september-2011

ICAVING IN WAITOMO,
NORTH ISLAND
Looking at the 35m drop below
me, my heart is beating rapidly.
“You’ll be fi ne,” says Angus, my
gregarious Kiwi guide from Black
Abyss Tour. “Abseiling is the
easy part!”
Swallowing the lump in my
throat, I let the harness take my
weight and allow the rope to
slip through my hand. Kicking
off the dank limestone walls,
I descend slowly into the
Waitomo underworld.
“How are you going up there?”
bellows Logan, the other guide, his
voice echoing off the cave walls.
“Fine,” I murmur, as his shadow
comes into view. Making it to the
bottom, he releases my carabiner,
reattaches me to a horizontal zip
line and tells me to jump. Leaping
into the dark, I slide down into
a larger cave, where I’m greeted
by hundreds of stalactites and
stalagmites — plus glow worms
twinkling above me like a starry
night sky.
After sipping hot chocolate
for warmth, Angus issues us
with inner tubes and points his
fl ashlight down to a river below.
“Now, we get wet,” he chuckles.
Mustering the courage takes a
few minutes, but holding the tube
fi rmly beneath me, I leap off the
edge and land with a splash.
Scrambling our way along the
river and through some tight
gaps, we soon enter a cave that
has a waterfall thundering into it,
which we have to climb up. The
water is dumping heavily, so it’s
DAY 1
Abseiling Waitomo cave
BOTTOM: Skydiving
with NZone
far from easy, but I yank myself
up and over, into a narrow, rocky
passageway. Crawling round the
fi nal corner, an arterial burst of
daylight blinds me, signalling the
outside world. I have arrived.
FLY JETSTAR TO: Auckland
NEAREST RWC STADIUMS:
Eden Park (Auckland), Waikato
Stadium (Hamilton) and Rotorua
International Stadium
SKYDIVING OVER
QUEENSTOWN,
SOUTH ISLAND
Our light aircraft banks at
an acute angle, revealing the
Remarkables mountain range
beside us and Lake Wakatipu
below. As the plane peaks, so too
does my fear. Vertigo is suddenly a
very real factor.
DAY 2
FOOD & WINE
Look out for cultural events
held to coincide with the
World Cup. These include
the New Zealand Olive
Festival (24 September
in Hawke’s Bay), the
Port Chalmers Seafood
Festival (1 October, just
outside of Dunedin), and
the Marlborough Wine
and Cuisine at Brancott
Vineyard (6 October, northeast
on the South Island).
TIME TO UNWIND
After all of that action,
you’ll be wanting to relax,
and the Onsen Hot Pools
(Arthurs Point, Queenstown)
offers a rejuvenating
respite. There are private
spa pools and bubbling hot
water to soothe your aching
muscles. www.onsen.co.nz
ADRENALINE //
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