Part 5B: Glowworm Caves, Bridge Jumping, Surfing, and Light Painting (20 photos, 3 videos)

The action continued the next day as we headed West towards Waitomo to check out the otherwordly Glowworm Caves. We decided to splurge and buy the deluxe caving package that included a 50ft repel down an entry shaft, a pitch black zipline over a crevice, tubing in the underground river lit up by the spectacularly blue glow of the worms, and then a 20ft rock climb up through a waterfall. They had a no camera policy because “it would damage the fragile underground ecosystem” AKA they force you to buy their ovepriced photos that they take of you. They wouldn’t even let me take the GoPro which doesn’t have a flash! My anger quickly faded when the tour began because the repel and zipline were so much fun. Then after we got set in the tubes they had everyone turn off their headlamps and float under the caverns with the glowworms. They resembled neon blue stars in the night sky and it was truly unbelievable. We had to then hike through some narrow slots and wade through smaller streams before we got to the waterfall. It was an easy rock climb but there were no ropes or safety harnesses, just a free climb up the waterfall.

Below is a video that shows the Glowworms:

After the tour was over, as we were getting changed out of our wetsuits, we started to chat with one of the tour guides who was interested in our motorbike adventure. She realized we didn’t have any plans for the evening or anywhere to sleep so she invited us to her house where a birthday party was being hosted for another guide. When we arrived there was tons of food being grilled and we traded some beers for some plates of it. One of the locals brought his fire spinning toys and we played with fire under the full moon.

The following day, Sam tied a piece of bamboo sticking off the side of his motorcycle to mount the GoPro to and get a unique riding shot. We were heading to the West coast to try surfing in Raglan and planned to meet up with Brian and Anne for the first time on the North Island. As soon as we got to town we saw locals jumping off of a bridge into the bay so we joined the fun for a few dives and then picked up some groceries. We five stayed at Te Kopua Whanau Campgrounds right on the beach where we set up shop; I did some work on Frankenbike, we sipped some beers, and grilled some steaks. We then enjoyed a stunning sunset from the sandy beach and when darkness fully set in, Brian took some long exposure photos and we played around with light painting well into the night.

Fun for the next 2km.

STICK-CAM.

Getting ready to jump off a bridge.

Sam with a dive.

Kevin with a backflip.

Doing surgery on the ailing Frankenbike.

Light painting the night before was fun but Thursday was a surfing day. We caravan-ed to Ngarunui Beach, rented some wetsuits and surfboards, and gave it a go. It was especially hard for me because I had a broken rib at the time. I think we all managed to pop-up into a surfing stance at least once but nobody got close to hanging-ten. It was fun trying a new sport and we also tossed the rugby ball around on the beach for awhile. Afterwards the motorbikers split off to go to a dealership to get some oil changes and other maintenance done since we would be selling the bikes in about a week. We all met back up at a campsite in the middle of Hamilton. Sam’s bike still had some electrical issues from the stater replacement and Brian was able to fix it, despite knowing nothing about motorcycles.

Surfing along Ngarunui Beach.

Ngarunui Beach.

Maintenance time.

Hamilton Campsite and more motorbike maintenance.