Dear Paul, Jen, Alex and Izzy

Thank you for buying us the blackwater tubing. For ages, we were not sure that we would do it because it wasn't very suitable for Donna, but at the same time I was really keen. In the end we compromised (after all, isn't that what marriage is all about?) by me doing the blackwater rafting and Donna sitting in the pub for two hours waiting for me. Somehow, I think I got the better deal out of this. However, this does mean that I now owe Donna so expect the next blog to be from a cat cafe again.

Even still, it was a close call whether we were going to make it due once again to completely underestimating how long it takes to drive anywhere in New Zealand. Despite leaving New Plymouth with two and a half hours to cover about two inches on the map, we found ourselves still about half an inch away five minutes before the tubing was due to start. Our map doesn't have distances and we don't have a Sat-Nav so we cannot really be more accurate than that. Just as panic was starting to set in, Donna had a brainwave:

'Why don't we ring them up and tell them we are running late?'

'But what with?' I hesitantly asked.

'Well, howabout this new New Zealand mobile we purchased just for such an occasion?'

Genius! I never would have thought of that. So for the first time in three months, we actually made a phone call that didn't involve Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp or any other type of internet calling system. Yes, a genuine mobile telephone call.

It was amazing.

So anyway, blackwater tubing involves taking a rubber tube into a big cave with a river running through it. The cave at Waitomo has the biggest underground river in the world (maybe). Two things you should know about caves: they are very dark and they are very cold. To combat the darkness, we were given helmets with torches on the front. We spent most of the time with the torches switched off. To combat the cold, we all had to wear very fetching industrial strength wetsuits which, when combined with the black rubber rings we had to carry, made us look like we were all off to a bizarre fetish party.

First, we descended into the cave to reach the underground river, at which point I was very grateful for the helmet because I bashed my head on the low cave ceiling about ten times. Next, we turned off all the torches and walked slowly along the path as the icy cold river we were walking into, got deeper and deeper. You couldn't see where you were going so you always had to keep one hand on the person in front of you and the other on the wall to the right. The water got higher and higher, first around your waist, then your chest and then higher. All the time you had your rubber ring loose around your body so eventually you could lift your feet off the floor and gently float along. At the end of the walk was a big drop where you had to jump into darkness into the freezing cold water below.

The other interesting thing about these caves are the thousands and thousands of glowworms in them. The second part of the adventure involved floating in your ring with the tour guides pulling you along by the feet. When you looked up there were so many glowworms, it was like looking at the clearest night sky in the world with thousands and thousands of stars.

The last part involved launching yourself down a big slide in the pitch black and then climbing up loads of stairs to get out, which was particularly hard when your wetsuit was full up with half the river.

The whole thing was really good fun and, as I sit here, now researching cat cafes, I am so glad that I did it.

All our love

Jim and Donna

INTERESTING KIWI FACT OF THE DAY

In a recent survey, New Zealand was voted the country with the fourth worst weather in the world, after Antarctica, Chad and Canada. This is due in most to the big hole in the ozone layer which means that the two or three days of the year when it is not blowing a gale or raining sideways, it is impossible to go outside without being burnt to a crisp within two minutes (even Donna has given up sunbathing here).

This may come as a surprise and a shock to most Kiwis who have a misguided opinion that anyone from England 'must be enjoying the nice weather we have over here'.