We arrived at Waitomo early and couldnt check into our hotel for 3-4 hours. So we dropped off our bags and went to have a look around town. This took us about 10 minutes (Waitomo survives as a town solely because of the caves and the gloworms, so there isn't much to look at!) so we had a look around the Cave Museum and then decided to take a trip through the Gloworm Grotto. We joined our guide and group and set off. We had a good look at stalagtites and stalagmites and learnt all about the gloworms. They are actually grubs who emit a light out of their tail to attract their food, which they then catch with web-like "fishing lines". Education over. We then boarded a small boat in pitch darkness and had a slow ride looking up at hundreds of gloworms. Spectacular sight. After this was finished we could check in. The reason we were staying in a hotel instead of a hostel was so we had a TV with Sky Sports and i could watch the Champions League Final, but Hannah was overjoyed to see a bath in our bathroom, her first chance for a soak since Bangkok!

A dismal morning watching the game, but i perked up ready for our Tumu Tumu Toobing. We had yet another wetsuit to put on, some fetching wellies and a hard-hat with light. The we set off with our guide and 4 others (one of whom was called Rupert!). We were underground for 2 hours and climbed, crawled, squeezed, waded and swam our way through before we got to the Toobing: a float down an underground river on an innertube whilst looking up at the gloworms. We had to turn our lights off as they turn off their bums if they see a light, so it was pitch black again, meaning many rocks were hit on the way! It was great fun.

We then went back to our comfy hotel room for our last night before getting the bus to Auckland, our last stop in New Zealand!