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| A last look at Lake Rotorua |
We packed up this morning and drove the 140km west to Waitomo Caves. An uneventful drive although we did stop to take some photos of a paddock full of deer.
We arrived at Waitomo in time for a nice lunch at the Ho-Ho cafe before our afternoon date with the caves.
Wow!! What a spot! Our guide initially took us through lots of smaller caves to the huge Cathedral Cave with its 18-metre ceiling. Apparently, it has superb acoustics and has hosted concerts and weddings with over 200 people. We then went further down (lots of steps) and eventually came to the river where a boat was waiting for us. The short boat ride took us through the glow worm grotto in absolute silence with the roof of the cave covered with millions of glowworms - just amazing. The boat ride ended where the river enters the cave system. We disembarked for the forest path back to the Caves Centre. It was all quiet an experience and very well done.
Accommodation tonight was at Waitomo Guest Lodge. We booked in and the lady suggested that if we looking for something more to do we should do the Ruakuri Bush Walk at dusk. We were not disappointed. It's only a short walk (about 2km) but is pretty stunning - lots of variety, caves, tunnels, stunning forest and an incredible gorge. And yes we did see glowworms. No wonder it's listed as one of the eight best walks on North Island.
Back to Waitoma and the plan was to have dinner at the pub. However, there had been a football match at Waitoma that day and the pub was packed. Back to the Ho-Ho for a very pleasant evening meal. The fact that it was just across the road from Waitomo Guest Lodge was a bonus.
