After a few glitches with our planning, we were on our bus at 8am and headed to Waitomo Caves. Waitomo means “water entering a hole in the ground.” The bus ride took about two hours, but our eclectic bus driver gave us commentary along the way. There are about 4.2 million people living in New Zealand, and 1.4 million live in Auckland. We drove through suburbs with funny names like Futa Futa. Mostly we saw Telletubby hills and lots of cows. But the countryside of New Zealand is so green and so beautiful. We finally arrived in Waitomo about 11am.Although photos were forbidden in the caves . . . I broke the rules. Because they were covert, my pictures aren’t that good but I also bought some postcards so you can have an idea what the caves looked like. It was your typical Limestone cave with Stalactites and Stalagmites all over. Our guide had a completely monotone voice and didn’t even crack a smile when he made jokes, which actually made him funnier. The caves were discovered in 1887 by Chief Tane Tinorau whose family still partly owns the caves. As they came in the entrance, they discovered that the cave was full of glowworms. If any of you have seen the Planet Earth series, they do an entire section on glowworms. The female glowworms lay about 120 eggs, which hatch after about 20 days. At this stage, they become larvae, which is the stage in which they glow. They build a nest and then drop down sticky lines from their nest. These lines trap insects, which are then drawn up by the larvae and eaten. They glow to attract the bugs in the same way that bugs are drawn to a light outside on the porch. After about 9 months they create a cocoon for about 13 days to grow into their adult form. The adults look like a large mosquito. Without a mouth, their only function is to reproduce. Dream job right? Only problem is, they only live a few days as an adult. There’s your history lesson; I hope you enjoyed it.
After wandering through the caves, we were taken on a silent boat ride. We were told that sound and light affects the larvae and makes them put out their lights, but we weren’t allowed to test that theory. We boated through the glowworm grotto which was breathtaking. It was millions of little glowing dots above your head, like the most beautiful starry night you’ve ever seen. Some are brighter than others, but those teeny lights draw you in. It was amazing, but too short and soon we were leaving the cave and headed back up to our bus.
We had lunch at the Big Apple Café and then took the two hour bus ride home. It was a long way for some little glowworms, but it was definitely worth seeing. The pictures won’t really do justice.Once we got back, dad and I headed out to make some plans for the rest of our time in Auckland. The only way of really going fishing is to kayak out into the ocean and fish from the kayak. That sounds like fun and an awesome workout all in one. It may or may not work out, but we will see. Either way, we are definitely fishing in Fiji. Our other adventure is a hop on hop off boat ride that travels to a few different islands around the Auckland harbor. Swimming, beaching and tanning sounds like a nice day to me.
That night dad and I went out for dinner at Waterfront Restaurant. I had some amazing Seafood Chowder and dad had a delicious steak. Definitely our best meal in Auckland so far. A little boy was doing laps at the bar and looked just like my nephew from behind. I can’t wait to see Logan when I get home!! We then went to go check out a bar I’ve heard a lot about. It’s called Minus 5. I walked in to the lounge and we found out it was $30 to get in which included one cocktail. Since my dad doesn’t drink, it was pointless for him to go so I decided to go by myself. They made me trade my stilettos for Uggs and gave me a large full coat. Then I had to put on mittens. I handed my dad my purse and my scarf and he went next door to Lenin (a Russian themed bar) to watch me from the windows. Then I walked in the cooler. Everything in this bar is made of ice. The walls, the bar, the couches, the ice sculptures and even your glass. Its sponsored by Smirnoff so all the cocktails are made with Smirnoff vodka. They had a racecar sculpture that had a funnel to drink a shot from and they had another sculpture with an ice luge. I had a fabulous chat with the bartender since we were the only two in the bar. There is another Minus 5 in Vegas but this one is the original one. It stays between 5-7 degrees Celsius. Every 3-5 years they melt it down and rebuild all of the walls, floors and the bar. Every 5 months, new blocks of ice are brought in and new sculptures are carved right in the bar. You are also only allowed to spend 25 minutes in the bar because you get so cold. The bartender also made me lick one of the sculptures, but I tried to pick somewhere no one else would think to lick. I got funny pictures while my dad waved through the window. I was only in there about 15 minutes, but it was a fun experience.
Wednesday I got to sleep in while my parents went out on their own. I got up around 10:30am and headed down to the gym. About 25 minutes into my run my parents came in to let me know they were back. I finished my run and then met them upstairs. My mom was tired and wasn’t up for going to lunch, but I really wanted to go the Sky Tower to get the birds eye view of the city. After a quick rinse off I was ready to go. We motivated mom and headed to the Sky Tower. We had lunch in the Orbit restaurant. After we had talked about how the restaurant revolves, we got to it and mom said “Oh, it moves!” Haha. Dad did fine with the height and we enjoyed a delicious lunch. The views of the city were amazing and we got to see the islands off the coast and even spotted our hotel. We were so stuffed after lunch we had to go back for a nap and we ended up sleeping for two hours. I heard my dad moving so I got up to venture out with him. We got some gifts for the family and found a bookstore because he had finished his book. They had 50% off fiction novels and I’ve started reading books by Paullina Simons. I’m already on my second book of hers and they had a 3-set that I got for just $30. Can’t really afford the extra weight but at least I won’t run out of things to read in Fiji.That night we tried to go back to Waterfront for dinner so mom could have the seafood chowder. They were having a private function so we wandered down Princes Wharf. We had dinner at a little restaurant on the pier and then went to check out a ship my dad has been eyeing for a few days now. It was the most massive ship I have ever seen. It was called the Artic and had two Donzis with 3 300 horsepower Mercury outboards each, half a dozen jet skis, a 6 passenger Sea-Doo, a helicopter pad, a pool and hot tub, and two other boats to name a few extras. We couldn’t figure out who owns it, but we know he wasn’t a veterinarian. I wanted to flirt with the owner, but its hard to impress a man with a massive yacht when you’re with your parents. After a little research we found out it is owned by James Packer and was the honeymoon vessel for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. We had a lovely dessert at the hotel and then settled in for the night.
Today we ventured out on the 360 Discovery Harbour Cruise. It’s a hop on hop off adventure to islands around Auckland. Our first stop was Rangitoto Wharf which is a volcanic island that last erupted 600 years ago. It is the largest and youngest of the Auckland volcanoes (of which they have 42). We walked around the island for a while and then caught some sun. My dad was upset he didn’t have a fishing rod with him, but it was a little windy for fly-fishing. We then hopped back on the boat and went past Motuihe Island, which has beautiful white sand beaches and evidently a bunch of Kiwis were released on the island. It was too windy to stop there but we got a good view. We stopped again at Orakei Wharf to let some passengers off and then headed back to port in downtown Auckland. We disembarked and then came back to the hotel to wish our family a Happy Thanksgiving over skype.
We had lunch by the hotel at Portside. It overlooks the harbor and a gigantic boat my dad and I have been eyeing. I’ve been waiting for the owner to show up so I could swoon him but we have yet to see him. We found out at lunch that he’s the richest man in New Zealand. Man do I know how to pick em!
I’m finishing uploading the last of my pictures and its off to Fiji in the morning. I won’t have internet there but we plan on doing a lot of relaxing and a lot of fishing. Happy Thanksgiving and see you all stateside!
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