waitomo: pretty much the most awesome thing ever

After spending a restful night at Juno Hall Backpackers, we woke up early to a cool and dewy morning, and headed out to visit with the sheep and calves kept on the farm. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the hungry animals put up such a racket when they saw us that they woke up the rest of the Hostel's patrons. We headed from that small enclosure to a more open pasture, where a horse was grazing. After letting ourselves in to the field, we noticed a deer laying at the top of the hill. She noticed us about the time we noticed her, but rather than moving off, she made a bee line down the hill for us. My concern at being approached by a wild animal, even an herbivorous one, was eased when I saw she wore a collar. As we scratched it behind the ears, one of the farm owners passed by in his truck, and stopped and hopped the fence to talk to us.

He could see the surprise on our faces, so he explained how the deer came to be a family pet. In New Zealand, deer are invasive; all mammals are invasive, so, there are no hunting permits required, or hunting season restrictions. As a result of this, when the man shot a doe one year, he found her pregnant. He delivered the fawn and brought it home. And so it has stayed ever since, though she could easily jump the fence and leave. He then showed us a few deer tricks. She will stand behind him and put her front feet onto his shoulders. He then tried to get us to grab her tail, and when he found us reluctant, did so himself to show us how she can shuffle her hind feet forward.

After such an entertaining morning we headed just down the road to Waitomo Adventures to take the Lost World Epic 7 hour tour. Once all five tour participants and the 2 guides had arrived, we headed by van to a picnic pavilion and showers complex located on private property. There we suited up in heavy thick wet suits, rappelling harnesses, hard hats with light and white wellington boots. Not your every day outfit for sure. We then headed for a short walk across the countryside to a ropes course where we practiced using our two carbine clips to move along a rope trail while staying safely attached. Then we headed down to the entrance to the lost world.

A metal catwalk extends out over an open abyss. Over 300 feet below, the pit's bottom was a mix of misty green and wet rock. We were all safely clipped to a rope before being led onto the catwalk and being asked to sit back onto a bar that floated over nothingness. Once seated, our harnesses were clipped onto roped for the trip down. For safety, we were connected to our guides by a lead rope. And then came the hard part. Slide forward off the bar and sitting into the harness itself. Being supported over the drop by only a rope. Having done it, feeling the stability and solidness of the harness support, all fear was forgotten, and we began to feed rope through the clip to begin our descent.

For the first 10 feet or so, feet touch the rock wall. After that, the rock recedes and you hang in the open, the only contact to the solid earth, the rope, less than an inch in diameter. Through the mist below, the green became distinguishable leaves, individual rocks began to stand out, and then we were down, standing on our feet again at the bottom. And here we paused to eat before beginning the long journey out. Nothing fancy. Sandwiches and cookies in the strange light.

Our first task was to head across this gap to the far end, to scramble down boulders, to reach water level. The distance was not far, but the suits, designed to keep us warm in the cold water, heated up quickly. At the edge of the water, an eel, maybe a foot long swam, attracted perhaps by our head lamps. They live in the waters of the cave, and throughout New Zealand. But the lure of the cool water was enough to get me in, despite the dark surface and the eels it might hide. After all, the only other way out was a rather tall ladder.

The plunge into the waters marked my first wet suit experience. Cold water rushed in at the edges and stole my breath. The water here is deep, and we were headed against the current. Thick ropes lay hidden below the water, and we groped our way along as our suits held our bodies to the surface. The trip was an alternation of floating comfortably through deep water, and trudging through shin deep water with heavy water laden boots. In between we navigated across a churning basin at the foot of one falls, and attempted to climb right up another less dangerous one. We used a rope swing to climb into an upper chamber, then dropped through a hole back into the water below, with all lights out. We belly crawled beneath a boulder for the fun of it, and took a break on a sandy bar to have a surprise hot drink and a chocolate fish one of the guides had packed in all that way.

Finally, as we neared the end of the cave, too far from the entrance for

light, but near enough for insects to wander, we paused a final time. We turned out our headlamps and looked up. Scattered across the ceiling like a pale green milky way shone a thousand points of light. They are glow worms. Hunters that lure insects with their light, and ensnare them with sticky strings, I had read about them in one of those strange fact columns in a magazine growing up. Here they were.

After spending a long time looking, we finally got back to our feet, and before long we saw light, as the stream flowed out into the day. climbing up out of that small valley to the never ending expanse of sheep fields, we began our trek back to our start point. The walk felt long and hot, and was fraught with manure. Finally, we crested one of the many rolling hills and spotted our pavilion. While we hit the showers, our guides cooked up steaks, sausage, and potatoes, and set out salads and drinks. We ate our food and talked about our travels, and finally loaded back into the van to return to the main office.

This is one of the most fun and amazing experiences I've had anywhere. It was difficult for me, as I am not in great shape, but it was absolutely worth the cost, the time and the effort. I would recommend this as the number one thing to do while visiting New Zealand if you are physically able. Simply amazing.

Urbino and the Museum of the Hard to Find

Urbino is a bristling brown city that covers a small hill. Parking outside the city walls, we entered through the gates and wound our way up stairs and slopping narrow alleys between the crowded buildings to the Palazzo Ducale. The Palazzo is a UNESCO world heritage site, and its famous facade as well as the museum inside it are the main attraction of this small city.

Only we couldn't find it. We climbed the hill to the main piazza, and looked around at the buildings, and saw no signs. We did see a sign leading up some of the stairs we came to get here, but in the square, there didn't appear to be any museum. We circled back down hill, and returned searching again. Then, we realized that there was a small open doorway on the piazza, tucked into a corner near some construction. There was not a sign in sight, but here was the Palazzo Ducale and the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. It's famous facade disguised by plywood surrounding construction work.

The museum, housed in this graceful palace consists mainly of Renaissance works. In fact, according to wikipedia, it is one of the most important such collections in the world. But despite the works by master artists such as Raphael and Titian, a small room known as the Studiolo steals the show. This small room, a sort of renaissance era study, is entirely decorated in wooden inlay work. The entire room looks like it is filled with shelves and cabinets, and the shelves are filled with accoutrements of a thinking mind. But all of these details are but works of art, created by perfectly cut and variously shaded pieces of wood fit together like a puzzle. While no pictures were allowed inside, the wikipedia entry about the Palazzo does show a few examples of the work in this room.