An Underground River
Our (expected to be the final) Outdoor Challenge was epic, and I am looking forward to making this an annual event.
We drove south out of Auckland, leaving the motorway at Mercer and driving for 50 minutes through the stunning Waikato region to a gorgeous spot 3 kilometres from the coast. We were going caving!
The Nikau Cave is situated on a farm belonging to our hosts, Philip and Anne. The idea of walking through an underground river for one kilometre was a little daunting, not that the Pikelets wanted to admit it! The dark yawning gape of a cave mouth that greeted us was gentled by the song of native birds and the trickling of a gentle stream as it played its music across the rocks. The stream flowed out of the cave, and that's where we were going!
Our time underground was amazing. The first third of the cave was the most difficult, kind of like exploring rock pools at the beach - in the dark! The soft knocking sounds as heads bumped on the ceiling made us grateful for our helmets. We were glad to flick off our torches to check out the incredible beauty of the glow worms. One of the special things about the Nikau Cave is that the glowworms are right next to you, and we enjoyed looking closely at these creatures and the threads they weave to catch food.
The stream, which quickly soaked our socks and shoes, led to a hole in the floor of the cave. Every single Pikelet was brave enough to drop down into the hole, and then army-crawl in the stream through a 20 metre tunnel. We were glad to be able to stand up again!
The rest of the walk was through wider spaces and opened up into bigger caverns. Stalactites and stalagmites surrounded us the entire way, and we saw one stalagmite that was so enormous it looked millions of years old. There was so much to see and discover that once we reached the end of the cave some of us were keen to go back and do the entire thing again!
At the end the green beauty and birdsong of the bush greeted us. We climbed back up out of the ground to enjoy the sunlight and the downhill walk back to base.
We opted to eat lunch outdoors in the sun, and then went to play in the river at the base of the garden we were enjoying. The sunlight sparkled across the surface and the fast flowing current made for a lot of fun.
The van was noticeably quieter on the way back.... not sure if that was from the physical exertion or the bribe of a bag of lollies!
It was a great day out, and an opportunity to push ourselves a little bit further.
But our WPC year is not over yet. Another unexpected opportunity has come our way.... and we have one more Outdoor Challenge to go!
We drove south out of Auckland, leaving the motorway at Mercer and driving for 50 minutes through the stunning Waikato region to a gorgeous spot 3 kilometres from the coast. We were going caving!
The Nikau Cave is situated on a farm belonging to our hosts, Philip and Anne. The idea of walking through an underground river for one kilometre was a little daunting, not that the Pikelets wanted to admit it! The dark yawning gape of a cave mouth that greeted us was gentled by the song of native birds and the trickling of a gentle stream as it played its music across the rocks. The stream flowed out of the cave, and that's where we were going!
The stream, which quickly soaked our socks and shoes, led to a hole in the floor of the cave. Every single Pikelet was brave enough to drop down into the hole, and then army-crawl in the stream through a 20 metre tunnel. We were glad to be able to stand up again!
The rest of the walk was through wider spaces and opened up into bigger caverns. Stalactites and stalagmites surrounded us the entire way, and we saw one stalagmite that was so enormous it looked millions of years old. There was so much to see and discover that once we reached the end of the cave some of us were keen to go back and do the entire thing again!
At the end the green beauty and birdsong of the bush greeted us. We climbed back up out of the ground to enjoy the sunlight and the downhill walk back to base.
We opted to eat lunch outdoors in the sun, and then went to play in the river at the base of the garden we were enjoying. The sunlight sparkled across the surface and the fast flowing current made for a lot of fun.
The van was noticeably quieter on the way back.... not sure if that was from the physical exertion or the bribe of a bag of lollies!
It was a great day out, and an opportunity to push ourselves a little bit further.
But our WPC year is not over yet. Another unexpected opportunity has come our way.... and we have one more Outdoor Challenge to go!
We will forever be your first and favourite pikelets.
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