Exploring the Underground Galaxy of Glowworms

As we arrived at the WildWest Adventure Center , we were immediately instructed on the dangers of caving… and as with our other adventures so far, we signed our lives away! After the briefing we were once again sized up and fitted for our wetsuits, long underwear, thermal footwear, Gumby Boots , and crash helmets equipped with a front head light (just picture the biggest dork you can imagine… yes, that’s what we looked like!).

The trip began with a ride into the Coal Mining Territory followed by a 40 minute hike to the entrance of the cave which includes several crossings over unsteady rope brides, rooted terriane, and sludging through mud puddle. Oh yes, keep in mind that this was in the full gear we mentioned above! Once we finally reached the caves entrance, we were once again briefed on the dangers of caving and given once last chance to turn around before entering into the two hour tramp (kiwi word for hiking) through the glowworm cave approximately 100 meters into the ground.
As we entered the cave, we only had our guide Sabastian, an Aussie, and our own head lamps to guide us through. It is hard to describe the actual feeling of being inside this cave. Can you picture this…

Daylight no longer exists. The comfort of the steady ground is gone. The terraine keeps going further down into the ground getting colder and wetter as we venture forward. There are boulders that we must climb and natural “pot holes” of water that we must avoid that are anywhere from a few inches to 10 feet deep. The air was cold and damp and everything around us was slimy and slippery and we had to keep three body parts in contact with the rock at all times (either two arms and a foot or two feet and an arm) that was unless we were in the water completely. The only sound you could hear was the flow of the waterfalls ahead, our splashing feets beneath us, or the sound of own voices.

The “initiation” of gloveworm caving began with a swim across the largest of the water pools - although it was a chilling endeavor, it was nothing compared to the cold from the previous days swim on the glacier. We all made it safely across and we offered our first challenge: a crawl through one of the side caves which you had to slitter along on your stomach twisting and turning and contorting your body through for a 10 minute trip to the other side. Once you enter there was no way to stand up, turn back, kneel, or even stop… you just had to keep going forward until you reached the other side of the tunnel. Even for the strong at heart, this was a very claustrophobic experience.

Continuing to move through the cave we got to see glimpses of the flickering lights of the glowworms above. It was an experience that almost seemed fake. It was a ceiling scattered with what seemed to be thousands of green Christmas lights… you had to keep reminding yourself that this wasn’t a Disney world ride, but an actual cave filled with glowing–worms! The next challenge was a slide down the natural waterslide…

The waterslide - sitting on top of the waterfall you wondered how you were actually going to maneuver into the tiny manhole below that plunged into the earth (depth unknown, we had to just trust that it was deep enough for us and that we would make it out!). Seriously, the pool below was so small. Picture a typical waterfall with a pool of water below, that was not it! Now picture a typical waterfall with a manhole sized pool below. It felt like a roll of the dice that we would actually make it into the water without crashing into the rocks along the side. One at a time, we hugged ourselves with our knees pulled up to our chests and took the plunge into the unknown merky water below. This was no small feet… our bodies were completely submerged, head lamps and all, one by one we all made it and out successfully.


Some of the other activities along the cave route included tubing backwards down the cave river head lamps turned off... while we navigating through the cave only by the light of the glowworms above, a hot chocolate break , a trip through love tunnel, and to finish things off an exhilarating white knuckle down the 100 foot natural rock hydro slide. What a day. Unfortunately no personal pictures since our underwater camera did not have a flash… you just have to trust us on this one! The photo above is a sample from the tour company we used.

Our last stops in the South Island were uneventful, but we got to relax and unwind at Hanmer Springs (natural thermal pools) and spend a quiet afternoon exploring the city of Christchurch. Now we’re off to Wellington on the North Island!

A day on Franz Joseph Glacier....Adventurous, Stupid, or Crazy???

We entered the day thinking it was not going to include anything over the top or outright insane like our day in Queenstown…. the day started in the morning with a 3 hr hike through the mountains to the bottom of Franz Joseph Glacier. The views were stunning as expected. The trail was intermediate. And the bus ride back was fine… oh wait, there was no existence of the “easy bus to catch back”… no worries, we hitch hiked back to town.

We finally got a little down time and ate lunch at the hostel and prepared for our Heli Hike (helicopter ride to near the top of the Glacier for our hike through the ice). The helicopter ride was amazing, a bit shorter to our surprise… it left us wanting more… but was quite spectacular and all and all left us pleased that this was going to be the adrenaline rush for the day; little did we know what was in store...

Caveman Carl, our glacier (correct pronunciation in New Zealand: GLAY – C - AIR) guide, met us at the top. As expected… he was ruggid., energetic, thrilled with life, and enthusiastic to show us a good time… in fact, he had the group laughing from the start telling us we were all going to swim in the glacier pools… since we were all bundled up in our winter gear, we knew he was kidding.
As we cruised up and down the glacier with our crampons, windbreakers, hats, gloves, thermal socks, and hiking boots (all provided by the outfitter because although you would expect NZ to be warm… it is actually very cold here… it is a glacier you know!). We got to walk on the glacier surface, climb through blue ice caves, and slip through crevasses that you didn’t think a body could fit. Finally, we arrived at one of the largest ice pools on the Glacier… we were stopped to have a snack and some water. Wide eyed and in awe, before we barely sat down, Caveman Carl was half naked and standing atop the peak of the pool. Oh yes… within seconds he actually cannon balled into the ice cold pool! As he climbed out, he said “who’s next?”

All it took was an unspoken glance between us and we stripped down (don’t worry Rob, Alison wasn’t naked ). And then, we climbed to the top ready to jump…. ONE… TWO… THREE… we plunged into the 33 degree water with our boots and crampon’s still on our feet! The water was numbing, but the adrenaline rush made it all worth our while. To our surprise as we climbed out of the water to pile back on our warm clothes (relatively)… the three other groups on the Glacier had all stopped to take pictures of our leap. Once again, this felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity that we could not pass up. Would we do it again? Only time will tell…



So you tell us, what do you think?
Are we…
(A): Adventurous: (1)inclined or willing to engage in adventures; enjoying adventures. (2)full of risk; requiring courage; hazardous: an adventurous undertaking.

(B): Crazy: (1)mentally deranged; demented; insane. (2)senseless; impractical; totally unsound: a crazy scheme.

(C): Stupid: (1)foolish; senseless.

You be the judge!!!!

P.S. Above is the picture of all the glacier pool swimmers!

A Leap of Faith

For those of you that doubted... didn't encourage... or tried to convince us otherwise... WE DID IT!!! We bungied off the third highest jump in the world. Third to South Africa and Hong Kong, respectively. The jump was called the Nevis... we plunged 134 meters (that is over 400 feet!!!) off a cable car suspended over a gorge with river rapids below. It was the most terrifying thrilling awe inspiring adventure either of us have even done! It is going to be pretty hard to beat.

The experience of standing on the ledge looking out to one of the most beautiful landscapes imaginable with the kiwi guide counting to three and your mind goes peaceful, you dive off the edge like you're diving into a swimming pool, arms stretched out as you sore like a bird down to the bottom anticipating the pull of the bungie cord... the snap comes and the rest is surreal. We wish we could describe exactly how it felt, but that is all we can explain with words. All we can tell you is... that you have to try it once (although we will probably do it again in our lifetime)even if your knees are shaking, heart is racing, or crying in hysterics (not us... but the girl standing next to us)! It was incredible, enough said! Video to come (if we can figure it out).

As if that was not enough, we finished the afternoon with a level 5 white water rafting trip through the Shotgun river that is known for being one of the most lucrative gold mining sites in the world. The adventure was good, but did not even compare to the one described above. Although the scariest part of our day was the drive down Shotgun Road to the beginning rafting site... let's just say we thought if we leaned to the right the whole van would have tipped off the cliffs... we "enjoyed" this for over 40 minutes.. yikes!

Needless to say Queenstown ended on a high. We now truck 6 hours north west through the mountains to the Franz Joseph Glaciers. We hope to be able to send an update soon.

The Long Journey to the Land of the Kiwi's..

The trip started at 8am at the Carlson abode... geared up with our rolling suitcases (yes, you heard that correct we're 27... not 21... no big backpacks this time high class all the way!) and our day packs. We said our goodbyes to the fam and of course little marley moo (he was so upset that Melanie was leaving that he jumped in the car to come with us). As Rob bid us fairwell and kissed Alison goodbye with a threat to be good (hee hee)... we rushed into the terminal to beat the lines and find out that the airport is completely deserted!!

After 22 hours of air travel plus 8 hrs of layovers, we finally arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand!!! Good on us (a new phrase that we learned today that means no worries... kind of strange, but we are on the other side of the planet!). Our adventure started with learning how to drive on the left side of the road... and the right side of the car! By this point in time we have put Beyonce to shame because we keep yelling / singing "to the left, to the left... " in order to avoid a head on collision. A bit scary at first... but we're getting the hang of it. Alison got to be the test pilot after winning a coin toss to chose the first driver.

The drive to The Coronation Lodge was a piece of cake thank god we made it in one piece! Since our room was not ready so we dropped off our bags at the front desk. We realized that after we stepped back outside we needed to use the restroom. WELL, they don't have a public one... but there was a room that was open and looked as though it was about to cleaned by the maid. Melanie told Alison to be on the lookout while she snuck in really quickly. As Melanie was about to walk back out of the bathroom she heard someone in the room and when she peeked out the door there was someone there and it WASN'T Alison... it was the hotel guest unpacking her luggage!! Luckily the woman was facing the window and Melanie, in Pink Panther style, managed to escape unnoticed. Alison of course, was oblivious to the entire situation as she was down the hall looking at a wall of brochures. Melanie grabbed Alison, and we ran out in hysterics!

We walked into town to some of the most breathe taking views. The only comparison might be the rolling hills of Switzerland which Alison has seen first hand (pictures to come). As it was only 11am, we grabbed a bite to eat on the water at The 19th Restaurant... tasted our first fresh New Zealand monkfish and some local St. Claire "Savy" (the kiwi lingo for Savuignon Blanc... and one of our favorite words so far!), took a hike through the gardens, had a photo shoot on the water with some of our new Asian friends, and took a scenic drive through the mountains. Off to shower, grab some dinner, and listen to some local live music. Then it is off to bed to get some rest for our big adventure tomorrow...