January 27, 2019
After having our breakfast at the B and B and playing with the cat, we drove into town to get gas and ice. Then we drove back to the Tokaanu Hot Springs to see what the geyser was doing. This time we lucked out and saw two eruptions with a closed interval of 28 minutes.
Then it was time to say goodbye to the thermal features. We headed north toward Waitomo (estimated 2 hours 10 minutes drive time). The weather had been sunny at the geyser, but as we headed north it deteriorated to clouds and drizzling rain. Heinrich drove to our first destination, Omaru Falls. This was a half hour walk through a small forest and then on the edge of some farmland. It was cloudy but not raining for the walk. Nobody else was there, and it was a pleasant hike. The trail led to a good view of the waterfall.
I drove to Waitomo. It was too early to check in, so we drove on for another half hour to see the Mangapohue Natural Bridge. This was a 10-minute walk through a nice river gorge. It was drizzling rain while we were there, but it did not spoil the view. Further down the road was the 10-minute hike to another very impressive waterfall: Marokopa Falls.
I drove back to Waitomo and we checked into our room at the Kiwi Paka Backbackers. We had a chalet room with a private bathroom and refrigerator.
Our tour of the Waitomo Caves started at 4 PM. First we visited Arenui Cave. This was a dry cave (no glowworms) but the formations were spectacular! We had about a half hour inside the cave; I wish it had been longer.
Next we visited Waitomo Glowworm Cave. We took a boat ride to where the majority of the glowworms were located. There were hundreds of tiny blue lights glowing on the ceiling of the cave. It reminded me of being inside a planetarium where you look up to see the stars. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos inside this cave, so the only photo I have is of the exit.
The last cave was Ruakuri. This was a 90-minute tour through a cave that included both formations and glowworms. Personally I thought the tour was a little too long, the formations were better in Arenui, and the glowworms were better in Waitomo Glowworm Cave. But if you had time for only one cave, Ruakuri would be a good one since it had both formations and glowworms, and photos were allowed.
After the cave tours we went to the Huhu Cafe for dinner. By this time the weather had turned to partly cloudy, so it was a nice evening. I had the smoked salmon and Heinrich had the lamb curry. The prices were pretty good, considering we were in a resort area.
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