Waitomo (Contiki Day 1)

Started my Contiki trip today. We travel around on a bus with about 30 people, including our local Kiwi Contiki travel guide (Nikki) and driver (Nico).

We got right into the goods today, as we started with Black Water Rafting. Here, you suit up in a full wetsuit with boots and a helmet (with a light on the front, like a miner's helmet). Each person gets an inner tube, and you float down an underground cave system, about 1km.

(Getting ready to head into the caves)

When you turn off your headlamp, its completely dark, except for the light emitted from the glow worms on the top of the cave. During some parts of the floatilla, you have to go over waterfalls. You have to jump off backwards blindly and land in the tube. It is pretty scary jumping blindly in the dark.

That night we all headed to the one and only bar in Waitomo (population 45 houses). We celebrated with some beer towers (its good to know New Zealand has all of the usual amenities)

(Derrick from Australia, Marcus from US, Jeff from Australia)

Daily Activities:
- Black Water Rafting: floating through a cave system in the pitch black in your rubber tube.