Editor Pick
Legendary Black Water Rafting Co. pt 2
- April 27, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
stomps from Houston, Texas
This is a continuation of my Legendary Black Water Rafting Co review.
Just being in the caves was exciting in itself. Part of the time, we had to walk, through fairly low-roofed caverns. We were very careful to make sure that we did not damage the rocks or the overhangs we were walking by, since the companies do everything they can to preserve the caves in their natural beauty. The other part of the time, we were either in knee-deep water or actually floating in our tubes.
One of the most exciting parts was jumping backwards over waterfalls into the water below. There was just that element of danger in it, where you didn't actually know where you were jumping to—you just hoped that you were missing any rocks! I got to be one of the first people off the biggest waterfall, which was a good 2-3m tall, so it was a little nerve wracking, since they told us if we didn't jump far enough we'd end up on a rock… rear end first. It was fun being at the bottom and seeing people flying through the air when I made it though. Everyone missed the rocks, which was a good thing. Another amusing thing—when Grant was showing us how to fit in our tube, someone piped up with, "Guide's got back!"
After the waterfall was the best part, the glowworms. Having been informed earlier that they were essentially maggots that burn their droppings to catch food in the stringy webs they have woven and hung from the ceiling didn't make it any less exciting. It was amazing and very, very worth it. In this part of the cave, the roof was very high above us, and the stream was essentially straight, so we could just float along. There were so many of them, and as we floated down the stream in a chain with our lights off, it seemed like galaxies of green stars. Even the loudest people were mesmerized. We just sat and stared, and would have done so for much longer, had the stream not taken us out of the main cavern.
After that, We did a bit more caving, before Grant informed us we were going to play a game called "Let's find our way out of the cave in the dark." No one cheated, so we were all just bouncing off of one another in the cave trying to find the right way out. It was very amusing for me, which means it must have been more so for the guides, but they obviously made sure all of us came out in the end. And it was really cool finally seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel," although I felt temporarily blinded when I finally reached it.
Back at Blackwater, we took hot showers and got bagels and soup, and then sat around the table for a good chat. Overall, a highly enjoyable 3 hours that I would recommend to anyone that is not claustrophobic!
From journal The Black Waters of Waitomo
Editor Pick
Legendary Black Water Rafting Co.
- April 27, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
stomps from Houston, Texas
The $90 trip I took with the Legendary Black Water Rafting Co (BWRC) was worth the trip to Waitomo on its own. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this trip. It started with meeting at the BWRC headquarters, located on the way into town on Highway 37. Once our group got together, which in my case consisted of a group of 30-something friends from Auckland and me, we were given wetsuits to get into. This, in itself, was rather amusing, with one of the ladies in the group insisting that our male guide help her into it. After the wetsuit, we got some more great that made us look really cool--old, beaten-up gym shorts for over our wetsuit (so they get beat up on rocks, not the wetsuit itself) and big Wellies. The guide was even nice enough to tape my little toe, which was broken at the time, to the two toes beside it with pretty heavy tape, since your feet take a bit of a beating in the cave. So, my balance was totally off, but I could walk... mostly.
Riding in the bus was interesting in itself, since we were all geared up, including helmets, and the bus was packed. Our first stop was not at the Ruakuri Cave, where our actual caving adventure was to be, but at a little, and might I say freezing, river. Here, we picked out tubes that were just the right size, so we fell into them a little, but not enough to bang our butts on the rocks. Then they took us to a platform, which they informed us we had to jump off of. This was practice for jumping off the waterfalls in the cave, so the guides could make sure our technique was correct, since, when you are in the cave, if you just fall rather than launching yourself out, you'll hit the rocks rather than splashing into the water. It was here, too, where we had a moment of silence for the Black Water guide who had died the previous night--not caving, but playing rugby. The guides were very professional and we still had a great trip, even though they definitely had other things on their mind.
The next bus ride was even more interesting, since we had inner tubes along with all of us to fit into the bus. We somehow fit, although I wouldn't have been surprised if there were tubes or legs sticking out the windows. We then climbed down into the entrance of the cave, where one of the guides, Grant, told us about the origin of the name Ruakuri Cave--its Maori for dog's den, because dogs lived in the entrance when it was discovered. After being given a few directions, we took off into the cave. It was amazing. I wasn't claustrophobic at all and only had minimum trouble walking.
This review is continued in "Black Water Rafting Co pt 2."
From journal The Black Waters of Waitomo