Today we got on the bus to Waitomo. Stopping first for a walk over swing bridges and through a 1km pitch black tunnel - getting us used to the dark for our black water rafting later in the day.

A short while later we arrived in Waitomo and David went straight off on his rafting trip as he had picked the 5 hour trip, rather than the 3 hour one I had picked.

So while he started his adventure, I got us sorted in our twin room and ordered us pizza for our return.

The next thing I knew I was getting suited up for my own black water rafting in some rather damp wetsuits - which we had to swear not to pee in as it made the suit absolutely stink!

We first stopped and had some practise jumping backwards off a ledge into the water with our rubber rings. (Into some freezing cold water might I add) We then practised our snake where we all joined together in a long line - which would we be doing in the caves.

Ready to get into the caves we climbed down only to find the group in front of us were having a lot of difficulty as a lot of the people had disabilities. This meant they had to pinch one of our guides for a bit and were running 1hr 30minutes late! Once we got our guide back they decided they didn't want us to just wait around so instead took us into a different part of the caves where we got to climb up waterfalls. I absolutely loved this even though we were in very tight spaces and it really made me want to start rock climbing properly. David later told me he didn't enjoy this bit as much though!

Finally starting our trip an hour later, we spent the next 3 hours jumping off waterfalls, climbing through caves and floating in the pitch black looking at the glowworms above our heads. You soon got used to the freezing water, and once your hands went numb it was quite enjoyable!

Almost too soon we finished our adventure and went back to the rafting centre for a warm shower, soup and bagels. It was an absolutely brilliant experience and I'm so glad I did it. I would definitely do it again but I'm not sure about spending much longer in that water - it took ages to warm back up!

Arriving back at the hostel I had my pizza which had been left in my room (so handy), had another warm shower and went to bed, as everyone was absolutely shattered from the day.