Auckland - Rotorua

Leaving Auckland via the Bombay Hills, we make tracks for what is reputedly the smelliest place in New Zealand - Rotorua!

On the way we make a stop at the spectacular Waitomo Glowworm Caves. There are guided cave tours available, but also a number of more adventurous activities. We decide to go for Waitomo Adventures' Tuma Tuma TOOBing, which we are told involves floating through the caves on a large tyre inner tube. What nobody tells us though, is that the water level is currently so high that the tubes no longer fit through most of the caverns and we have to swim instead! This comes as a bit of a shock considering neither of us are very confident in water. However, with the help of our crazy guide we just about make it through without drowning!

The best shock comes later when we learn that the huge weta insects that our guide was telling us about (in jest we thought) are actually real, and were seen in the caves by several members of the group behind us! I am not a lover of insects, especially anything bigger than a fingernail, and these things are huge (the more curious readers can see a picture of one here).