Day 21 - Monday March 4, 2024 - In the way to Auckland and Cave tour

By Ellen Outten


The spiral ramp leading down to the opening of the cave

7:45 am and we're on the bus.  This afternoon we'll reach Auckland but on the way, we visit the Ruakuri Caves.

The cave was discovered by local Māori tribe between 400 and 500 years ago.  The guided tour through the Ruakuri Cave starts down a long spiral ramp to the bottom of the cave. This leads to a room full of stalactites, and rare limestone formations that have been created over millions of years.  There are also glowworms which are larvae which over a period of 11 months grow into flies.  

Our guide, through this 1 1/2 hour walk down into the cave, turned on walkway lights periodically so we could follow her.  Many times we were in total darkness so that we could see the glowworms.  

There's a stream that runs beneath and there were people blackwater rafting below using tubes, in darkness!

For my east coast friends, you'll know Lutay Caverns and for some on the West Coast who have been to Carlsbad Caverns you'll appreciate that this is similar but more rustic.  The sights we saw were very interesting.  We weren't allowed to touch the walls.  Many times we had to duck very low to get through an area to the next.  All in all, educational and fascinating to see the stalactites and stalagmites and the curtain walls of this very volcanic area of New Zealand.

The entrance to the cave from the outside 


Winding our way down to the entrance into the cave

An example of the limestone in the cave


















Tile wall in the public toilets in Otorohanga



Comments

  1. DaviisMay 27, 2024 at 9:13 PM

    It is nice blog, thanks for sharing about In the way to Auckland and Cave tour. Embark on an unforgettable journey with TT Tours as you traverse towards Auckland and delve into the depths of captivating caves. Prepare to be awestruck by nature's wonders as you explore stunning landscapes and mysterious underground formations. With TT Tours, every step promises an adventure, every turn reveals a new marvel. If you want book your excursion today and let the exploration begin!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 49 - Wednesday, July 31, 2024 - Stockholm Sweden

By Ellen Outten
Image
  What a great tour  today to end 49 days of cruising.  It was a busy morning.  We had to go off ship and through Swedish immigration at 8 am and then I had to check in for our flight.  That's always an "iffy" process with British Air.  You just never know what problems you'll encounter with ship wifi and a crummy British air website.  With boarding passes in hand for the first leg of the flight, we boarded our tour bus at 9 am for our 3 hour bus tour of Stockholm.   We had a great tour guide.  He spoke wonderful English and had a great sense of humor.  He has never been to the US but deemed our bus to all Green Bay Packers and Mets fans!  Huh? We learned a lot. Not just about the city but about living here in Stockholm.   It's a very expensive city and country.  As he walked through the math, I'm not sure wlhiw anyone can afford to live, even in the outlying areas that are less expensive. We stopped at an overlo...
Read more

Day 3 - Wednesday July 19 - Old City of Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus

By Ellen Outten
Image
  Our first day of touring!  We left the hotel at 9 am and headed 15 minutes down the road to the old town of Lucerne for a 2 hour walking tour.   Our first stop, we picked up a local guide who walked us to the Lion Monument.   It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. If there's a bench, Wayne will find it. From there we went into the Old City for a guideed tour of some of the famous landmarks.  The most famous is the Chapel Bridge.  The timber bridge, together with the water tower are a landmark of Lucerne.  It burned to the ground in 1993 and was rebuilt in 8 months.  The bridge is 672 feet long and is covered with gorgeous flowers.  This year, the flowers are impatiens.   In past years, Wayne tells me, there were geraniums along the entire length of the bridge. We walked the length of the bridge and looked at som...
Read more

Day 23 - Wednesday March 5, 2024 - On the Way home

By Ellen Outten
Image
  Good to be headed home Lots of thoughts as I end this trip. Until a few days before the end of the trip, I never felt 100% The heat on the first day, combined with the rainforest and feeling faint, throwing up did not do much to set a positive tone for the trip Food never seemed to agree with me.  Wayne kept kidding me about how little I ate, but nothing seemed quite right. Breakfasts were all buffets and the food looked tremendous.  It was pretty much, anything you could want to eat, but...the only thing that seemed to want to stay down was corn flakes and a piece of bread. The boat ride to the great barrier reef made me seasick.  I've never gotten sick on a boat, no matter how small or big or waves or bouncing.  The rolling didn't help.  I guess I should count as positive that I was abled to go down inside the mini submarine but I was sweating and hot but managed to keep it together until we surfaced. We had an amazing Bush Dinner with rib eye steaks an...
Read more