Waitomo Caves, Taranaki, and Wanganui

Since our "budget" attempt at glowworm caves was such a failure, we decided to buck up $50 for the ticket to Waitomo Caves, south of Hamilton. It was a guided tour, on (thankfully) dry, lit pathways, though we ducked and wove around the rock formations to make our way deeper into the caves. Our guide began by telling us about the people who first found, explored, and mapped the caves 125 years ago, equipped with ropes and candles. She said glowworms live in the caves because the river that runs through it attracts insects. We saw The Cathedral, a tall-ceilinged room with other rock formations named to suit, like a "pipe organ," and "choir loft". Concerts are given in this room, because the acoustics are so good. Finally we boarded a raft on the river, and were shown out into and around other caves, full of glowworm lights overhead like stars in the night sky. The raft guides navigate in the dark with ropes overhead, pulling and turning until we reached the exit.

Alas, no pictures were allowed. You'll have to look up Waitomo Caves if you want to see more. This is a shot of the cave exit as we left and another as we walked back through the Visitor Center.

We drove on to New Plymouth, a town near Egmont National Park/Mt. Taranaki, where we would begin a 2-day trek around the cone of the volcano. For the afternoon, though, we wandered the downtown to see some sites, like the Wind Wand sculpture, 45 meters high and leaning in the wind.

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, listed as a top attraction, was closed for renovation, so we walked on past the clock tower to the Church of St. Mary, also called Taranaki Cathedral, built in 1846. Taking a peak inside the sanctuary, we listened a while to the bell choir practice.

We noticed a sign outside St. Mary's inviting folks to breakfast on Tuesday mornings for $$0.50 crepes. The money would be donated to Doctors Without Borders. So we decided to go to St. Mary's for breakfast the next morning, before beginning the Pouakai Circuit, a 25 km loop around Mt. Taranaki. We had planned two days of hiking, and one night in a hut along the route.

On Tuesday morning we woke up to the sound of rain. The weather forecast revealed a very high chance of rain-- 80%, 90%, 100%-- every day for a week, with temperatures near freezing at night. We even heard a chance of hail reported on the radio. The only exception was a window of decent weather on Friday. We decided to make some decisions after breakfast.

The Priest, host and part of the wait staff, warmly welcomed us to a bustling cafe scene in the foyer of St. Mary's. Our crepes, toast, tea, and coffee were delicious. When we had a moment to speak with the Priest, we asked how they had decided to do this weekly breakfast, such a great way to be part of the community. He said that they had decided to stop worrying about the difficulties, and start doing something. Now people breakfast at St. Mary's, and money is sent to Africa. Very cool.

We decided that the track would not be safe, to walk all day in the wet. The rain was coming in waves, with sunshine between, so we drove to North Egmont Visitor Center, to try some short loop hikes, always near the van just in case. We walked the Connett Loop, listed as 40 minutes, but it took us about half that. Next we walked the Ngatoro Loop, listed as 1 hour, and again we took about 30 minutes instead. But the heavy rain started again, so we returned to New Plymouth.

We decided we would check the weather forecast in the morning. If it cleared, we would skip Taranaki and head straight to Tongariro National Park, where we had planned on the one-day Alpine Crossing hike on Friday.  Let me say that, while I am grateful to have the time and flexibility to shift plans in the face of weather, this was frustrating and it was such a let down. We had bought our food, packed our bags, and been excited to do this "Great Walk".  Now we couldn't.

We heard rain throughout the night.

On Wednesday morning, the forecast was still rain, very cold higher up at Tongariro, plus snow there. We called the shuttle service that would take us to the beginning of the Crossing and pick us up at the end. They had canceled shuttles today and Thursday, due to snow. We were told to call in the afternoon on Thursday to find out about Friday shuttles.

We decided to head on to Wanganui, in the mean time. I can't say either of us was very excited about this. We have visited a good many small coastal towns, and this one did not even boast its own craft beer brewery. In the downtown, we watched some glass-blowing in action at a studio and gallery called The Chronicle.

Then we walked through the Wanganui Community Arts Center, and walked the length of the main street, Victoria Avenue. We liked the look of The Rutland Arms Inn, which looked like it should be in rural Scotland instead. We shared a tasting tray of New Zealand beers and a plate of nachos.

***Disclaimer: These beer samplers are not pints, y'all! They are small glasses that Alan and I share.

As instructed, we called the Alpine Crossing shuttle company mid-day on Thursday, to see if they would run on Friday. They said that there is more snow on the mountain than in the winter time, but Friday's weather looked the best for days afterwards, so if there was a chance, Friday was it. So we drove to Tongariro National Park with the hope of hiking the Alpine Crossing. You'll have to stay tuned to find out what happened.