New Zealand extravaganza!: Abseiling not to be confusing with sailing...

We went from talking through a hole in the fence when we were four to rappelling 328 ft into a cave in New Zealand. We have been friends since we were toddlers and now my friend Jennifer is a flight attendant, so it was only natural that she would hijack whatever plane she was on and point it in the direction of New Zealand (or she boarded, first class, a plane to Auckland). Of Jen’s five day visit we decided we had to do something that neither of us had done and abseiling in Waitomo was that thing. I knew my mother would not be pleased so I waited till afterwards to ask for forgiveness. I think she is quite used to my adventurous ways and this conversation did not head into the same “I am jumping on the next plane to New Zealand and dragging you home” conversation as the bungee one did. Although she was not impressed to say the least I could hear her eyes roll into her head at the mention of heights, caves, and ropes she is starting to come to terms with my rebel ways.

So with very little training we attached ourselves to a string (or rope) and began the slow journey to the bottom and into the cave. It was a whole other climate inside, no plants, just damp rocks, and the sound of rushing water. We began climbing over and under huge rocks until we reached the back of the cave. At this point, if you go on, you must hold your breath under water and swim into a tunnel that leads to the other side of cave. I am not one for getting my hair wet, holding my breath, or swimming so we opted for the short trip. At the back of the cave our guide beat us there and had juice and chocolate fish waiting. As we sat down he instructed us to turn off our headlamps, which I must admit I was not excited about, as the thought of him scurrying away leaving us stranded in this cave briefly crossed my mind. I did it anyone, hoping that Jen knew the way out, just in case. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I looked up to see what looked like stars directly above us; they are in fact glow worms and one of my favorite things about New Zealand. They really look like bright stars up in the sky and it is pretty unbelievable that this little worm that turns into a mosquito (that can’t bite you) can be so illuminating. We sat there for some time staring at the ‘stars’ inside this cave as Eddie, our guide, explained to us how glowworms work.

After we left the glowworms Eddie took us to the most death defying part of the trip. I guess I never stopped to think ‘how are we going to get out of this cave?’ Well, if I had thought to ask the answer would have been ‘well you are just going to climb this little 100 ft ladder, in the dark, with cold hands.’ Eddie went up first so that he could help to pull us up, and then Jen went. Do you know what that means? That means that Dawn, was left by herself, in a cave, in the dark (well I had a headlamp, but still). That was easily the most terrifying part of the whole trip and maybe even New Zealand. I had terrible visions of Predator somersaulting out from behind some rocks, with all his teeth. Needless to say when it was my turn to come up the ladder, although my arms were burning, I climbed that ladder as if Predator was right behind me! When I reached the top Eddie said “WOW, you didn’t even take any breaks!”

It was amazingly fun, and I was so glad I did it, it is truly like nothing else I have ever seen, I would do it all again, only I wouldn’t be last up the ladder this time!