The North Island
Our next stop was Rotorua, which is one of the 3rd biggest geothermal locations in the world (Yellowstone is #1 I think?). We weren’t as excited about the sulfur stuff though as we were about the chance to raft over the largest waterfall you can raft commercially! We went over a 23-foot waterfall and, as our guide put it, took it “smooth as.” It was quite a thrill! Here is a picture of us going over the waterfall, and here is a picture of Steve with a famous NZ soft drink, which happens to be the same height as the waterfall we rafted over.
What wiped all of that away though, was the thousands of blue-green glowworms, twinkling like stars on the ceiling above us. The glowworms have a light on the end of their tails to attract prey into the beautiful, dangling poisonous thread of beads that hangs from them. The glowing lights are ominous for insects, but very magical for us! It was quite peaceful to float under the glowworm milky way. Everyone there understood that the moment was too beautiful to interrupt by talking, so we all just floated there, marveling at what none of us had ever seen before. (Technically though, Steve and I had seen it before on the Caves section of Planet Earth, but it was WAY better in person!). The experience was made even more interesting by the waterslides and mini-waterfall we jumped off along the way.
The South Island
The place we jumped was actually with the company who had invented bungy jumping, and on the bridge where it first began, so that was reassuring. It was also a very beautiful spot, over a turquoise river nestled between two tree covered canyon walls. The hardest part about it was waiting. We had to wait in line on the bridge, watching other people jump (or hesitating to jump, or really hesitating to jump) until it was actually our turn. Once we were up on the platform though, I wasn’t as scared. I was more focused on making sure that we jumped at the same time and in the way they told us to. Then came the countdown, 3,2,1, BUNGY!
We were FLYING! All I could see was the blue beneath me and all I could hear was Steve whooping beside me. It was really fun! After a few boings and bounces, it was over, and we were dangling headfirst over the river with the blood rushing to our heads. Yay! What a big fear to overcome!
Instead, I can mention a few of our favorite things about our trip finale. For one thing, we encountered several lakes and streams that had been mixed with what they call “glacial flour.” There are over fifty glaciers on the south island, so all of the rivers and lakes that are fed by glaciers end up a startling baby blue color. This is due to the minerals that get ground up so finely in the water that they never settle to the bottom, but continue to float around, making the refractions of the sunlight cause the color to appear so different. It is really amazing.
Stay tuned for Middle Earth.....