Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!

Hey everyone! Yesterday was another really long day filled with tons of classic New Zealand activities. First, we packed up from our hostel and jumped on the bus to head out for some early morning blackwater rafting at Waitomo Caves! There were tons of different options we could pick, and we decided on a package which included cave tubing and the opportunity to see glowworms.

First we changed into our swimsuits… and then there was the interesting part: wetsuits. I’ve never worn a wetsuit before, but I figured it wasn’t going to be too comfortable. Correct assumption! Cold, tight and sticky, wetsuits are loose where you want them tight and vice-versa. We even had little cold booties, a jacket to go over the wetsuit, and tough gumboots and lighted hardhats to brave the cave with. After we were suited up, we walked through the fields where sheep were grazing, and learned a bit more about the caves.



Owned by the same farmer whose sheep we were looking at, the cave we were going to tube in was located in Waitomo, and was one of the numerous caves for blackwater rafting. The owner of this cave simply rents out the right to his land (the cave is located underneath his land, obviously, and is thus his property) to a tour company and the profits roll on in for him. He doesn’t really need to focus too much on his sheep as a result. :D

Before we even got to the caves, I got my first shock. Literally! Henk and I were holding hands as we mucked through the slimy grasses making our way to the cave, and my hand happened to brush against the fence next to us while we were making our way. I felt a shock race throughout me, and because he was holding my hand, Henk felt the shock as well. Our guides to the cave had forgotten to mention to us that the fences we were walking next to were electric! Greeeeeat! That might have been nice to know before I ended up touching one.

It turns out that glowworms are actually little maggots. And what’s even worse, they produce their tiny greenish-blue light only after they have eaten and digested food. As an alternative to producing a fecal waste, the maggots use their energy consumed from food to let off this small light in order to attract more food towards them. Other insects think the small bright spots on the cave roof are “exits” (sunlight shining in) to the cave, and thus fly towards them when they try to exit the cave, getting eaten by glowworms in the process.

Seeing the glowworms was awesome. We sat on a flat part of the cave wall and turned off the lights on our hardhats to see them better. It reminded me of a planetarium almost … the little shiny lights looked like they could be stars in the distance; you could almost imagine little constellations among the worms. (Almost!) Our guides explained the glowworm lifecycle, starting from larva (the stage where they “look” like glowworms which lasts 6 to 9 months) and ending with the result being an adult fungus gnat fly. I know… sounds delicious! (Yuck!)

After getting our fill of glowworm viewing, we continued through the narrow, wet caves (very wet – half the time I swear we were swimming waste deep in freezing cold water in that cave!) until we reached the water tunnels. Our guides helped us climb up to a high rock ledge while holding our tubes behind us. In turn, we jumped off backwards from the ledge, flying through the air trying to hold tight to our tubes. The shock came when we splash landed in the icy water – I ended up absolutely soaked and shivering, and Henk fell out of his tube!





Each member of our party latched themselves to those behind and in front of them and we were pulled slowly down the darkest, coldest lazy river I’ve ever experienced. But also the most interesting! With our hardhat lights off again, our glowworm constellation show returned – and we watched the show as we made our way through the river in the cave.



Shortly after, we stopped at the “Hard Rock Café” (sorry, no pins at this one Uncle Randy!) inside the cave. Our guides gave us some treats here: a Cadbury chocolate-covered marshmallow bar and a hot cup of… liquid that I first thought was water. This was confusing – we were surrounded by water, why the hell would they give us more! Then I took a sip and it was surprising good… it was this bittersweet lemon flavor, tasting kinda like a sweet soda. I didn’t learn until later that the drink was Lemon Toddy. Here’s the recipe; try and make some and let us know if you like it!

Lemon Toddy:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 ounces whiskey (optional, not recommended if blackwater rafting)
Directions:
Mix above ingredients in a small sauce pan.
Simmer over low heat until honey dissolves.
Serve hot.

The real reason they gave us this sugary drink and dessert was because the worst of the cave venture was yet to come. Next was the area with super slippery rocks, including very sharp limestone rocks, and even more cold-water swimming than before. Henk had to walk behind me (I always go very slowly and carefully over wet rocks – because I swear I have weak ankles! I twist them on everything. ß Henk thinks that is because I don’t tie my shoes correctly, but we all know that must be a lie!) in order to make sure I was alright.

At the end of the cave, we had to grab onto this wet, muddy piece of rope and pull ourselves up to the surface. Henk basically pushed me up the whole way… but somehow I still ended up covered in mud! Since Henk was the only guy in the male locker room, I got to go into the guys’ stalls with him and get to have a long hot shower and get all of my frozen limbs working again! Even though we ended up so dirty, sweaty, and tired, we had some fantastic pictures from the cave.

After our glowworm and cave adventure, we had a quick stop at the first swing bridge built in New Zealand. Built in 1925, the Arapuni Swing Bridge was interesting, but nothing too spectacular after seeing the cool glowworm caves. Our group members joked with me to be careful, because there were more electric fences in the area!

Next was a really long drive to the Maori marae (a meetinghouse where the Maori people would gather to eat, sleep, and discuss important political matters with each other) in Maketu. This marae was not a traditional one; instead, it was run by this interesting guy called Uncle Boy. There are many different types of cultural overnight stays in New Zealand teaching people about the Maori culture – it’s a very popular attraction. However, rather than running a large commercialized venture, Uncle Boy goes for the no BS approach; trying to make things traditional, yet honest, and perfect for a small group like ours.

For example, dinner was a hangi – a meal consisting of lamb, chicken, veggies, stuffing, and fish all cooked together. The traditional method is that the meal is supposed to be cooked together underground, however, for health reasons Uncle Boy doesn’t make the meal this way. He still cooks everything together, but above ground; to cook below ground would be hazardous due to the pesticides used by the farmers in the region.

After our hangi and a dessert of cake, fruit, and jello, we had to follow our chief (Bernard, the oldest guy in our group) into the marae to meet the Maori. As Uncle Boy explained, a peace offering between the Maori and an approaching group (us, in this case) is placed on the ground. If our chief does not pick up the offering, our group would be walked out of the marae. If our chief stepped over the offering, a fight would break out and he would be taken down. And if everything went well, our chief would pick up the offering and then step back – a peace agreement would be reached.



Obviously we weren’t going to risk anything, and we made peace with the Maori right away. We watched them perform traditional dances, complete with angry, stamping choreography for the men and hip-shaking action for the women. Later, we were broken into separate male and female groups; the men learned how to do the Haka and the women learned the Poi.

The Haka is an angry war dance where the men wear short, decorative thick straw skirts and they stomp, slap their legs, and make really scary (and ugly!) faces with their eyes really wide and their tongues stuck out and twisted. Henk was really excited about perfecting this dance. :D And he did a really good job at it! (I know I was scared…)



Here is the haka in the Maori language, along with an English translation:

Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
Ā, upane! ka upane!
Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!

’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)
’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!
This the hairy man that stands here...
…who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A step upward, another step upward!
A step upward, another... the Sun shines!

While he was busy learning this, I received a small colorful bag with a string attached to it, called a poi. Originally, the poi was a bag full of stones that young men would swing around to strengthen their wrists, in order to use Maori weapons with great agility. Women eventually began using the poi as a dancing accessory, and learned how to swing it along with their hips in time with music. I picked out a cute pink poi, and started practicing.

Although the Poi looks really difficult at first, the lyrics help you remember the choreography easily. For example “ki runga” means “up high” and “ki raro” means “down low.” Guess what direction you swing the poi as you sing these lyrics? Not so difficult at all. :D



Here are the Maori language lyrics to the Poi and an English translation below:

E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga (repeat x2)
Ki raro (repeat x2)
E rere runga
E rere raro
E rere roto
E rere waho
E rere taku poi
E rere taku poi
Ki runga
Hi aue hi!

Oh fly my poi, fly
Upwards, upwards
Oh fly my poi, fly
downwards, downwards
Fly upwards and then fly downwards
Fly inwards and then outwards
Fly my poi, oh fly!
Fly upwards and then downwards!

After practicing, the male and female groups performed the dances for each other. Henk did an awesome Haka face… it is so scary that I really hate seeing it; so that means it works! And he took a video of my Poi dance – which wasn’t half bad at all. :D I took a video of his Haka dance too. As soon as we can, we’ll upload some video clips so you guys can all see what it looked like!

After the dancing, Uncle Boy took some time to explain to us a few of the pictures and carvings he had displayed up on his walls. The main carving he showed us (one that was done about 10 years ago) was carved by a 14-year-old boy. Henk guessed correctly that the boy had carved his father. The father had full facial markings carved on himself – the sign of a chief. The father was holding a younger figure, the boy’s older brother, who also had a full facial design. Clearly, his brother was next in line to be chief.



Furthermore, the type of design used for the chief and son’s facial images, a type of swirl pattern, represented their specific tribe. Finally, we learned an important fact about Maori carvings: you can only make a carving of someone if they are deceased. Meaning this boy was carving the image of his father and brother after they had died.

Family is extremely important to the Maoris, as you would imagine it should be with any tribal-based culture. However, the Maori have an interesting way of keeping record of their family tree. Uncle Boy showed us an ornately carved walking stick and explained that the circles on it represented important people in a family’s history and the additional designs were their life events/stories.



Uncle Boy also had some weapons on display. While explaining them to us, he was upfront about his ancestors’ culture: they were cannibals. They had long wooden stabbing spears and axes with greenstone tips/blades as well as shorter decorated knives and clubs. In battle, a Maori would use a special blade specifically designed to take off the enemy chief’s scalp.

Once the leader of the enemy had been scalped, the Maori tribe’s leader would approach the enemy chief and rip out his brains, eating them in front of his tribe and other onlookers. In theory, this was supposed to represent a transfer of all of the power and knowledge from the dead leader’s mind into the mind of the conquering leader. In actuality, I must imagine these guys had really strong stomachs – I don’t know how you wouldn’t get sick from eating so many different people’s brains!

Finally we got to grab our mattresses and make up our beds. (OK, Henk is saying he made the bed, but I did carry over some pillows! AND I had FOUR duvets! I originally had three but I woke up and Henk had put another one on me; he thought I was going to get really cold or something.) The next morning we woke up to ABBA and breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen area. Then we jumped back on the bus and headed out to Rotorua, which is where we’ll be jumping off the bus to rest for a few days.

After all this constant activity, we REALLY need some downtime! Now a chance to rest up…

Francesca