Waitomo Caves

So I warn you, this is a massively long blog (that is, if I can write it all before my time online is up).

After several days of just wandering and doing nothing but the basics, Sam and I went on a one-day trip to the Waitomo Caves (ride provided by our hostel). First we went up to Mt. Eden, which is the highest point in Auckland. Best view of the city. Mt. Eden is actually a dormant volcano, and apparently, Auckland sits on top of 64 dormant volcanoes. Any place in Auckland that's like a large hill with trees is one. Crazy, right? Here's a picture of the crater of Mt. Eden. It's huge!
From this point you can also see Eden Park which is where NZ's pro rugby team, the AllBlacks, play their games. Oh, and there's also a point in Auckland called One Tree Hill (unfortunately, the tree was cut down long ago). I wonder if this had anything to do with that TV show.

After that it was a 3-hour drive south out of Auckland to Waitomo, famous for its many caves. We decided to go blackwater rafting. It isn't like whitewater rafting (although it's called blackwater rafting because it's underground), but you go along the underground streams on inflated tubes. Some parts were so deep that Sam couldn't feel the bottom.

We donned our wetsuites, which I've gotta say, are so weirdly uncomfortable. Hard to put on, hard to breathe in, and hard to move in. I swear, the walking we had to do to get to the caves was so tiring. Anywho, underneath it was crazy! Pitch-black, except for our headlights and the gloworms overhead. It's like looking up at the stars, but they're so close you could touch them. The cave we were in was called Te Anaroa, which means the "long cave" (I think). Crawled through narrow openings (really really narrow..), stood under underground waterfalls, floated down streams, jumped down a 5-foot high waterfall, sang in caves with amazing acoustics... definitely a crazy experience!
Spelunking would be a great hobby.. So as you can guess, this totally has us looking forward to the other crazy adrenaline-packed stuff they've got in NZ. But last night (and this morning), we were pretty chill. The ride back was not that enjoyable; Sam and I were both cold with slight headaches.

Ooh, I almost forgot to mention that on the way to the Waitomo Caves, we saw an animal's fur being sheared. Guess what animal?
That's right: a rabbit! Seriously. It's an angora rabbit - it's fur grows out long and furry and soft, and they're sheared every 6(?) weeks. It was a pretty interesting sight, and you won't believe how soft it is (I got a sample).

I've got so much more to write, but this will do for now. Next you guys can read about all the random thoughts I've got about NZ.