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Black Water Rafting in the Waitimo Caves (North Island)

I went blackwater rafting twice while I was in New Zealand. The first time with my fellow travellers on the bus, and the second time with Ken when he came out. This was one of the funnest things I had ever done in my life. Basically you get to raft on black rubber tires in underground caves in the dark. This is pretty neat as you can see glow worms all around the caves when it's completely dark. We had to get outfitted in the most outrageous outfit. Since the water was near freezing, and in order to prevent hypothermia, we had to wear very thick wetsuits with some really funky looking shorts. Add plastic white boots and a hat with a headlight and I was looking good! It was great. Both times I did this were completely different. When I took Ken, the guide took us on a specialized tour since it was just the three of us. We lost the tires, and the three of us climbed around all different parts of the caves and waterfalls that were underground. We even went underneath a waterfall in the dark. It was scary feeling all that water pressure. There were times when I didn't think I'd be able to fit in some of the spaces along the walls since it was so high, but somehow we made it work. We had the best guide ever, and this was a fun, new adventure for me. I very highly recommend this to anyone coming to New Zealand, esp. if you can get a private off the beaten path tour like we did! But, go in the summer! The water was insanely cold even with wetsuits. The following are the pics I was able to get before we went in.