Life just gives you time & space; it's up to you to fill it.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Cave Rafting

Our third day at New Zealand saw us at Greymouth, registering for Dragon's Cave Adventure or Black Water Rafting. I was initially shocked by the fees which was $135 per person, but since it was something very new and unheard of in most countries, we decided to try it out inspite of the cost. We were to report at the Dragon's Office by 8:00 am. We reported alright unable to visualise what the next 5 hours held in store for us. Our guide, Pete introduced us to the rest of the team that was going with us. The team consisted of 2 Indians (us), 2 Brits, 3 Aussies and 1 Scott. It was a Honeymoon special for the British couple, which made it more interesting for us!

We were given all our gears and wearing the thermals, jumpsuit etc made me feel like I was going on some major mining project. The first step to check if we were physically fit to undertake the adventure was to climb onto the age-old truck without any help, which all of us accomplished with some difficulty considering we were carrying about 5 kilos over our weight in terms of gear. We were escorted from the city office to a place deep rooted in the forests, outskirts of Greymouth. We were totally cut out from civilization. The initial stage consisted of walking through a dense rain forest with numerous water holes and loose mud. It was amazing how these people had built a walking trail on such terrain where it was difficult to even stand steadily.

After about 30 minutes of walking, we came to the entrance of the cave where we would be spending the rest 3 hours. There was a nice stream of water running into the cave and there were a number of potholes. At this point, our guide announced that he had a surprise for the honeymooners! He brought out a veil and a bow for the bride and the groom respectively and asked them to wear it. They had some romantic pictures taken and the groom had to also remove the band from the bride's thigh. A typical Christian wedding in a cave. Wonder if anybody has attempted a real wedding in the cave, considering people have been adventurous enough to tie the knot while Bungee jumping!!!

After this we were allowed to wear our helmets with the miner's lamp fitted to it. The darkness of the cave ahead gave us all the creeps. Once inside we were given a choice of 2 entries - an easy way and a really, really tough way. As usual I took the easy path and thanked my stars for choosing it after hearing the ordeals faced by the people who took the tougher path. The easier path consisted of walking on water, where you didn't know the depth until you put your leg into it. The depth varied from knee-length to almost 6 feet. If this was not scary enough, the tougher passage had a tunnel carved out in rocks filled with darkness, where you had to crawl to move ahead. The size of the tunnel was too small, and a claustrophobic person could be intimidated by just looking at it. I believe there were puddles of water here and there and people had to put their head or hands into it to move ahead. Now you know why I was thanking my stars for choosing the easier path!

Once well inside the cave, we were advised to have atleast 3 points of contact with the rock, which meant that at any given time either 3 of our limbs had to be in constant contact with the rocks lest we fell and broke our bones. After this came a swimming test. There was this long pit filled with water, which had to be crossed by swimming across it or doggypacking. Since I am no swimmer, I did the doggybacking (which was almost walking) and was the last. After crossing that hurdle we came to a place where we had to jump into a deep hole gushing with water from a rock well above. We were supposed to swim to an extent and get out of the hole. I still do not know what the depth of that pit was or how I agreed to jump into it. All I remember was after I jumped, I drowned for a bit, drank some fresh water through my nose and mouth and threw my hands up in panic. Luckily the guide saw me and brought me back to life. The rest of the team began cheering for me commending me for the bold step. Only I know how bold it was!!!

Cave Rafting

After the jumping adventure, we were given some tyre sort of thing to float on water. We had to sit on it and row using our limbs and move forward. Our guide announced that all lights be turned off for the next 20 minutes. If the water was not scary enough, the darkness brought me all sorts of frightening visions. As soon as we turned off all our head lamps, we could see glow worms in the ceiling of the cave. They were glowing like those stickers we used as kids and were a wonderful sight. I was having difficulties navigating my float-boat and needed some pushing every now and then, but I was fine after awhile. At the end of it, we came to a nice big rock which was the end point of our entry into the cave. This was the safest point until which people could come by, going beyond it was dangerous even to the professionals. Here our guide brought out some much needed hot chocolate and a chocolate bar to quench a wee bit of our hunger and thirst after the intense activity.

If you thought the journey back to the beginning was easy, you are mistaken as was I. There was a completely different path and this was called the "Lover's Tunnel" and in no way was it any close to being romantic. It was a tiny tunnel through which at any time only one part of our body would enter. We had to slowly crawl through it and climb at some places and put our hands or faces into water puddles. I had never been more thankful to our modern living than when I was here. The journey almost made me feel that I would be trapped inside and would never see light again. With my husband's encouraging words and pushing, I managed to complete the path and once out I felt a lot better. After that, the path was relatively easy and we were soon out of the cave. All of us breathed a sigh of relief, only then did I realise that I was not the only one that was terrified about the whole thing!

We set out back on the trail through the rain forest and came to a stream which was meant to be a water slide. All the team members, except the guide and I, undertook the challenge of the waterslide and slid over it. I had a severe backache and hence refused to go for it. It was good to see the adrenaline rush in the others. After this, we walked back to our truck and set back to the city center. We were soaked in water and were freezing head to toe, yet the body felt hot because of the heart thumping with excitement. Once we reached the office, there was a hot spa awaiting us. All of us jumped into the spa and were offered drinks and muffins. I am not sure if it was the hunger or the relief from coming back in one piece that made the hot chocolate and the muffin taste heavenly.

This was an experience totally new to me and thoroughly enjoyable now that I think of it. The company was even better and made the memory cherishable...

You can find more about this over here Dragon's Cave Rafting

Thursday, August 11, 2005

The Land of New Zeals - 1

Last week was truly exciting thanks to our much awaited trip to New Zealand. The place was like a mini visit to paradise where there is not only serenity and peace but also adventure and adrenaline pumping activities to do. We went to the most beautiful part of the country which was South Island. The North Island is pretty in its own way, but people (my hubby being one of them) who have seen both claim that South Island is where the natural beauty exists, whereas North Island is more of industries and volcanoes.

We began our trip from Adelaide at 5:30 in the morning, when we got dropped at the Airport. We were to fly to Melbourne in a Qantas flight and then catch an Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch. The timing was perfect and the weather could not have been better. We had a pleasant journey all the way, and although we forgot to order Veggie meals for the die-hard vegetarian in me, the air crew was nice enough to provide me with one. God bless them, or else I would have entered New Zealand starving!

We got to watch the movie "Pacifier" starring Vin Diesel in a comic role, in the flight. I am not sure why Diesel agreed to do that role. After seeing him in the first XXX I was very disappointed by the Pacifier. Anyway, all that disappointment vanished once we were flying over Fiordland (another name for New Zealand because it has lots of Fiords, I'll get to that later). Thanks to clear skies, we could see the snow-capped mountains clearly and what a sight it was!!! My words cannot express the beauty as much as it truly is partly because I was unable to digest the complete picture, for it was totally out of my imagination. I was ecstatic and was very much looking forward to the following 8 days in such a beautiful place.

The flight landed at the Christchurch Airport at 3:30 pm, and luckily we didn't have any problems with the luggage. We were picked up by a shuttle that took us to the Apollo Campervan Agency. Our bold campervan was waiting for us outside the office to be explored and to drive us all over the Island. I have never been in one before and hence was amazed by what all could be fitten into a van sortof vehicle. It had a shower cum toilet, a wardrobe, a microwave oven, a fridge, a 3-burner stove, a grill and a sink, resembling a mini kitchen. Apart from these things, there was also a dining table and 2 couches that could transform into a double bed, and also some cupboards for keeping the quilt and the pillows. If you are wondering how they could fit in all this into such a small vehicle, here is the picture to show you how -

Apollo Motorhome


This is how they accomodated it all

Motorhome Interiors


Courtesy Apollo Motorhome website.

After admiring our home for the next 8 days, we went to a nearby supermarket to purchase grocery and vegetables that would feed us through our holiday. After that we drove to a place called Hanmer Springs, which was about 100 kms north of Christchurch. This place is known for its natural thermal reserves. While it is freezing outside, the natural spas in Hanmer Springs generate water at a temperature of 30 degrees celsius and above. There were about 10 such pools and a private pool and a private spa. There was also a pool for the kids to play. It was a much needed relaxation after the journey of the day. After enjoying the warm water, we parked our campervan at a powersite and had self-made tacos for the night. Yummy!

The next day we decided to drive to Greymouth which is on the west coast. We heard about a place called Punakaiki close to Greymouth famous for rocks in the shape of layered pancakes and blowholes. It was hard for me to imagine what this actually meant until I saw it with my own eyes. Nature had taken 35 million years to erode the sea side rocks to form something of that shape. It really resembled pancakes that could be a demon's feast! Not only that, there were these sea weeds in the sea down below which looked to me like a demon's hair. The blowholes apparently are formed by the sea hitting the rocks with such fierce force that the rocks have to give way.

Pancake Rocks

That afternoon we had lunch at a nice cafe at Greymouth called the "Cafe 124 @ McKees". We ordered a Moroccan platter, which had some falafels, bread, various dips, fetta cheese and Kalamata Olives. My mouth still waters when I think of that platter. That night we cooked some South Indian Sambar, rice and Carrot curry for dinner and had it in the Campervan. For a few moments it felt like we were transported back to our homeland :-)

That was the end of Day 2 of our great New Zealand trip!

...Contd