New Zealand - Waitomo - Black Water Rafting - Black Abyss - 10 January 2010

At Waitomo, there were a number of tours/activities to choose. We chose the Black Abyss with the Black Water Rafting Company.


We were picked up from the camping area and on arrival were shown the equipment and various safety items. We then drove to the cave entrance where we practise abseiling.

The cave entrance was a deep hole in the ground. We abseiled into the hole and then into darkness below. At the bottom we walked a short distance then rode a flying fox further into the darkness. It was pretty cool flying through the cave in the dark .

We then placed a rubber tube under our butts and jumped from our ledge into the cave stream below. The water was icy. We hauled ourselves upstream on our tubes along a rope. There were plenty of glow worms and it exciting moving in the dark.

At our furthest point upstream, we returned by drifting along the stream in the dark. We abandoned our tubes and began wading through the water. At one point we slid down a water slide and at other points we squeezed through narrow rock fissures.

Eventually, we exited the cave and into sunlight. We were driven back to the base and given a hot meal.

It was an excellent experience full of excitement.