We woke up to a torrential downpour drumming against the roof of the van. Always the optimists, we went to hire snowboarding gear only to discover the mountains were closed pending a final decision at 10am. To kill some time we wondered around the visitors centre in Whakapapa villiage and, amongst other useful tips, learnt that to protect kiwis you shouldn't replace pet cats when they die and possum fur makes great hats. Thrilling stuff. Itching to get on the slopes we sat trhrough a 15 minute documentary about volcanoes which only served to scare the living daylights out of us on the basis we were contemplating snowboarding down an active volcano in approximately.............hooray they opened
Happy Valley, the lower part of the mountain. Driving up the mountian was treacherous and the snowchains made the van rattle so hard we feared for the safety of our crockery. As the blizzard worsened and we passed buried cars at the side of the road, we realised that our enjoyment on the slopes would be seriously tempered by 10 metre visability. To cut a long story short we decided against snowboarding without thermals in -3c and retreated to the warmth of Whakapapa pub for the night. Feeling vaguely guilty that we weren't braving the weather conditions for a trek in Tongariro National Park, we worked our way through a selection of New Zealand's finest beer and concluded that it is the one thing that is disapointing in the Land of the long white cloud. We have not tasted such diluted fare since student-hood!
On the return leg to Cambridge where we prayed our new credit cards had arrived, we stopped at
Waitomo glow-worm caves. What a sight! We walked through caves of pink and brown stalagmites and stalagtites that had grown into amazing formations to offer an alternative type of modern art gallery. The accoustics are reportedly so good in these caves that Dame Kiri Te Kanawa once said it was the best place she had ever performed - eat your heart our Manuas and Buenos Aires opera houses! But the highlight was the boat ride into the glow-worm grotto. In the darkness of the cave with the greeny white specks on the ceiling, it is hard to imagine the gross lavae that creates them. You could have almost been in the Amazon on an incredible starry night. The sight leaves you awestruck and before you know it, you are being whisked back to the entrance. Unfortunately due to the recent flooding in the area, we couldn't explore anymore of the caves in the region so we headed back to Cambridge where our credit cards were waiting for us. After a lovely tea with Auntie Maureen and Uncle Rob, we got an early night to prepare for some lengthy driving to and around the Coramandel Peninsula next day.
<< Home