Kiwi Adventures around Rotorua

The remainder of the week is spent in Rotorua (which means two lakes) and filled with daily Kiwi adventure. The first thing that we discovered here is that the area has a high amount of geothermal activity as it's on the ring of fire, and as an effect there are boiling ponds and boiling mud. Oh and the entire city wreaks of sulfur.  

After a lunch at our accommodations, a backpacker's called Kiwipaka, we started the first activity of the day. As a side note, backpacker's are basically hostels with public kitchens and bowls/plates/utensils/cookware, and usually a bar and restaurant; ours also has a pool and inexpensive wifi. The first real planned activity that we did in Rotorua was to learn the Haka, and the version that we learned is the one that the New Zealand All Blacks do. In general a Haka tells a story in Maori, and they were often used as war chants to prepare the soldiers for battle and gather their ancestors' spirits for support and to realize why they are fighting. The version of the Haka that we learned was about a ruthless chief who hid in an underground pit and was protected by a farmer and his wife. After learning the words and motions, we were given Maori garb and face paint and did the Haka. 

On Wednesday, we had our independent days of adventure. Everyone signed up before we got to New Zealand for their different activities. Choices varied between bungee jumping, skydiving, mountain biking, zip lining canopy tours, and my choice of white water rafting. Loaded into rafts of 6 people plus our guide, my friends and I ventured down the class 4/5 rapids river, the Kaituna River. The highlight of my first rafting experience was the 7m (21ft) drop about half way through. Each rapid was just as adventurous and exciting as the big drop. Besides swimming down a rapid, we positioned the raft forward into a rapid so that the first two rows (of which I was part) were completely pounded by the waves. We also went up a rapid slightly so that we could come down and get the raft completely on its side and not flip it, and lastly we stood in the raft down one of the rapids. It was quite a tiring experience, ending with carrying the rafts up from the river. Yes, I am on the raft in the photo to the left.

After rafting the day still wasn't over. We ventured to Ogo in Rotorua, a company that does one of the most iconic Kiwi activities, zorbing. If you don't know what it is, it's essentially going down a giant hill in an inflatable human hamster ball. I opted to do a wet zorb and the 350m sidewinder track. Basically that means they add some water inside the zorb and the track is like giant zigzagging switchbacks down the hill. So with my fellow zorb companion Joe, we got in the zorb and experienced exactly what it means to be inside a washing machine as we collided into each other and tried to stand up and gain some sort of control. Doing either is basically impossible it seems. 

In the evening, I and my friend Nathan went swimming and met several Maori teens who are here with their families to watch a tribal competition. Nathan and I spent at least an hour being quizzed about American culture and what we knew about Maori and New Zealand culture. It is quite amazing to discover crossovers and differences and I'm sure that these won't be the only ones I find. I also am really looking forward to the many interactions and conversations with locals to discover more about life here.

On Thursday, we bused 2 hours away to go spelunking in the Waitomo caves and then eat a late lunch on a farm. The caving expedition that I chose was Haggas Honking Holes. We geared up in wetsuits, boots, headlamps and helmets and were given a basic rappelling lessen. We hiked down a few stairs in the heat and as we approached the cave's entrance, could feel the cooling relief coming from below. A short ladder and some scrambling down wet and slippery rocks past stalactites brought us to our first of three rappels. The rappel was about 18m (54ft) and brought us into a massive underwater cavern. We continued to follow the winding and narrow limestone corridors, past more stalagmites and stalactites as icy water flowed past our feet. The stream slowed and we entered another smaller cavern with some deeper pools of water that we waded through and reached the next part of our decent. After rigging my belay device I did two abseils into a series of smaller passageways. These abseils, although shorter, involved going down waterfalls which pounded our faces as we lowered into the unknown abyss. Finally before a bit of army crawling we reached a cavern and everyone turned off their headlamps. In this cavern we discovered the beauty of the ceiling covered in dozens of glow worms. A little bit of rock climbing, ladder crossings, and some more tight squeezes with lots of cold water and we reached the ladder to find sunlight. Another interesting fact point is that we actually drank the water that was dripping in the cave since it has been so filtered by the limestone.