Today marks the 23rd day since I’ve started my RTW trip and reluctantly I have left the two worlds down under for my first Asian location, Singapore. Australia and New Zealand have been nothing less than impressive and fulfilling. What an adventure it has been...I could have easily spent my entire two months down there if it weren’t for the fact that I wanted to see the rest of the lonely planet.
I've made it into Singapore this evening to a balmy (29 degree celcius = 87 degree Fahrenheit) and very humid weather. My hair is officially a mad house of tangles in this humidity! I forgot to change my jeans to something lighter, I paid the price later when my jeans feel like they were melting into me. I'm staying in the Chinatown district...its actually really cool with food stalls opened til 2am....my kind of town. My hotel is by the name of Scarlet, its a boutique hotel (http://www.thescarlethotel.com). It feels like I'm staying at an old french colonial hotel and everything is decorated in red and dark chocolate and has a very mysterious + sexy feel to it...I love and recommend it for the location, decor, good service, nice bath amenities, and great water pressure! Ok, enough about the hotel. Now I have just one day to explore the highlights of Singapore, meet up with friends for dinner, and head to Kula Lumpur, Malaysia. Will update later on the colors and sounds of Singapore.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"Lost Worlds of the Waitomo caves"
With the disappointment of my missing bags, I headed out for the 2 hrs. drive to Waitomo village. I arrived at my lodge around 8pm alittle pooped from flying and driving all day. I stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called the “Waitomo Cave Guest Lodge”, long name but great accommodation. Driving in New Zealand countryside at night is not too much fun, the roads wined ever which way and NO lights to guide you. The one thing that striked me during the drive was how clear the sky was, the stars seemed really bright. I hadn’t seen that many stars having been mostly in the suburbs and city areas earlier Australia and NZ South Island which had been rainy the whole time.
The B&B was run by an English couple named Janet and Colin (and their dog Gypsey), they’ve been doing so for the last 4 years. Really sweet folks and Janet is an avid gardener so the place looks like a quaint English garden…very charming. This is the only B&B in Waitomo Village Center, Colin explained that the concept of B&B hasn’t caught on to the “kiwi” yet. I like staying at B&B, its great for a lone traveler because it feels very much like home. When I checked in my single room was not available but lucked out and got a double suite with a great view of the hills and a direct entrance to the breakfast patio. I went to grab a quick bite next door at Curley’s Bar, ordered a chicken burger to take away and was “warmly” informed by the “cashier/cook/waitress” that she “doesn’t like making a take away”…I thought “how rude” but gently replied with a smile “sorry, but that is my preference after a long drive”. At 11pm, my missing bag finally arrived…I am relieved and now can rest easily.
The following morning, I awoke at 6am which is on the early side for me but glad I did though because I caught a great view of the sunrise over the country side landscape. I headed for breakfast at 8am in the great room (right outside my patio…how cool was that). They were serving simple but very healthy choices and definitely my kind of breakfast (e.g. granola, yogurt, toast, fruits, homemade marmalade). I had breakfast with a nice family from Melbourne who were in Waitomo for a week and now heading back to Australia. They gave me some tips on hiking trails but unfortunately my time here is limited so I won’t be able to take advantage of it, next visit then. With my belly filled and an hour to kill, I walked around taking pictures and leisurely headed over to the Waitomo Adventure facility to start my tour which was right next door to the lodge…just 100meters through the garden.
The cave adventure I chose was the “Lost World 4 hour” tour which has a few parts to it, first is the abseiling (repelling) 100m down a cable line to the cave floor, explore the caves for two hours, watch the glow worms, and finally ascend a 30m ladder back to the surface. A twenty minutes drive from the town center brought us to the entrance of the caves. We were given uniform and abseiling gears to put on (e.g. blue overall, rain boots, harness, and lighted hard hats). After many safety guidelines and checks, we headed to the platform to begin our abseiling. We split up into separate groups (five person each). In my group was three “Americanos” guys (seniors at Minnesota State Univ), we were lead by Scott (a kiwi). We weren’t allowed to take our own camera, only the tour guide had one so I’m afraid the pictures from the cave adventures are limited. We abseiled down the cable as a team, very slowly while enjoying the view going down the 100m. It was breathtaking and frightening at the same time, there we were just hanging in the middle of the cave. Underneath us, was a flowing waterfall creeping out of cracks along the cave floor. Waitomo is a Maiori word meaning “water creeping from underground” thus describes the area of Waitomo caves. We took a break (just hanging in thin air) at the 50m point to take in the view and stalactites and stalagmites formation. After 45mins. of abseiling, we reached the cave floor where we started our journey through the caves. It was so cool to walk through the little cracks and holes while the water was flowing underneath us. The caves were really dark, the only lights were from our helmets and the glow worms or rather the “poo” from the glow worms. Yes, we sat staring at glowing poo’s. Glow worms are actually maggots that hang off the ceilings of caves and in order to rid of their waste, they burn it off which gives it a glow so we have “glowing poo”. Our ascend back to the surface meant climbing up a skinning metal ladder up 30m (just like rockclimbing but higher off the ground...just don’t look down). We continued trekking and eventually emerged on the opposite side of our entrance to a jungle like opening (reminded me of Tom Raiders). Another one for the books of cool adventures to take. This wraps up my last thrill ride in New Zealand and drove myself up to Auckland (3 hrs. away, at least the scenary and landscape was beautiful to keep me company) to prepare for my departure to Singapore...see you there.
The B&B was run by an English couple named Janet and Colin (and their dog Gypsey), they’ve been doing so for the last 4 years. Really sweet folks and Janet is an avid gardener so the place looks like a quaint English garden…very charming. This is the only B&B in Waitomo Village Center, Colin explained that the concept of B&B hasn’t caught on to the “kiwi” yet. I like staying at B&B, its great for a lone traveler because it feels very much like home. When I checked in my single room was not available but lucked out and got a double suite with a great view of the hills and a direct entrance to the breakfast patio. I went to grab a quick bite next door at Curley’s Bar, ordered a chicken burger to take away and was “warmly” informed by the “cashier/cook/waitress” that she “doesn’t like making a take away”…I thought “how rude” but gently replied with a smile “sorry, but that is my preference after a long drive”. At 11pm, my missing bag finally arrived…I am relieved and now can rest easily.
The following morning, I awoke at 6am which is on the early side for me but glad I did though because I caught a great view of the sunrise over the country side landscape. I headed for breakfast at 8am in the great room (right outside my patio…how cool was that). They were serving simple but very healthy choices and definitely my kind of breakfast (e.g. granola, yogurt, toast, fruits, homemade marmalade). I had breakfast with a nice family from Melbourne who were in Waitomo for a week and now heading back to Australia. They gave me some tips on hiking trails but unfortunately my time here is limited so I won’t be able to take advantage of it, next visit then. With my belly filled and an hour to kill, I walked around taking pictures and leisurely headed over to the Waitomo Adventure facility to start my tour which was right next door to the lodge…just 100meters through the garden.
The cave adventure I chose was the “Lost World 4 hour” tour which has a few parts to it, first is the abseiling (repelling) 100m down a cable line to the cave floor, explore the caves for two hours, watch the glow worms, and finally ascend a 30m ladder back to the surface. A twenty minutes drive from the town center brought us to the entrance of the caves. We were given uniform and abseiling gears to put on (e.g. blue overall, rain boots, harness, and lighted hard hats). After many safety guidelines and checks, we headed to the platform to begin our abseiling. We split up into separate groups (five person each). In my group was three “Americanos” guys (seniors at Minnesota State Univ), we were lead by Scott (a kiwi). We weren’t allowed to take our own camera, only the tour guide had one so I’m afraid the pictures from the cave adventures are limited. We abseiled down the cable as a team, very slowly while enjoying the view going down the 100m. It was breathtaking and frightening at the same time, there we were just hanging in the middle of the cave. Underneath us, was a flowing waterfall creeping out of cracks along the cave floor. Waitomo is a Maiori word meaning “water creeping from underground” thus describes the area of Waitomo caves. We took a break (just hanging in thin air) at the 50m point to take in the view and stalactites and stalagmites formation. After 45mins. of abseiling, we reached the cave floor where we started our journey through the caves. It was so cool to walk through the little cracks and holes while the water was flowing underneath us. The caves were really dark, the only lights were from our helmets and the glow worms or rather the “poo” from the glow worms. Yes, we sat staring at glowing poo’s. Glow worms are actually maggots that hang off the ceilings of caves and in order to rid of their waste, they burn it off which gives it a glow so we have “glowing poo”. Our ascend back to the surface meant climbing up a skinning metal ladder up 30m (just like rockclimbing but higher off the ground...just don’t look down). We continued trekking and eventually emerged on the opposite side of our entrance to a jungle like opening (reminded me of Tom Raiders). Another one for the books of cool adventures to take. This wraps up my last thrill ride in New Zealand and drove myself up to Auckland (3 hrs. away, at least the scenary and landscape was beautiful to keep me company) to prepare for my departure to Singapore...see you there.
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