Hair Drying Glowworms - 23 December 2007

Yaaaawwwnnn! That’s me after a peaceful night of rest in the Hobbit Hole as I stretched and came alive today. Falling asleep last night was so wonderful, a near full moon shining through the windows, no sirens or any kind of auto traffic sounds outside, just the tranquility of the crickets and other nocturnal inhabitants.
Today we kick started our day with breakfast and a helping of internet at the Morepork Pizzeria & Café. After checking both our emails Hayley checked her grades to the delight of three A’s and a B. Sweet!!! With time running short we wrapped up our internet session and made our way up the road to the Long Black Café and the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company. It was here we would spend the bulk of our day.
For those of you unfamiliar with Black Water Rafting, you get all dolled up in a wet-suit, wet-socks & boots, throw some shorts on over the wet-suit so your bum looks bigger, strap on a lighted helmet and a jacket, then climb into a van. The van transports you down the road where you pick up your raft, an inner tube, you do a test jump into a stream, float thirty to fifty feet down river then climb out of the water and back into the van, this time with your raft. You are then moved to another location where you descend down a long dirt and rock pathway to a small cave opening. On your bum you slide down a rock to enter the cave after you toss your raft to one of the guides already in the cave. Here you await the entire group and allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness. Upon assembly, you navigate your way through a series of tunnels with stalactites and uneven underwater rocky surfaces, then some smaller tunnels with lots of water. Finally, you enter a long thin passage where you assemble and eat chocolate-covered marshmallow fish in the dark while the guides explain the easy life of a glow worm. At the conclusion of the glow worms’ life story you make your way into a big pool where you wrap the raft around your bum and you leap backwards sending yourself flying over an approximate 10 foot waterfall. Here you “eel” up with the rest of your group by resting your feet on the raft of the person in front of you and wrap your arms around the feet of the person behind you. You turn out your headlamp and lay back to enjoy the Disney-esque float through the cave while ooh-ing and aah-ing at the stars-like glow of the worms on the ceiling of the caverns. After what seems like an eternity to some you come around a bend in the underground water flow and you see daylight at the end of the tunnel. This is met with the sound of splashing, as people begin to paddle their way to the finish line - the dry, day lit land. This is certainly not an adventure for the claustrophobic. Upon the emergence of your entire group, it’s time to leave your raft behind and climb back in the van. It is amazing how much more room there is in a 12 passenger van with 12 people when there are not 12 rafts. As you arrive back at headquarters, you shed your layers, take a shower and reconvene in the Long Black Café for bagels and tomato soup while talking over the adventure you just shared with total strangers. If you desire, you may purchase a CD of the photos taken at various points of your cavernous travels, along with additional souvenirs if you so desire.
Black Water Rafting is an adventure Hayley and I are glad we did, but it is not one we will be lining up to do again for various different reasons. After getting our photo CD and other souvenirs we made our way back to the Hobbit Hole for a real shower and clean dry clothes. With our purchase of the Black Water Rafting trip we also received two free passes to the Museum of Caves, which we intended on visiting after our showers, however they were closed upon our arrival. While standing outside the Museum and Information Centre we contemplated our options of things to do while in town and for the days to come while in Taupo. After a half hour of using the 24 hour information center we made our way up to the Morepork Pizzeria & Café for a pizza dinner. Following dinner we moved into the adjacent lodge lobby to utilize the wireless internet and posted the second two entries along our hobbit trail. With no thanks to me hogging the internet, Hayley was cheated to a measly twenty minutes on the internet because the lodge lobby closed at 9pm and we had to go home to the Hobbit Hole. May I remind you, the Hobbit Hole is a bit primitive in today’s standards – only five over-the-air television channels, no internet access, no phones, no fans, and no hairdryer.
I mention the hairdryer because after this afternoon’s showers, Hayley managed to fry our power convertor by complete accident while using the hairdryer. Now let me back up for a moment. Prior to our trip here to New Zealand I purchased an international power adapter and an international power converter. The adapter has allowed us to plug in a power strip and recharge our batteries for the computer, cameras, cell phones and the like. The converter was to allow us to utilize our American heat producing products, such as a hairdryer and flat iron. The one flaw in this is that Hayley and I failed to check the maximum wattage pull of the converter. We both knew the minimum was 500 watts. The maximum turned out to be 1600. We know this because when Hayley plugged in the 1875 watt hairdryer it ran for about two seconds and then ceased to exist in working order. Whelp, it looks like we are in search for another converter.
It is time to wrap up this edition of Hayley and Bobby on the Hobbit Trail and go watch The Santa Clause 2 on one of our five over-the-air channels, two of which are the same.
Cheers to all,
Bobby and Hayley