 |
| Abseiling |
Yesterday I drove down to Waitomo with Doug in order to take a trip down the
Haggas Honking Holes, which is an adventure caving trip run from Waitomo. Although I've climbed a fair amount before, this was my first exposure to caving. 3 abseils (2 down waterfalls), glowworms (aka shit maggots), 2 hours underground, rock climbing in gumboots + a wetsuit, and some tight squeezes was a great introduction.
For anyone remotely interested in caving or climbing should definately check it out, it's a great introduction to the sport (although my previous rock climbing/absieling experience helped me a lot, it was by no means essential, and they claim that no prior experience is required at all) and the whole operation is very well run. The trip start point is very close to the entrance to the main Waitomo caves, however the sketchy metal ladder we clambered down to start our 25m abseil is a stark comparison to the fully cobbelstoned entrance of the other cave.
Another nice touch was the use of PigeonPix - basically, they whack the Memory stick from their camera on the back of a bird, and send it home to base when done. It's an amusing touch, and as one of our guides called it: "A marvel of ancient technology!"