are recommended and I would agree with that. I'm glad I'm not wearing the flimsy footwear many others seem to have chosen today.

We have been booked onto the 2:50 cruise and advised that we have oodles of time. Oodles of time. The later cruise departure will make sure we don’t have to rush the last bit. Working on this advice we take our time over the features.



The path is consistently downhill except for some mild short inclines. The main features are located from 1 to 18 on the provided map which also serves as our ticket. Our route starts with views over frying pan lake.



Frying pan lake is awesome with the vapours rising from the surface and drifting about in eddies that morph and dance. Down the hill closer to the water you pause to listen to the sound of the gurgling and chuffing which sounds like a steam train. Plumes of steam consistently emanate from a striking rock feature. It’s quite fascinating.
We spend a fair bit of time pausing at the various stops on the map. Reading the information on the guide and on interpretive signs along the way. There are many features pointed out that relate to the famous volcanic eruptions, a small silica terrace, gurgling and spurting hot springs with intense colours, profiles of volcanic deposits that are cut away near paths.



Other than the frying pan lake much of it seems quite small, and while there are some intense colours here and there it’s not on the scale you might expect from the colours on the websites for various thermal features.



As suggested we go as far as location 21 then back track slightly to head up the stairs to the inferno crater and the longer Mt Haszard Hiking Trail. The inferno crater here at Waimangu Valley is a similar colour to Lake Tekapo, just way way smaller. It’s very pretty, but nowhere near the visual impact of the awesome eyeful Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki provide.

We have been warned that once we get to a one of the features along the hiking trail there will be 200 stairs to get back to the bus route. Odd that there should have been no mention of the large number of stairs and steep incline to reach this point where the stairs then take you back down the slope. Features along the way aren’t too thrilling really. Old craters that are now forested bowls in the landscape, or a view over a thermal feature that used to be huge, until it just stopped… LOL reminds me of the story my mum keeps teasing me about.. when I gave her directions “get out at the red building that isn’t there any more”… along the Mt Haszard Hiking trail and indeed along the Waimangu Valley trail and cruise you spend a fair bit of time in the appreciation of things that aren’t there any more LOL.



Back to the trail.. the only site we figured could even vaguely justify the hiking was some views across lake rotomahana… but they are just average views. Nice enough, but perhaps I’ve done the South Island too recently! The scenery there simply ruins you for average lake views! On the downhill stretch the stairs are not designed to be easy. The risers are very tall, and the path is a bit rough. After a while my knee decides it’s not well pleased with the effort required with these downhill steps. Uh oh. How I wish I had managed the mental energy to keep up the physio in amongst all the house stress and hassle over the last months! I manage OK but it’s clear my time on slopes is really going have to be of short duration from here on in. Knee aside I probably would have enjoyed the walk a vast deal better if we’d come at a cooler time of year!

Hubby has been pushing the pace some as we've been heading up the hiking trail. He’s paid closer attention to the information about the time various walks might take. He’s right to be concerned.



By the time we regain the bus route, we’ve missed the bus down to jetty at Lake Rotomahana, not that we had planned to take it. However we are now obliged to take a very quick walk along the nature trail section of the walk. I didn’t realize there is a bird watching spot by the lake. There’s heaps of water fowl. Plenty of black swans among them too.. but that is for other’s to appreciate. We’re in a mad tearing rush for the boat.
Luckily we do make it in time for the cruise.

There’s a reasonable number of people aboard a very small and, frankly, inadequate vessel for the purpose of a well populated sight seeing cruise. Plenty of seats inside windows that don’t open and aren’t very clean. It’s hot inside too. Out the back is pretty much a shade free zone. Commentary is piped through the boat, but It’s far from easy to hear and we find ourselves needing to refer to the site guide we were provided when we paid our money. We cruise across the crater lake to take a spin in a tiny crater bay….ho hum.. we pass the sites of the famous pink and white terraces that aren’t there anymore but would have been many metres below us. Oh. There’s trout in the lake and their isolation keeps the breed very pure. OK. On the way back to the jetty we make a lengthy pause at some pretty nifty fumaroles which chug and puff and splutter water in a most amusing fashion.



Everyone aboard is photographing like crazy and videoing, but the fumaroles are pretty small individually and collectively. Before going we had really expected things on a larger scale.



The steaming cliffs put on a good show as we make the final run to the jetty. Finally getting a few moments to capture the lake scenery.



I toy with the idea of heading around to the bird watching spot and sitting there until time for the next bus, but hubby is over it and wants to go. Not much argument from me, or rather not much argument from my knee at any rate. It’s really rather sore now. The bus is hot and not air conditioned. It’ll do for the short ride up the hill.

We have enjoyed our time wandering through Waimangu, but we did feel it was pretty expensive for what is provided and much of the place relies on an appreciation of the history; imagination; and comparison of the bush clad hills and craters with photographs of the post apocalyptic landscape shown in historical photographs taken not long after the 1886 eruption.

By now it’s 3:30. We need to congregate at Mitai about 6pm to avoid the crush from the arrival of tour buses and the Mitai courtesy bus that collects folk staying in Rotorua. Not enough time to go back to Taupo and we’re too early to head over to Mitai. So we decide to find where we have to go before deciding on how to entertain ourselves. It’s ever so convenient that Mitai is just a couple of doors up from the Rotorua Gondalo and Luge.

There is a lot of cars in the car park but we have no difficulty finding a spot, changing our clothes discretely and wandering into the foyer. The whole installation looks fairly new and imposing and there’s a steady flow of visitors arriving and paying their fares. We browse the board of prices and discover there is an array of packages and options, so we step aside to consider what to do. Everything is pretty expensive. We ask how long it would take to get up to the top and to take a luge ride. The luge ride is estimated at about 40 minutes once you get down to the bottom and then take the chair lift back up. If memory serves the Gondala was about 20 minutes. Only time for one luge ride just now.. hmm. We end up opting for the annual pass which also gives us luge rides for $5 instead of the normal $9 plus of course as many trips on the Gondala as we like. We’re pretty confident we’ll get time across the week’s activities to come back for more rides



The view from the Gondala is pleasant and expansive taking in Lake Rotorua, the town and countryside round about. It’s quite relaxing just sitting slowly rising up the mountain. It doesn’t feel like long before we are alighting at the upper terminal and getting our bearings. To the left as we emerge there is an interesting contraption that we gather is the “Swing” for which we saw price options. Business on the swing is pretty slow by the looks. Around to the right we approach a large gift store which has closed for the day and through a set of glass doors there are crowds of people who must surely be taking luge rides.



First things first we grab ourselves a helmet (hoping like hell that whoever has worn it before us doesn’t have head lice) and take our place in the queue. It is an indication of how rusty we are at using amusement rides that we fail to realize the two queues are to direct people onto the various luge tracks which are graded in three speed tiers: scenic, intermediate and advanced. We chill in the queue doing a bit of people watching. There’s clearly folk from all over the world and a good smattering of young local men. One little girl who can’t be more than 6 or 7 has either done this before or has been watching and learning. She expertly gets her sled, hops on and demonstrates the brakes for the attendant and takes off down the scenic track.

In good time it is our turn. I’m in front and head off down the intermediate track just to get the feel for the layout here. Changing tracks is apparently not something you’re supposed to do and hubby is firmly directed down the scenic track, though it doesn’t cramp his style too drastically as he hardly meets anyone else on his way down. The sleds are capable of going very quickly but the track is concrete and there is a massive amount of vibration coming through into our arms. In this respect it is not at all like the luge at Jamberoo near home. Jamberoo’s luge ride is on a smooth stainless steel curved track. The sleds don’t go as quick, but it’s a silken ride down and you can lean into the corners as you slide up the wall of the track.. anyway the vibration on this concrete tracked luge detracts from the ride experience quite substantially for us both. Aside from the distraction of adjusting expectations, the vibration is not good for hubby’s arms at all due to a chronic condition he manages so I spend most of the trip worrying about what it’s doing to him. Arriving within close succession at the bottom we chat about the experience.. hubby’s arms are OK so far but he’s not planning to ride again. We place our sleds as directed by the signs and jump on the chairlift.

Chairlifts are such fun! As we glide and bounce up the hill, I observe some unfamiliar conifers of some sort. The orange of old leaves evenly hanging on all over the tree are a great mimic for a flowering silky oak. Interesting. Someone has dropped their helmet. No wonder there are signs saying to keep helmet on until you return to the top. We watch the riders on the tracks below and try to identify which tracks we took. All too soon we are scooting off the chair and out of the way of getting belted by it. Fun, but we wonder if we actually will get our money’s worth from our annual pass after all...

It’s time we left but I am keen to do a reccie (reconnoitre) of the café and the bistro. A sign invites us to wander in and check out the bistro so we go ahead. Now setting up for dinner there seems to be a good array of mains and deserts. Above average for a bistro we think. .. but it’s time for Mitai.

It’s a bit after 6 by the time we arrive. Hmm, buses are plentiful in the drive, but we manage to park and make our way to the queue of people being received. Turns out there are 300 people seeing the show tonight. The queue moves very slowly and we take our seats in a large marquee. A couple already seated don’t show any interest in us, so I choose a seat at the far end of the table so that others coming in don’t have to climb around us. Soon another couple rock up look friendly, so I introduce myself. They are from Switzerland. We have a bit of a chat as hubby wanders off to the bar and is successful at last in his quest to try the local tui’s …..


Pretty soon another couple come up and ask if the seats opposite us are taken. He’s clearly a kiwi so I acknowledge this as we exchange introductions. Turns out his wife is an American. The couple down the end are Canadian. Our kiwi companion is a turf farmer who lives just out of Christchurch. He seems really pleased to find we are Aussies and is keen to chat to us throughout the evening… as we are with him too. He’s had a fabulous afternoon at the Caterpillar Experience. I had thought you must ride on a tracked vehicle around the displays, but this confusion is cleared up as our kiwi friend tells us it’s a series of static displays of all sorts of vintage caterpillars (earth moving machinery) and he’s found it fascinating. Apparently his missus didn’t find the idea so thrilling, so she amused herself elsewhere.

It’s almost an intrusion as the evening’s formalities get underway. Our marquee host goes through a long process of identifying all the “tribes” from which we have come. Anyone from the US? Yay….everyone welcome our guests from the US! Thankyou United States, we got our trout in our spring from the US, but they are ours now and you can’t have them back.. everyone thank the US for our trout….. We mutter to our kiwi friend … “Where’s our thanks for the possums?” He cracks up and says.. “and to the Brits for gorse and broom?” Hehehe .. so nice to share a joke and know it will be understood LOL How about the UK? (Thank you to the UK for teaching us to make stuffing…) Yay… Japan Yay, Aussie? Yay…. The list grows and grows.. Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Georgia, South Africa, East Africa, South Korea... We have people from 18 different countries in our Marquee alone.

The inevitable safety briefing, location of amenities, agenda for the evening and now, an important item of business. A volunteer is requested for a chief for the evening to represent us all. There is a studied silence as men all around the tent try to look as invisible as possible. Finally a gent from the UK sticks his hand up…yaay! The enthusiasm of support from the other men folk is palpable! LOL.
Time has come to head out for the waka viewing… past the hangi pit for a look at dinner being unveiled. With so many people we’ve got buckley’s (ie no chance) unless we wait for the crowd to thin so we hang back to see dozens of chickens and legs of lamb, trays of kumara and potato and stuffing….



Then we head off down the track. It’s a bit like a circus as people try to find a pozzie (position) along the stream where the warriors in their waka will soon be appearing. The warriors duly appear and seem skilled and in deadly earnest as they chant and tap the sides of their oars on the waka. They do a couple of passes, we take some video. .. It’s pretty cool and interesting, but looking at the gawping crowds I’m thinking perhaps Mitai has become a victim of their own success.

The waka viewing over we file as part of a long snaking procession and head back to our marquee. Past the other smaller marquee… $100 bucks or so a head.. not a bad annual turnover by the looks, though I guess numbers vary day by day. They have to have grossed 30K or more tonight alone.

It’s a slow amble back up and before we have our dinner we move into the performance area where there are chairs laid out in front of a stage with what looks rather like a set made to resemble a village. We take a couple of unoccupied chairs and discover why they are still unoccupied. The view is partially obstructed from them.

Around the village maidens and warriors are hanging out. Our chief and the chief representing the other marquee (the “other chief”) head on up to the side of the stage accompanied by our host guy and are duly confronted by the challenge from a sprightly and intimidating young warrior. First to front the challenge is the other chief. He calmly stands his ground but when time comes to pick up the verbage dropped he looks aside to another warrior and then as he reaches for the greenery he looks at the ground. Oops. Our chief takes his turn as another young warrior struts his stuff. The herbage is dropped and our chief, of whom we are duly proud, steps forward and collects the greenery appropriately eyeballing the challenging warrior the entire time. We are pleased with his performance. Our chief also gave a very satisfactory speech in response to the greeting from the Mitai chief and this is pronounced to be overwhelming and deeply appreciated by the Mitai chief later in the course of our dinner. In my head I’m putting together info provided by a combination of prior tours .. thanks Maurice … thanks Kena!! I don’t know about other people, but I find the repetition really helps me remember as well as understand!

The show proceeds and is lead/MC’d by the Mitai Chief. There are the usual songs and explanations of cultural significance, introduction of the traditional “drum” constructed from a wooden log. A young pregnant woman demonstrates some cool percussive use of the poi, including horses galloping and other recognizable rhythms. She was truly mesmorising. Beautiful and highly skilled. My favourite item of the night.. and indeed of all the Maori performances we have seen, was a song that used the drum and percussive poi along with the singing. It was totally awesome.

As things proceed and the Mitai chief explains stuff relating to the combat skills the young warriors are drilled to demonstrate how training would proceed. There is a fairly detailed explanation of moko telling us more to refresh our memory and add to the detail of what we heard at the Auckland Museum. The facial moko is patterned to represent four birds and these birds in turn represent the various areas of knowledge.. genealogy and so on. Areas of knowledge in which Maori were expected to obtain proficiency, as we were previously informed. The three birds I can recall were owl (on the forehead), parrot (on the nose); kiwi (on the lower cheeks).. at least I think this is what he said. He told us more about what each bird represented I think, but that knowledge has long since departed my skull! Blowed if I can recall the fourth bird! .. maybe a falcon???

Throughout the course of the show the audience is taught to say some things in maori with regular jokes being made. At all times the mood is light hearted. The Mitai chief is extremely charismatic and funny. Our concern at the high volume of attendees tonight has long vanished. The Mitai chief has worked the crowd in expert fashion. The young women and warriors are extremely proficient at all that they demonstrate. The show was totally awesome and we left feeling not like one of 300 nameless faces but as privileged guests. Honoured to have the opportunity to share some cultural learning with these beautiful and hospitable people.

We head on back to the marquee and collect our hangi meal from the bistro. It was nice, but I’m not sure how wonderful I would have found it if they didn’t have some pretty creamy potato bake included. Without that it would have been pretty much steamed meat and steamed vege! We’re talking too much with our kiwi friend and almost miss dessert! No huge loss, it’s ok but hardly gourmet. Not like we’ll be fading away to a shadow any time soon!

Some of the audience have opted to pay for discounted entry to Rainbow Springs next door, and these people depart when dinner is concluded, our kiwi friend among them. We stay put at Mitai and head off on a guided walk around the property. Small groups are lead by various warriors while we, being the last group out, stick with our marquee host. By torchlight we learn the uses of various plants. At times having to wait on the path for the previous group to finish that stop. The final stop is at the sacred spring from which we have been drinking tonight. Absolutely pure cold water pours forth from this spring and it is extremely important in the identity and good fortune of this Maori family.

With the end of the guided walk the evening is at an end and we hop back in our car and head off. It’s been an awesome show.. but I do still feel that Mitai are verging on being too much of a circus act at times during the evening. They really need to draw a line in the sand on numbers, assuming they haven’t already of course. At the moment the show itself is so good that it makes up for the numbers present, but it would be better with a good deal fewer attendees. We have no regrets about choosing to come to Mitai, but we are now so curious to see the competition! It’s a tough life but someone’s got to do it!

Pt 14 - Ruakuri Cave and on to Taupo

Friday 26 February - Ruarkuri Cave and off to Taupo.
Today demands an early departure, but we are on the ball and arrive early waiting for a 9 am pick up from the info centre for a tour of the Ruakuri Cave. While we’re waiting we check out the museum for a bit, but I think I saw all the best stuff the other day.

We pile into the van and head out to the cave. We have just a small group in this first tour of the day. Only 9 people. We have come from all over the world. Denmark, Canada, California, and of course ourselves from Sydney. The entrance newly constructed is concrete but it is formed to imitate the natural pancaking of the local limestone. It is really very well done. The owner of the land now having the income from the reopening of the cave is letting the land surrounding the site return to bushland. As the bushland regenerates it is anticipated that the faux stone entrance way will become more camouflaged.

You enter the cave via a huge hole that has been drilled in the ground. A gently sloping spiral walkway runs round and round down 14 metres. The lights on the walkway create quite a beautiful effect. At the end of this descent you walk through another perfectly circular tunnel. It’s all very James Bond. Perhaps best of all, the whole cave is wheelchair accessible. What an achievement!!

There are some lovely crystal features in the cave. A striking feature of this cave, as in the Aranui cave are the very large stalactites that hang like elaborate chandeliers above the paths. They create an imposing and majestic sense of an underground palace. The natural cave decoration not overdone so each individual feature can be seen and appreciated for it’s own merit. There are some nice shawls along the walls as the passage narrows. Everywhere there is the tinkle of dripping water. Flowstone on the walls is wet and glistening. Water drips slowly from the tips of the stalacmites depositing the merest trace of calcium carbonate to grow in lustrous beauty ever downward.

There is quite a lot of cave coral. Tiny sharp clusters of crystal where the water has sat for long periods allowing the crystals to form in all directions. Even the stalactites and shawls have cave coral on them. We continue along the path through this hall of the mountain kings. Nature has painted highlights here and there with a layer of iron oxide juxtaposed against the snowy white of pure calcium carbonate.

As we move through away from the crystal caverns we enter large passageways where the pancaking of the limestone provides a striking and fascinating feature. I wrack my brain to try to remember what they said on the signs at the pancake rocks at punakaiki.. the pancake rocks are a mystery and they have no idea how they formed.. these ones at Waitomo are explained as progressive layers deposited over time. No mystery. In the end I conclude: punakaiki is igneous rock, these are sedimentary... sometimes I wished I pay more attention to geological information… which actually usually bores me to tears!



Areas where photos are not allowed are signaled by small blue lights along the path. These are areas where glow worms live or where the risk of dropped cameras to black water adventurers is simply too great to allow people to have cameras out and active.

As we come to an area where the glow worms can be seen in close proximity with their threads, we take it in turns to examine the grubs up close and move along to allow the others through, watching over the railing as the lights from the hardhats of the black water tubing folk flicker from the passageway the river has run though far below. We wait and watch to see them land in a shallow area, climb over an obstacle then position themselves in their inner tubes, gum boots hanging over the rim, to float on into the pitch black. I can’t decide whether that looks like fun or not!

We move along imagining we might see Gollum any time now, and arrive at some large fossil shells that were found during the redevelopment of the cave. We admire ancient rock falls and progressively hear tell of how the construction work for the new pathways was undertaken. We pass through a section with lights out quietly admiring the glow worms on the roof. There’s a pretty decent display. Not nearly a competitor for the dedicated glow worm caves, but nothing shabby none-the-less. It seems the Ruakuri cave is a back up for somewhere to take people should the glow worm cave need to close. Maybe due to another big flood or perhaps if carbon dioxide levels get too high or something.

Eventually we come to an area known as “the pretties” this is a chamber with plentiful crystal formations. Mostly stalactites and cave coral. Mostly white. It is most assuredly a pretty chamber. As we move along we come to the area where the old path used to go through towards the section that is wahi tapu. Sacred burial sites for the maori ancestors. We get a bit more detail on the story of the dispute over ownership of the cave. Each tour has given us a little bit more about that issue and while each piece of information has stood alone at the time, collectively they are fleshing out the issues and the solution arrived at. The dispute was active for over 40 years before local Maori won the argument. It all sounds oh so familiar with the goings on in Australia, though to an outsider it seems like New Zealand is a bit further along the road to a reasonable reconciliation with the indigenous people than we are at home.

From the pretties and the old path we loop back to the main route and commence the walk out of the cave. We pass two other groups coming in. Neither is large. The walk back to the surface is easy. Surprisingly easy up the giant spiral. It really is a very accessible cave. They have done an excellent job in redeveloping it. Big costs, time limit for recoup too. Along the way we did actually pass a wheelchair with a waterproof cover sitting in a corner of one of the larger spaces. Seems an odd place to store it.
Back on the surface we pile back in the van with thanks and compliments all round. Then it’s a short drive back to the i-site and our vehicle. We spend, or should I say waste a little time in the museum watching the multimedia show. It doesn’t tell us anything that we haven’t been told on pretty much every tour. Lifecycle of the glow worm, how caves are formed; the waitomo landscape and so on.

Hubby falls into the chocolate tourist trap and pays a ridiculous amount of money for some very poor quality kiwi fruit chocolates… ah, don’t you know you can get Whittackers kiwi fruit chocolate everywhere including at home? Anyway, time has come for us to say farewell to Waitomo and head to Taupo. We like caves. In fact I think the more I tour them the more I like them.

We do very little of interest on the drive to Taupo. The scenery is pretty similar to that coming down from the north. A bit greener perhaps. We pass through some pretty areas of native forest in small patches. Oh if only there was more native bush left. We wizz past the turn to Pureora. Dirt road. Hubby is anxious to get to Taupo anyway.

Taupo seems enormous and crowded after Waitomo. We sus out where we are staying but we are a bit early for check in which is not until 3:30. We spend some time wandering about to the north of town. A quick visit to Huka Falls Jet and the Prawn farm… hmm, doesn’t look too inviting as today we want something reasonably quick. We head back to the base for helicopter flights. They have a café – the Hub Café. It looks quiet but we decide that is more tempting than central Taupo and the crowds. As hubby finishes up our order I wander over to enquire about flights over the volcanoes. $650pp from here. It involves 90 mins flight time and an alpine landing.. hhmmm tempting, but I wonder if we can do one from closer that doesn’t take so long and cost so much. We would want to wander about down there on the ground anyway. We decide to look into other options.

Lunch is good. Hubby goes for yet another burger. This one has avocado and a patty that is clearly proper mince with various spices. They provide a bottle of tuimato sauce. Tomato sauce with tui beer in it. Hubby reports it was very nice- both the burger and the sauce! I opted for the oh so healthy French toast with bacon and fruit. This was very nice too. All in all a very satisfactory meal.

Lunch concluded we wander out towards Rapids Jet. Along the way we pass the lava glass studio. By now though we’re getting a bit over the lava glass. I think they have made a mistake marketing it absolutely everywhere. Every tiny gallery has some lava glass. It feels like it’s lost its exclusivity. For 500 bucks I want at least some sense of rarity, but hey I guess if they sell it’s all income isn’t it.

Having had a quick look we head on to Rapids Jet. No more trips in the jet boat today due to lack of numbers. How many people to do you need to go ahead? 4. “We could always eat some more” we joke. Laughs aside, they can take our number or we can book on one of several confirmed trips for tomorrow. We book and pay for 10 am. The river is a glorious colour: a rich, wonderfully clear blue. The huka series of lava glass does capture the hue of it very well. Looking downstream the river looks pretty. I’m really looking forward to the jetboat trip, but hubby is a bit nervous about motion sickness. He’s a sly one I joke. I might have to start pulling the motion sick lurk myself and get a guarantee of a seat on the outside edge for ease of depositing cargo overboard!

Now after 3 we take a look at Craters of the Moon. $6 entry for volunteers to watch your car. There’s toilet facilities and a small shop. Some people are coming out. One says to the others “everyone is very subdued”. A couple say nothing in reply the fourth says “just overwhelmed”. The tone suggests she meant the opposite, but the statement was made pretty dead pan so who knows. .. we figure we might be best advised to head on in to Taupo and check in to our accommodation and look over the itinerary for tomorrow and the next days, relax and take care of a few niceties like check the email, which we’ve neglected for a few days... oh dear, I've missed the deadline for futher submissions for the recipe book daughter 2 is having bound from contributions from friends and family for daughter 1's kitchen tea... she's chosen a few more for me from my recipe book.. phew.

An early night.. hubby is snoring by 8pm. I’m off to bed at 9:15. Journal completed for today. An easy one as not much in the way of photos!

Pt 13 Spellbound; Aranui Cave; Ruarkuri Walk; Glow worm cave; more delights of the Huhu Cafe

Thursday 25th February – Spellbound, lunch at Huhu Café; Aranui Cave; Ruakuri Walk; Glow worm cave and of course, Dinner at Huhu again.

What a difference a good nights sleep makes. Breakfast, which is included in our tariff here, runs from 8am and is located in a nice airy room with big plate glass windows overlooking pleasant rural views. The views included what appears from a distance could be a very large, very happy silky oak covered in fading flowers, but I think was actually a pine tree same as those around the gondola in Rotorua. The orangey stuff that looks like faded flowers is actually old leaves.



We are out and about comparatively early waltzing into the info centre bang on 9am. We’re trying to decide how many other caves to do beside Spellbound. We have a day and a half at least. We were thinking we might do some walks in Pureora Forest, but my road atlas seems to say the relevant roads we would need to travel are unsealed. In the end we decide to go the whole shebang. A trio combo plus we get half price entry to the caves museum because we are doing the Spellbound tour.

It’s pouring rain as time approaches to check in for the Spellbound tour, so we head over a bit early to get a good car spot. When the whole group has arrived we all pile in the Spellbound van and head out along the route towards Ruakuri Reserve and onwards on the gravel meandering along narrow roads through farmland. The caves that Spellbound use are on private land and the owner gets a percentage for every person that the tours take through.

As we approach the entry to the glow worm cave there is an opportunity to head overland for about 5 minutes or so and meet us down there, or we can stay in the van. It’s still pouring rain and the warning to take care on the cliff edges along the walk, encourage us to take the pikers way out and stay in the vehicle. The walk down to the cave entrance emerges alongside a pretty little stream.



We don our hard hats with cave lights on the front and head on into the cave. Our guide (Norm) kindly offers to take portraits of everyone and then we’re off. The access to the cave is very easy. No stairs. No steep inclines. The paths at the beginning section are natural earth, and while quite well graded you do need to walk carefully. As we enter the darkness, with illumination only from our hardhats the crystal around the cave looks like it has been dusted with silver glitter. Quite a different effect than I have seen in other caves.



It’s a very short way into the caves, just long enough to be well away from the light of the entry, that the boat is moored. Before heading for the boat we get a run down on the glow worms and get a good close up look at the worms and their webs within the cave. Plenty of opportunity to take photos, however Spellbound offer to send you good pictures via email if you supply your details or email them.

Time to head for the boats. We are warned that there is a waterfall, but rest assured we aren’t going over the waterfall. The boat is a large inflatable affair. We hop in quite easily, then it’s time again for some portrait taking of us in the boat then we begin our ride through the glow worm caverns. The cave is long and we spend quite a time drifting around and manoevering around to make sure everyone gets a good look at everything. The roar of the waterfall is quite dominant. The glow worms reflect in the water. It’s beautiful and it’s romantic. It is an awesome sight. The inflatable boat is good if a slight bump is made on the edge of the cave in the dark, but the seats are not very comfortable to sit on, being as they are, just the rounded top of an inflatable section.

After moving slowly back to the landing we then leave the boat with just the light of Norm’s little torch illuminating the step out of the boat – which is all we need now our eyes have adjusted to the dark. We then move out of the cave in a long conga line with only the light from the glow worms to show the way. It’s a great experience. The rest of the walk is completed with minimal light also – again all we need and it creates a great atmosphere.

Along the way we are advised that although some other tours say that the glow worms will turn off their lights if you make noise, so keep quiet, this is actually rubbish and just a polite way to tell tourists to shut up. It’s true that the worms don’t like light though, hence no photographs (and anyway, don’t bother because they don’t turn out anyway). The silence is important to get most out of the experience. Agreed!

Time for morning tea after an opportunity to admire the nifty treadle operated water pumps improvised on the sinks for hand washing. These pumps are seriously cool! Morning tea is a cuppa and a biscuit or two accompanied by some chatting. A couple of young women from the UK have chucked in their jobs to travel for a while. Norm asks whether they are going to Australia and some tips are given. He says go to Bondi and do the walk around the coast back to the city, and provides some details about his experience at that and we chat about various Sydney things. When the girls ask about beaches other than Bondi and Manly, we explain that the east coast of Australia, and NSW in particular, is pretty much just a string of sandy beaches broken up by headlands between. There’s the comment from Norm that I mentioned in an earlier post: "travelling around Australia you learn two things: you can get sick of the sight of gum trees and you can get sick of the sight of beautiful golden beaches.” Well yes, there are a lot of gum trees and a lot of beautiful beaches in the land of Aus. Of that there is no question!

As we chat, another international visitor (not Australian) asks about various caves around the world. Norm advised that most people wouldn’t be able to see any difference between the caves at Waitomo and other caves in Limestone Karst country in other places - and there are many. We Aussies have been making a point of not raising the subject of Jenolan Caves, but the subject is raised by Norm. “Jenolan Caves outside of Sydney is the oldest cave system open for visitors in the world. Being so old it has a lot of very good crystal formations.” Then to directed more to us. “ Ever done the Temple of Baal tour?” “Yeah! That’s a really beautiful cave” we reply. Then he goes on. “The thing I don’t like about Jenolan is that the tours just go around pointing out named features.” I sense a bit of defensiveness in the comment and it’s my turn to be defensive in return. “But there's heaps of caves at Jenolan and all the tours are different and the commentary includes heaps of other things as well, history of exploration and all sorts of other interesting stuff.” A very little bit more chat about some of the specialized tours at Jenolan, which seems intended to show us that Norm knows the guides there and so is well qualified to comment on the subject, is dropped after a finishing comment that follows on from an earlier discussion about how damaging tours are to the caves due to lighting and carbon dioxide..“We’re lucky here at Waitomo, our best caves aren’t open to the public”. I think to myself that there's caves at Jenolan not open to the public too, and one that is reported by people very familiar with all the caves there as the most spectacular of the show caves is only open once a week on Friday nights to a small group, but I bite my tongue. We can’t drop this topic of conversation too soon for me! I would have rather it never came up in the first place. We move on to other less controversial subjects and continue what was overall a very happy pleasant conversation.

After morning tea, as the rain has now eased, most of us walk the short distance over easy terrain to the next cave for a different sort of viewing. For people who are less mobile there is of course the option of heading over in the van again. the Spellbound tour really is very accessible. My mum would have no difficulty with it at all... well except perhaps the slightly up hill walk to morning tea, but it's not far and you have plenty of time in which to do it.

There is a gate to go through to enter this second cave and again a nifty automatic closure system has been improvised out of a large rock with a hole drilled through it, rigged up with a pulley to a prong on the gate. I love these little improvised aspects of the tour. They are so clever!

With a request that ladies please hold the gate for the gents coming after so they don’t get whacked by the gate, we head on in. This is also a very easily accessible level cave with few if any stairs. We head in and then out over the same ground, with different things pointed out on the way in to what is discussed on the way out. There is not a huge amount of crystal. At least not particularly spectacular or memorable crystal, but this does not lessen the interest of this cave. There is enough crystal for the usual explanations of how stalactites and stalagmites are formed, though there are no stalagmites here due to the lack of a firm floor on which they could form. The real attraction here is the features that are special to the Waitomo area. Wai means water and tomo means hole. Waitomo means water going into hole/s. In this cave there are several tomo. These tomo are very common in the area. Sinkholes or more technically called dolines, examples of these were pointed out to us on the bus trip up coming onto the property. Apparently livestock can fall in these holes and be trapped underground and we get a number of illustrations of this during our time in Waitomo. Sunlight can also stream down into the cave creating beautiful effects. This is the sort of feature that the abseiling adventures like Lost World utilize to access underground caves and rivers.


There are also bright white formations which contrast markedly with the rich brown of nearby/underlying crystal. This is explained as the result of a flood at some stage staining the crystal, then new crystal in the snowy white has formed later. It is a very interesting cave with lots of interesting things to learn about and see. Eventually we head back out into the daylight. The whole tour was excellent. It deserves its high rankings online.

We arrive back at the Spellbound hut which is fortunately right outside Huhu café where we plan to have our lunch. First a quick return to the Huhu shop where I purchase another little oil dish by Bob Steiner Ceramics. This time in a slate grey with a huhu beetle on it to remind us of this wonderful cafe. As we chat with the friendly lady serving we notice a cluster of fabulous sculptures of weta on the wall. They are very realistic, though some have exaggerated antennae. Ouch! $450 each. They are very very good though. How awesome a cluster of them would look on the wall at home. Sigh. Again international postage can be arranged with the usual duty free arrangements... maybe one day...

Inside the café I have no need to mull over the menu, I already have decided that I will have the pumpkin romano cheese & rosemary arancini which is further explained as rice balls dusted with seed crumbs & served with romesco sauce & fresh greens ($16). Hubby goes for Bacon and Eggs on Rewana Toast ($13) with sides of chorizo, potato and tomato at extra charge. As we were coming in I saw a salad in the counter fridge that solves a mystery. Israeli cous cous salad…. Ah.. so that’s what that salad was made from on our Air NZ flight last year. I can’t resist getting that. It looks great with roast pumpkin, chopped figs, raisens, tomato and things. Everything is delicious. A really satisfying meal. We’re loving the Huhu café.

By the time we’ve finished time is approaching for us to head up for the 3pm tour of the Aranui Cave with just enough time for a quick stop in to the hotel for something. The Aranui Cave is accessed from the Ruakuri Reserve. We arrive in plenty of time for the tour and assemble with the rest of the group to await the arrival of our guide. Tickets taken and numbers carefully counted then we’re off. It’s a steep walk up to a long set of stairs to enter the cave. Our guide walks quickly and doesn’t wait for anyone or stop anywhere along the way for people to catch up. There are elderly people and kids among the group and some lag quite a way behind.

Once we’re inside the door of the cave time is allowed to catch our breath and the elderly lady looks like she really needs it. She’s breathing very heavily and looking very uncomfortable. Our guide is appropriately sympathetic now. However Hubby and I were among the first to the cave and soon as we get up there the guide said to us all “no-one told you about the stairs coming up did they?” Her tone is one of smug satisfaction which I actually found quite offensive. Well, no, actually they didn’t mention it, but they really should have warned people so that they could make a decision whether they were up to the exertion required.... and you know the guide had ample opportunity to mention it herself when she had the group assembled for the tour at the reserve. The stairs don’t end at the cave door either. There’s quite a few inside this cave as well. I decided to count how many for the benefit of my report . I’ll cut to the chase and say now, that there are approximately 330 steps involved touring the Aranui cave. No ladders. I wouldn’t classify it as a strenuous cave as far as most caves I’ve been in go, other than getting to the cave entrance, the steps are in flights which are interspersed with flat walks, and each step is a comfortable and easy height, but they do add up across the tour as a whole.

The decoration in the Aranui cave is very pretty. There are a lot of stalactites with a plentiful and awe inspiration group of huge rounded stalactites in the entry area like a huge chandelier in the hall of a mountain king. There’s some stalacmites and a few smallish columns. There are large flowstone formations. Right through, the chambers are very high and it’s a very nice cave. Unfortunately there are places where a lot of damage was done in times past where people have broken stalactites and souvenired them, most are repairing themselves with further thin points of crystal having grown down from the broken tips, and it's still a nice show.



The lights throughout the cave are very large and the whole cavern is very brightly lit. It’s very pretty, but in quite a few places there is green growth of algae staining the crystal near the lights. This is pointed out as a consequence of the heat from the lighting and also the carbon dioxide in the breath from all the tourists. I understand from our Spellbound tour that they are planning to relight the caves at Waitomo to minimise the damage the heat from the lights causes.

As we move around the tour named features are pointed out. Hmm. We enjoy this but I belatedly get a bit irritated with Norm’s comments about the Jenolan Tours doing this. If you're going to snipe at this aspect of tours why not make it inclusive to the tours closer to home as well?

There is a large rich brown feature next to other white crystal. It is very similar in effect to the colour contrasts in the Spellbound cave and it quite striking. Spellbound said this was due to a flood a very long time ago. This time the guide says that this discolouration is due to iron oxide and that for some reason it has come in over the crystal there and not anywhere else. It's a rich chocolatey brown colour completely consistent across the crystal, no variation in colour density at all as far as we can tell... and it's a lit feature too, not in the dark... it's very different in look from the iron oxide staining at Jenolan which in our recollection is generally more tinged red..makes the shawls look like large slices of streaky bacon. We're puzzled because these iron oxide type minerals are really really common in Australia - it's why Uluru (and much of Australia) is red.. it's rusting.... also the source of much wealth generated by mining it, so the rich browns in this isolated feature seem quite unusual to us an effect for iron oxide stain. We're also confused by what seems to be different explanations about the cause of the colour on the different tours.

At the conclusion of the tour, again near the entrance the guide gives a torch to hubby and tells him to look up inside a particular formation. I'm thinking that maybe she is going to demonstrate how translucent crystal is but no.. you little beauty! Hubby is looking up into a small colony of cave weta. This is seriously cool. I really love weta!

As everyone leaves, the guide asks us where we are from. “Sydney” we say. Then she comments that she supposes we haven’t been up to Jenolan for years. “No, not at all, we go up about once a year and are gradually working our way through all the caves there as there’s so many”. She asks repeatedly about whether we visit Jenolan and seems to have difficulty accepting that we do actually visit Jenolan and have done so fairly recently rather than a decade ago. Her reaction was pretty weird. I guess maybe she heard our musings about our confusion on the point of iron oxide (which we'd tried to keep to ourselves) but I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps she was wondering what we were doing bothering with the Aranui Cave if we do actually visit Jenolan at home. It’s true, Jenolan, being such old caves, has more impressive crystal to see, but none-the-less we have really enjoyed our walk through the Aranui Cave… and especially seeing the cave weta!

Incidentally a quick bit of research in wikipedia hasn't really helped me with the colours of iron oxide.. the caves museum also says it's iron oxide though.. and I guess surely they must know what the stuff actually is.. but frankly, given the alternate explanation from Spellbound, I'm still wondering.... it seems so strange if it's in the area enough to colour the crystal so extremely and densely at some places, that the majority of other and/or more recent features, even in the same part of the cave, or resting over the same stained area are pure, absolutely pure, snowy white. It is really quite extraordinary and will add a new level of curiosity when we next go up to Jenolan.. maybe we've missed something there that will shed some light..

Leaving the cave we head straight for the Ruarkuri walk, which Norm from Spellbound recommended. It is just across a small area of grass as you return from the Aranui Cave tour at the Ruakuri reserve.

The walk starts off as a nice level walk by the river, then you come to stairs and steep inclines. I guess it should be no surprise given the terrain around the area that the Ruarkuri walk reflects this. I diligently count the steps once more. We did most of the walk, but skipped the last little loop, turning back after the viewing area over the river as it heads into the underground tunnel. I can’t claim to have counted absolutely precisely, but we would have travelled about 240 stairs each way, so 480 stairs along the walk, plus a few sections of just fairly steeply inclined paths. It is a beautiful walk though and we were glad we did it. Just figured it would be useful for people to know before they set out!

Anyway, back to he walk - it's climbs up and around and through the local landscape there are natural tunnels, one of which looks for all the world like it has been man made of rock hewn bricks


and viewpoints where the river tumbles through rock arches.



Lush green forest round about. It is a very pleasant, if fairly strenuous walk.

When we are coming out of the reserve a sign discusses the various caves and walks from that carpark. It’s just blatantly misleading. It says that the Ruarkuri walk is along easy graded paths. Not a word about the number of stairs. It makes it sound like a really easy 30 minute walk when it simply isn’t. We’re sensing a trend, but perhaps this is just due to New Zealand generally being so hilly everywhere we’ve been this trip. Maybe to the locals the fact that a walk will have lots of stairs or inclines and descents just goes without saying. The signage here provides a trap for young players.

We’ve timed it quite well to catch one of the last glow worm cave tours of the day and line up for the 5 oclock tour. By now there’s not that many people around and there’s less than 20 people assembled. While we wait we read about the fire that destroyed the old info centre. The photos of the old building look really nice. How aweful it must have been for this small community to have the fire. It's five years ago though .. I guess when there is an unexpected fire you typically don't have a set of plans for rebuilding tucked away in a drawer somewhere. I guess they have taken their time and thought about what's needed for the future and are trying hard to get it right in the rebuilding to give a solid base for the future... very sensible, despite the time it takes. There's also panels of information attached to the construction site hoarding about the life cycle of the glow worm.

Our guide arrives and he’s quite a performer, but there’s little interaction with the group, and some questions asked again when no answer is given, are just ignored. Few further questions are asked as a consequence. The information is imparted very competently and in an entertaining manner. A few funny stories. It’s all pretty good and worthwhile hearing, but lacks the personal touch. At one point our guide relates how another guide just made up bullshit when asked a question about a flower near the cave entrance by a tourist. This was apparently frowned upon and that guide got a "botany lesson" “and was lucky not get more than that”. The tone of the presentation suggests this is meant to be funny. Well, maybe it would be if we didn’t have a suspicion, from one of our Waitangi tours, it’s not as isolated an incident as you would hope. Our confusion on the issue of iron oxide isn't helping us see the funny side either...

At any rate, having had a pretty good tour of the outer sections of the cave, a good look at the webs from some glow worms and had some pretty good (named) features pointed out, we head down to the boats. There are quite a few stairs in this cave as well. I've fallen down on the stair counting job, but it’s not a very strenuous cave. It would certainly not be any worse overall than the Aranui Cave. Maybe a bit easier, and it looks like it will probably be easier still when the new visitors centre is completed.

Down by the river we all hop in one large boat. It is an aluminium job, more comfortable than the inflatable that Spellbound use. We have been instructed to keep quiet in the boat to maintain the mystique of the experience. Everyone cooperates pretty well. The little kids have some questions for their parents, but they are quiet and you can't resent it when sweet little nippers are really trying to be good. The cavern the boat travels through is fabulous. It’s high and expansive. It’s beautifully quiet with just the noise of dripping water, there's a sense of reverence here under glow worms. There are heaps of glow worms too. Awesome! We go round and round slowly then head to the exit landing.

As we approach the final section of the boat trip our guide says that it's OK with him if people want to take some photos from here on. When his mother goes to take some snaps a little boy behind me pipes up in a loud voice "No! Photos aren't allowed". "But the man said it's OK here" "He's lying! The sign said no photos". There was just no way that little guy was having a bar of this photo business! I try to stifle a hearty laugh. A trip down memory lane. We can so imagine one of our boys having the exact same reaction. Just a brief pause to capture the scene as our guide takes the boat back to the landing where the tours commence, then hubby and I laugh and reminisce about our own rule lover when he too was a little cutey as we walk back up the path.



The Glow Worm cave was really great. No, we’re not under the glow worms as long as with spellbound, but it was awesome. I’m really glad we did this tour. It’s different enough that it’s still interesting and the different guides tell you different stuff although they also cover some common ground. There’s three boats tied up at the landing and at busy times I imagine that as others have reported, it might not feel so relaxed, but certainly later in the day as we have done on this occassion, it’s a most worthwhile tour. Great for people with kids who don’t want the longer Spellbound set of experiences, this tour only being about 45 minutes long. We’re not at all sorry to have gone all out with visiting the caves while we are here.

However, as we head around the first part of the glow worm cave tour, a prominent feature of the guide’s patter was the pointing out of named crystal formations.. and we enjoyed that... but. I’m not just a bit irritated with Norm’s comments about the Jenolan tours now. I’m downright snakey. It's a free world and people can like or dislike whatever they choose to as far as cave tours go, but why single out Jenolan for pointing out the named crystal formations in the caves there, when the cave tours at Waitomo do the exact same thing!

In fact, perhaps there is more reason for doing it at Jenolan as the system of show caves open to tours there is far far more complex than the simple in/out route taken in the Aranui and Glow Worm caves at Waitomo... At Jenolan even the guides can lose their way if they don’t memorise the formations and the order you take to see them, and the turns you make after particular ones. Features are named when caves are being explored for that reason. There is one tour we did at Jenolan not so long ago and when you've reached the end point of the tour the guide says, see if you can remember the formations you've seen. You guys lead us back out by following the order of formations and turns. It was really quite difficult to do and a very interesting exercise, without our guide we would have been in those caves forever!

.. And why make a comment that implies that Jenolan don’t tell all the other stuff they tell on tours at Waitomo or with Spellbound when at Jenolan they actually tell you every bit as much! Makes no difference to me, I am familiar with Jenolan, but there were others present who don't know any better and who may get entirely the wrong impression. Jenolan has genuinely spectacular crystal formations, including cool stuff like helictites and one large feature known as the gem of the west which is covered in them. Jenolan also has cool stuff like an incredibly slow moving river that has effects I won't spoil by revealing here.. and a tassie devil skeleton - they've been extinct on the mainland for a long long time. The caves at Jenolan are really wonderful and their tours are really great as well, but Jenolan does not have glow worms to see, or tomos, or cave weta or moa skeletons. The limestone rock through which the cave is formed is very different and interesting at Waitomo and the shape of the caves is pretty cool too, with high ceilings and more water and rivers that are fast flowing and noisy.. even without doing the adventure stuff, at which Waitomo is clearly ahead of the game, Waitomo has plenty of stuff of interest to see that you won’t see at Jenolan, or that is sufficiently different to be worthwhile, but these comments about the Jenolan tours, which seem to have been driven by some sort of defensiveness arising from Jenolan's superior crystal, have really got up my nose.

The walk back up to the carpark is uphill but not very far. When the new information centre is completed it appears that it will be positioned so that you basically go in and come out via the building.

By now it’s coming on for 6pm. We have reserved an outside table at Huhu for dinner. There’s a convention of triumph sports car owners arrived at the Waitomo Hotel. The carpark is jam packed with cute little classic vehicles and it’s looking like the hotel restaurant is going to be very busy tonight, so we’re glad to be heading back to the Huhu to our table that we booked when paying for dinner last night.. the menu has some more things we are keen to sample. I have had my eye on the housemade fettucine with garlic, cherry tomatoes, fresh green leaves and parmesan (goat feta is an option I can happily forgo) $16. Hubby goes for the Manuka Honey and Chili Prawns with tomato chili jam, avocado salsa and crispy lavash $18. My fettucine is nice, maybe a little bland without the goat cheese, it’s blown out of the water by hubby’s prawns. Oh man they were fabulous! Would I like to swap dishes half way? You bet!! And hubby isn’t complaining about his Speights gold medal ale either… in fact when we got home I asked hubby which out of all the NZ beers he sampled, was his favourite. Speights Gold Medal Ale was the winner.

I’ve got no hope of gaining ground on the main course as we’ve both gone for the free range chicken breast stuffed with romano cheese, wrapped in pancetta served with spiced fruit, mashed potato and warm green bean and spinach salad $26. It is very delicious and beautifully cooked.

It’s a beautiful evening and we are enjoying the views and the cool evening air as we await delivery of our desserts. We have to sample the Piopio blueberry cheesecake with lightly whipped vanilla bean crème fraiche ($14); can’t resist another go at the caramelized rum bananas; and after a brief struggle hubby insists we also sample the Double chocolate brownie with fresh berries, raspberry coulis and whipped cream ($12). Decidedly decadent. I have to report that the cheesecake was wonderful. Not your average run of the mill type of thing at all. It was a beautifully soft unbaked cheese filling in a delicate pastry shell, and topped with the lovely crème fraiche and blueberries of just the right level of ripeness. We like our blueberries while they still have a little tang to them, as they get more ripe they get decidedly tasteless, but these are just right. Delicious.

The Brownie is soft and rich and oh so intensely chocolate. Nice, but I am not a chocoholic. That’s more hubby’s scene. The bananas are great too and the hokey pokey ice cream is crunchy and creamy. A fabulous meal once again and for what you get it’s extremely good value. I particularly liked the fact that the mains came with vegetables and there was no need to order your veges and pay extra again. We highly recommend the Huhu café. Great food, great service, great ambience. We loved it.

Back to the hotel and we watch an program about psychics helping solve NZ crimes hosted by Rebecca Gibney. It’s really interesting and apparently a regular Thursday night thing. Keeps me up later than I intended, but then it’s determinedly close the laptop and off to the land of nod.

Pt 12 - Auckland to Waitomo and Otorohanga Kiwi House; Huhu Cafe for dinner

Wednesday 24th February 23, 2010 Auckland to Waitomo inc Otorohanga Kiwi House; Waitomo Caves Hotel and Huhu Cafe

We muck about getting petrol, with some frustration arising from incorrect directions provided by the reception staff at Quay West. It is 10:30 am by the time we are heading out of Auckland on the Southern Motorway. Leaving Auckland and merging onto the motorway there is actually a set of traffic lights controlling the merge. This seems to us to be an unnecessary delay for motorists. Is it really necessary?
We wonder if drivers around here unbelievably rude to eachother or something? Surely they could handle just taking turns on a voluntary basis…. but. we have seen no evidence of driver discourtesy that would warrant such an intevention. Ultimately it is explained that this trickle feeding of cars onto the motorway is in an attempt to ease congestion and keep the traffic free flowing.



The scenery is pretty similar to the rural views around Northland for a while, then at Rangiriri there is a promise of things to come as we wiz past a majestic view down across some wetlands to the ranges beyond. There are signs for turns to the wetland and to Rangiriri Pa. It seems like a fun place to explore if more time was available. These late nights and late getaways are starting to become frustrating.

The landscape is brown. Dried in the summer heat in a period of unusually low rainfall. We pass through some sections where roadworks are underway and we are advised to wash our car the same day if we should get concrete splashes on it anywhere. We have passed a lot of roadworks in our travels this trip so there’s quite a few sections where travel time has been extended as a result.

Our next sign of note comes as we are alerted in brown that there is a lookout to the local power station… hmm.. we just can’t resist it so we chuck a uey and head back and pull over into the viewing layby where a mobile coffee shop has set up operations. It is indeed a clear view of a large power station across a river. It seems from the look of it that some effort was put into making the power station an interesting and modern looking edifice.



Huntly itself seems a nice little town. It was a good decision to erect some nice ornate poles for the street lighting. A little way along there is a sign to a Coal Museum. Ah ha. So it is a coal fired powered station. That’s interesting. You don’t hear about NZ’s coal industry much at all. A coal museum sounds rather quirky and interesting.. I wish I had more time today. Looking into it on their website, apparently Huntly Power Station is the countrys’ largest thermal power station. Its generating units burn either coal, gas or a combination of the two, and can provide up to 20% of New Zealands electricity.

Huntly township has a flash set of electronic public toilets in the main street too if a comfort stop is needed. In our experience these sorts of facilities involve a small payment, but we don’t check this one so can’t say for sure what if any cost might be involved.

Leaving Huntly there is a long avenue of large evergreen magnolias.. these big magnolias seem a popular choice around this part of New Zealand.

It is a fairly uneventful drive heading down to Hamilton. We decide to take the SH1B when we see a sign to an historic home and garden along that route. We continue to follow the brown signs and we end up at a lovely place called Woodlands. There is also a Woodlands Café nicely set overlooking a cute playing field. The house itself is a beautiful and ornate white weatherboard set in “gardens of significance”. We are really tempted to stop here , but the café looks not quite open yet, though there are people about. Hamilton Gardens is just down the road. We decide we had better just be satisfied with the quick squizz we have had and head to Hamilton Gardens… a decision we come to regret.

It’s interesting skirting around the edge of Hamilton on this side. We note new housing developments with virtually non-existent backyards. .. like new developments everywhere, it seems. Very much like new developments at home at any rate.

You can’t miss the entrance to Hamilton Gardens as the main routes heading generally south throw you straight at them. We have no difficulty parking today. It’s bang on lunch time and the weather is quite warm. Lunch is a priority but I can’t resist a slight detour to admire some beautiful remote control boats that are operating on the lake.



Turns out the restaurant is closed today for a private function but the café is open. We wander around and find a large group of outdoor tables with umbrellas and a small doorway into the café. They offer pretty standard fare. Burgers, lamb salad, chicken salad, various Panini or croissants. We place our order – croissant and salad and a burger with wedges and head out to the last available table to wait for delivery. We wait ....and wait… and wait. I guess I got off lightly, my croissant doesn’t come from the kitchen apparently and so I only have to wait 20 mins or thereabouts. Hubby’s hamburger is a kitchen product and it’s about 40 mins before the food is brought out. It’s getting pretty warm even with the protection offered by the umbrella. Oh how we wish we’d stopped at Woodlands House and Woodlands Café! My salad is nicely dressed but is mostly lettuce leaves. The bacon on the croissant is dry and hard. As have the other burgers we’ve tried, hubby’s burger has a sort of sausage patty for the meat. We’re concluding that kiwi burgers are intended to use crappy meat. The café at the Museum yesterday also used crappy meat and overall that café was pretty high quality, so this must be how kiwis prefer their burgers.. oh well, each to their own we suppose.

It’s hot and we’re over it by the time we’ve finished lunch and time is slipping away. I can however report that the toilets were pretty darn impressive.



We prioritise the Kiwi House at Otorohanga over a walk around the gardens. These late starts have just got to end. They are really cramping my travel style!

It’s only a pretty short drive down into Waikato. Waikato is pretty. There are more mountains and apparently they have had more rain. Though we have noted that even in the brown regions where rain has been limited the dams are full. It’s a kind drought that still leaves the dams full!



We pass through Te Awamutu noting for hubby that this is the Finn brothers’ home town. It’s quite substantial and prosperous looking. I note the sign out to Yarndley’s brush remnant forest, but we have no time for more detours…grr.
Otorohanga has lined the long main road with hanging baskets of flowers. Nice Touch.



Once again the Kiwi House is well signposted. Just a few cars in the carpark. We head on in and pay our $16 entry.

The first stop on the route through the park is the kiwi house. Here we find two male north island brown kiwi. One from Taranaki and the other from Northland. They are so adorable and it is so interesting seeing them reaching up as they fossick around their enclosure. You just get so used to seeing them in their downward facing fossicking pose you don’t think about what they might look like when they look up.

Moving on there are a number of enclosures with young geckos and tuatara. One enclosure includes some beautiful bright green fellows that look like the ones we saw news reports about saying people try to smuggle them out of the country. I have to say, they are very beautiful so I can understand why they would be in demand… not that that justifies smuggling such a rare little guy out of their habitat of course.

There are a lot of different sorts of skinks and reptiles, most native to New Zealand. The Otago skink climbs up and demonstrates its preference for sunning itself on rock ledges. There are also foreign reptiles such as leopard geckos from Asia and the middle east which is really cool.

Very active and entertaining, the tuatara are a hit as they get stuck into their dinner of what we assume are probably meal worms or something.



On we go to visit the birds. At the pond we enjoy watching some other tourists feeding the ducks. Lovely little Pateke (brown teal). They are so dainty. A few of these individuals are injured or deformed. One has a deformed foot, another a broken bill. Lucky they have made it here where they have an easier time of it than in the wild.



By comparison the Parere (grey ducks) seem huge. The big threat to Parere is cross breeding with mallards… yes, like the Pacific Black Duck in Australia, which is an extremely similar bird.. but PBD’s aren’t in so much trouble as far as I know.

Several enclosures house the flightless Campbell Island Teal. One of the rarest ducks on earth and subject of a captive breeding program. We pause for a while to look at one male still in breeding colour. Cool.



Nearby, what I thought might be a young black stilt wanders about in the enclosure with a Campbell Island Teal. The black stilt is another beautiful indigenous bird that is subject to captive breeding programs, as we know from our visit to the black stilt hide near Twizel last November. However it turns out this bird is actually a pied stilt. Stilts and avocets are such nifty birds!

An enclosure with varied Oystercatches is interesting too. The perils of not bringing your birding field guide.. these varied oystercatchers may well be what we've been seeing around the place and I've been thinking of as than pied or sooty oystercatchers. The varied oystercatchers can have either black or white plumage colouration. Interesting. Water birds have never been my strongpoint! (I'm more a teeny little bush birds enthusiast as a general rule.)



We’re not done with the extremely rare creatures yet. Soon we are watching a female Antipodes Island Parakeet as she feeds in the grasses of the enclosure. Currently raising chicks hatched in January this bird is yet another participant in a captive breeding program. Insurance against a disaster occurring to the wild population.

We head into the large free flight aviary and find ourselves shadowed by a Pateke. It flies after us time after time, almost skimming our heads and then perching just ahead of us.. clearly expecting we should have bought the duck food on sale at the entrance. .. which I would recommend doing, even though we didn’t.

We wander past enclosures with north island kaka and kea. The kaka are asleep and the kea are missing the lively intelligence in their eyes and over all expressiveness that is such a great feature of the wild birds we have seen. I guess it’s a mind numbingly boring life for a kea in an aviary. I wonder what they are given to do. These captive birds have dry plumage. In the wild all the birds we saw were wet. When dry the feathers have a beautiful metallic green sheen.. that’s no substitute for the lively eyes though.

Back at the gift shop they have the cards Mum wanted me to pick up. The blue bird.. ah yes, it’s the kokako. It does look very blue on this card. That has to be the one she means. I had asked daughter 2 to check it and get me more detail but I’ve not heard back about it.. with her responsibilities as bridesmaid and medical studies in full swing, no doubt she’s being run ragged. I’ll just have to wing it. The bird call cards are expensive here though, the most expensive outlet for them I saw anywhere in all our NZ travels. Ah well, it’s for a good cause. The lady serving tells me that the calls were all recorded from live birds in the wild and it took ages to get them all clearly for the cards.

It turned out that mum actually wanted a bellbird card! Fortunately (?) although she already has a kokako card it has stopped working, so this new one was welcome.. phew!

We hop back in the car and its only a short drive through to Waitomo Caves Hotel. We are staying in the old section of the hotel. Weatherboard and over a hundred years old. It’s a spectacular building. Really gorgeous, but this section at least is in great need of restoration. We understand from overheard conversation at breakfast that renovations are being progressively undertaken and we are very pleased to hear it. This magnificent and no doubt iconic building deserves the best care. It will no doubt take millions of dollars to complete the job. Accommodation will no doubt be very expensive when they are finished. While the room we are in is showing it’s age we are pleased to contribute the dollars and keep the place with money coming in to hopefully contribute the resurrection of “a grand old dame” as one guest book comment put it.

Dinner is at the huhu café. We rang ahead and made a booking at the last minute and just as well. They are busy tonight, but they are coping brilliantly. Our first course we restrict ourselves to the Rewana bread with oils and butter. We don’t like the oil this time, a bit too peppery perhaps, but that’s no loss as the butter on the rewana bread is delicious.

So much on the menu we’d like to try, but we stick to just getting a main. Hubby goes for the crispy duck with citrus, pancetta & watercress salad, kumara mash, orange and port wine jelly ($35) and I have the organic sirloin steak with potato hash cake, peppercorn salsa verde, thyme roasted tomatoes and caramelised ($35). Both are totally delicious but hubby wins without any difficulty. Hmm. With the mains so good we cannot resist the dessert. We don’t need the menu. We decided earlier which were the irresistible looking options. Hubby goes for the caramelised rum banana on toasted banana bread with hokey pokey icecream ($12) I go for the oven roasted stone fruit with vanilla bean ice cream and brandy basket ($12). Delicious on both counts, the stone fruit a good choice if you don't like your dessert too be oversweet. Hubby says he won again… well… it’s pretty close on the dessert front I think, but overall he must be declared the winner.

Home for an early night which I badly need. Local TV stations doing their best to foil my plan but I hold strong and shut my eyes. Big day coming up tomorrow.