Monday 18th June 2007

It wasn't the alarm that woke me up this morning, it was the chattering of Nikki's teeth! Only joking. We woke up at about 7.30am and snuggled up together, chatting, before braving the world outside. When we did draw back the curtains, we found that it was a beautiful day - although a little fresh!

Even though Nikki had brought us to the wrong place yesterday, Raglan is very nice - it's actually where they filmed the surfing film 'Endless Summer'. We had a quick look round as we drove through, but didn't stop - instead we headed to Hamilton.

When we got there we parked the car and had a look around the shops. What did we buy? Some sweets (Nikki is hooked on Nerds), a jumper each and a hot water bottle.

After a while we set off for Waitomo, to see the Glowworm Caves (this time I looked at the map too) and once again the scenery on the drive was AMAZING - it was just roll after roll of green countryside! The thing we love about driving around New Zealand is that there's no rush. If someone appears behind you and wants to pass - they do, and then you're all alone and you don't see another car for about 15 minutes... perfect!

By the time we'd arrived at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, the sun was really beating down and we sat in the car-park and had a sarnie for our lunch. We didn't know what to expect from the Glowworm Caves - it's just somewhere Nikki had seen on the map - but what we saw was spectacular...

You start by walking into a cave and climbing down some steps until you're about 15 meters underground. It's pretty dark down there, and then they turn on some lights so you're able to see all the stalagmites and stalactites that have formed over thousands of years. There's water dripping through the rocks, from above, all the time - so they're always forming (about a cm every 100-150 years). Apparently, the acoustics are so good in the cave that every year the Maori people have a carol concert that at Christmas and even people like UB40 and Sting have done intimate gigs there!

Next we were taken on a boat and guided through total darkness before stopping and being told to look up. Above us, on the ceiling were thousands of tiny glowworms - lighting up the ceiling like the stars light up the night sky - it was pretty spectacular. We were told that you can only find glowworms in New Zealand and Southern Australia as they don't live as flies for long enough to travel any further!

When we left Waitomo we drove East to the coast and a place called Tauranga where we set up camp. This drive took a few hours, and as we were climbing up into the hills we were able to see the sun setting behind us. We found a camp quite late, and Nikki made us a wicked chicken curry for our tea, before we chilled out in our little van - planning our next adventure!

Wearing our hats to bed - at least our ears will be warm in the morning!