First thing this morning we went to check out the surfing beaches in Raglan. These are supposed to be some of the best in the world and by 9am there were loads of surfers already in the water. We also went to Whale Bay. Here the orcas come into the bay once a year to play with the surfers. Sadly, not today :-(
Back in the car we drove to Bridal Veil Falls, just outside Raglan. This is the biggest waterfall we've seen yet at 55 meters. Very pretty! We also used the local toilet which was a long drop... certainly an experience!
Claire and I had booked a caving trip at 1pm so we had to drive quickly up to Waitamo. Got there just in time! Sadly Anna was too sick to come and she slept in the car. After putting on some very stinky wet suits, yuck, we went off to the caves. There are loads of different trips to the caves in Waitamo and we picked an adventure-caving trip! It started with a 27m absail down the gorge and then we spent 3 hours in the caves. These were wet caves and the water was pretty deep in places. We saw thousands of glow worms, went black water rafting (sitting on a rubber tube and floating through pitch black caves), caving through some pretty small holes and did a leap of faith into the water. We finished off climbing back up the cliff. It was our first real adventure and loads of fun!
Back in the car, we drove to Rotorua. It is pouring down with rain tonight and chilly for the first time. We arrived at 8, checked into our cabin in the holiday park and went out for some dinner (yum, see picture!). Claire and Anna have now gone to sleep and I'm watching a random film on tv.
Rotorua is one of the world's most concentrated geothermal areas. Steam wafts out of the earth and there are thermal pools, boiling mud and geishas everywhere. The holiday park has it's own pools right outside our room! There is also a hangi oven, where you can cook your food in the heat from the earth. Perhaps we'll try that tomorrow. Also going to check out the spas and the lake and explore the area.