Craters, Skydiving, Glowworms... OH MY!

It's truly amazing how much goes by in just a few days when you're away from home. I would post more often, but being in the woods and remote towns doesn't really afford much opportunity... also, it costs about $4 an hour. True, it's not a lot, but when you consider how amazingly slow the connections here are, you'd understand why I'm posting less pictures than I'd like - and at smaller sizes. It just plain takes forever!

Since last I posted, so much has happened. For more pictures, you will have to wait until I get home an drop 'em online.

So we hiked up Mount Eden in Auckland proper and it was so beautiful. Reg and Chrissy were right, the view was much more spectacular than anything manmade could possibly boast. Here are a couple shots of the crater at the top and the rare "volcano" cows that grazed at the top. Weird, huh? Chris got a tongue bath from one of them and I wouldn't let him hold my hand until he washed off the slime - regardless of it being wet or dried-on slime. I've discovered that my hands aren't long enough to do the "hold the camera away from you and shoot" thing, so you'll be seeing a lot more of Chris' arm... FYI.

The next day, Friday here (Thursday - Thanksgiving Day - at home) we rented the teeniest car ever, a Honda Logo, and headed south on the North Island for a town called Raglan. Now, Raglan is just about as small as our li'l Logo and the people are way friendly. It feels just like a little surfing town tucked slightly away from the general feeling of time. They had beautiful natural sights and Chris and Icamped right by the beach, but the coffee in the morning was definitely of note. Please see the picture... glorious, with soft little vanilla and cherry marshmallows. Raglan doesn't really have a lot, but what I can say about it, is that it's close to a couple other really fun things.

We took a short drive in the morning and made the short hike up Bridal Veil falls. Kind of amazing, no? You get two pictures, because I've decided you've been good... one cheeky one of me standing in front of the sign, and one from a viewpoint on the way down. The water was cool and refreshing on our toes.

The same afternoon we jumped back in the car for the Waitomo Caves and glowworms! Unfortunately it is not possible to take pictures of the experience, but I will tell you about it. Apparently a couple hundred years ago, a hunter who was chasing a wild boar followed him into this very cave (the first one!) and once inside, he looked up and saw what looked like crazy constellations on the ceiling of the limestone caves. I have seen limestone caves before and the glory of the stalagtites and stalagmites are not lost on me - and in fact, this cave is world famous for it's accoustics. Many famous people have sung deep in the caves at a location called "the Cathedral".

So anyhow, the Glowworms are actually 10" long larvae that glow from their backend. They release lines of mucus called fishing lines which capture passing prey and feed the larvae for 9 months. Their entire lifespan is about 11 months total. When you're in the boat, deep in the cave, it's dead silent, you feel quiet drips from above and hear then dropping into the water around you. It's so peaceful and then you look up and it's an unreal shade of greenish blue all clustered together and it looks like stars in the night sky. It was really quite magical. Here's what I can show you - a picture from the outside of the cave and our boat just after it emptied.

We drove a bit further and ended up in Turangi, at the south end of Lake Taupo, and set up camp. Because we slept later in the day and motivation was a bit low, we changed plans around last minute the next day. I said to Chris, "Why don't we got skydiving in Taupo this afternoon instead of hike?" Taupo is the cheapest place in the world to go jump out of a perfectly good airplane - and after buying a time slot and hopping in the car for a short, 45 minute, drive, we were there. I have pictures - good, professional pictures that they took for us and burned to a CD - and I'm so sorry, but they're not here with me. You will have to wait and just enjoy knowing that I went. A full recount is promised with the next post and the proper pictures. Basically, the long and short of it is, I made a jump at 15,000 feet... no lie... and I'm here to tell you about it now - so it was really all good.

Day 2 in Turangi and we hiked Turangriro Pass, which took about seven hours total. We booked a shuttle to the starting point and the antiquitous piece of junk that showed up was good for a laugh and then was worth questioning the liklihood of our arrival. We drove through fields that looked like what I imagine the moor from Hound of the Baskervilles would look like. Turangriro pass takes you through three active volcanoes... one called the South, one the North, and the most famous, the Red Crater. It was arduous at times and the climate change was significant... from cold to really hot and it was intermittently rainy and foggy. Had we gone the day before, we would have enjoyed full sun, but we were both happy with the day we got. The fog made for amazing pictures and we didn't roast like pigs on spits. Our hairs were covered with beads of condensing mist... this is Chris. Also on the hike were the Emerald Lakes which get their color from the natural sulfur springs all around. It smelled like you would imagine. There were two groups of high school aged kids on hikes that day, too. They settled for lunch around the Emerald Lakes and the girls' group had been singing all day. Now, the boys' group was positively enamoured with them and started singing back things like "Build me up Buttercup" and then a made up song asking for their numbers. It was way cute and way funny!

Here's just a smattering of pictures from that hike... the Red Crater, our feet on the clay at the base of the South Crater, and me by one of the small waterfalls in the "moor". Ask me about the Devil's Staircase when we come home!

Today we're off again, stopping for an hour at the internet cafe in Taupo and then off to Rotorua (known to locals as Roto-Vegas). The towns here in New Zealand that we've seen so far are beyond tiny - Taupo is the largest that we've seen outside of Auckland. Last night we were trying to find a beer and a snack in Turangi and there was literally ONE place... and even then only about 5 people eating there... about the same number boozing at the bar. So, Rotorua, we will be learning more about the Maori culture and seeing a village, the Huka, their traditional dance, and enjoying a Maori feast. They cook everything in the ground with hot rocks... should be interesting.

After that we'll be heading up towards the Bay of Islands and the penninsula to the west for a little sun and a relax. Saturday we'll fly from Auckland to Christchurch and start our exploration of the South Island before coming back up for Christmas and New Year's.

Love to you all... nearer and farther. :)

**Sorry about the formatting issues... URGH!**