I drive this night from Pahia to Waitomo about 300
km. Then I stoped and get a sleep until the birds
sing the morning song to get up and have a nutella
breakfast with hot chocolate. I just have 20 km now
to do until I arrive in Waitomo. I go in the first
agency, the one you can t miss when you arrive. I
m planing to go to Lost World tour, a big hole and
a wet cave adventure. The people are just to busy,
a lot of people are standing, and the woman at the
info is busy. Hey sweet ? Can I ask something?.
Do you still have place for the Lost World tour today?
Yes they have, 285 $. Ups. That with a big group and
no photo allowed. What ???? No photo why that ? No
photo because its to dangerous...some people let fall
they camera on the other...when they break they claim
again the agency. Bullshit !!! I found out that in
reality they make their own picture with digicam and
sell them afterwards. They realy try to get as much
money they can from the tourist. Price is to much,
people to commercial and unfriendly. That is no fun.
I can remember the Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia
LaPaz to Coroico, we were just 3 people doing it by
bike, and we saw the 15 to 20 people group from the
other agency. Just as here, Get More Money From The
Chicken Like Tourist. Why chicken ? Because a farmer
sometimes try to get as much eggs as he can from his
chicken, and eggs is money. Chicken Tourist....Okay
its just a image. I can do better I know. But well
I change the farmer and get in an other place. The
Museum. Here I found what I was searching for.
With Michelle, Jim, Robert I book a trip in one of
the Waitomo Caves. Should be more dry than the other,
but because of the rain the last days, all the caves
are much more wetty than before. So be prepared to
catch some water ! I m a lucky guy and I took since
5 month a waterproof bag. I will now for the first
time used it, finaly! The guy who sell it to me told
me it could go 6 m down the water. I will not check
it !
Kearen (I don t know how to spell it )
is our guide. He give us some instruction and new
clothes. Very very nice one. If you like the circus
you will love the underwear he gived us. The trip
didn t beginn that I just loved it. Red and blue strokes
on my pants and pull over to get warm. Finito la mode
francaise, no frensh touch anymore! Then a suit that
looks more professional. I m not but I look like I
m a pro speleologue with my cord and my green helmet.
Kearen s wife and baby say goodbye to our guide and
here we go.
We drive 10 minutes, walk down a dirty wetty way to
the entry of the caves. The trip begin, after a good
instruction in the equipment and what to do and what
not. Kearen check our equipment again and here we
go.We enter in this cave, I don t know what to expect.
In the grass a little hole. Outside a cord attached
to a rock. We attached our cord to the one on the
rock. One after the other we enter. I m the last.
I attach me and slide down the hole. My feet don t
touch the ground anymore...I m hanging. Bellow me
a hole, maybie 4 m 5 m but very tied with water ...I
slide to the next stop ! The trip continue by crossing
some other holes, jumping from one rock to the other
but with the security. If I turn my lamp of...no daylight
anymore.
Follow a fantastic travel into the earth, I will make
this article short because I used to describe to long
everything. (short means less than 20 pages). Maybie
you just take a plane to this place, ask for Kearen
and have your own experience. It s realy worth doing
it with this guy.
We stop. In front of us a mini mini little waterlake.
Since few minutes its not possible to stand anymore.
We are moving like monsters, impossible to make nice
mouvement. The more we enter in the galleries the
more we transform into gollum like creature. Walking
on the hands and the feets. Hitting the head to the
top of the wall. We continue and arrive to something
very very special. A very very tied hole. Its a kind
of corridor that goes up. The only thing is. Its so
narrow that you have to go one after the other and
without bag. I look at the other. Its funny because
nobody feel realy well going trough. There is just
one method. Mouving. The one put the head before.
The other the arm. Then you get stocked in a claustrophobic
position and so you have to turn, finaly you change
your moves and yes ....you going forward...good. Hop
hop...WAAAAOOW. That s cool, I did it !!
There will be few passage like this one but there
are the best. Why because you see how different the
environment influent the way you have to behave. You
could be a world olympic athletic outside but here
you don t know anything. You have to learn everything
from the begining. And the best is watch out your
head. I think I hit my head 1598 times on the walls.
Nice .Then we make abseil, so for the first time in my
life I walk down a wall in a horizontal position,
under me I see nothing, I m just hearing the noise
of the underearth river. Plouuuf. Here I m, feet it
the cold river. Where are the others ? Kearen comes
down and the other group is full again after a call
in the dark. Upper me few glowworms points simulate
a star sky in a blue-green light.
We take the lunch in a cavern filled with tousend
of different natural sculture. I can t realy eat...its
to beautifull. So I try to take some pics. But its
not that easy because I don t want to use the flash.
So I try to get some long time exposure...most of
them are: BLUR. Grrrr. I have to fight again the high
humidity, against the sliding mini stativ I took.
Each step I make could be fatal. My camera could fall
in the water, my precious....I use
my head light as moving lightsource  .
I continue to look after a nice model that was easy
to photograph. The gallery become more and more narrow,
the more I go forward and the more the water current
is strong. Everyting arround me is dark until my lamp
directed by my head lighten it. The light cone is
not more than a 80 degrees cone. Sometimes the brightness
get less but hitting a wall would reactive it...Good
old method. But something is strange. I can feel something
arround me. No people. My team continue to the cave
to explore until I take the time to make pictures.
It is as something observed me. Am I paranoiac? I
look back, nothing. Up....AAAARRGG. What is that ?
Did I dream? I just saw tousend of little eyes closing.
They were looking at me. But now they where just simple
stalagtit. I continue and look up again ...Again....The
eyes closed again.I look closer. But nothing just
stalagtit. Hmm I continue but this time looked down
in the water and now I can see something. In the reflection
thousend of opened eyes look down at me. I see them.
What are you looking at ? Who are you... Thousend
voice begin to speak, yes tousend and all together,
."the liiiight...noooo ligght".
Okay I understand you don t want the light in your
direction. It is amazing! Awesome would say Jesse.
I m speaking to Stalagtits...Am I crazy.
I dont care..maybie I m. .Each stalagtite has a big
eye at the end of the long body like an Escargot.
But all of them react at the same time, like a perfect
orchester. Turning the pupil on the same time, blinking
at the same second. Incredible. And as they spoke
they spoke all at the same time also. It was a symphonie
of stalagtite. WWWWWAAAOOOW. I look up...but they
closed again and become as hard and fixed as before.
Was I dreaming ? Was it the water. It was not, I spend
10 minutes speaking with them, looking all the time
in the water. They told me about their life and all
the scared they had. I asked tousend of things. They
spoke about the light and the contact with living
forms. The only light they loved was the gloworm light
because it was not very bright and because this insect
where carefull when they come on them. People are
not. The people are coming this a helmet and a big
light on it, and a lot of time it kill them as the
people stand up...a lot of stalagtite will fall..stalagtite
will die..The strong hit will just kill them in a
half second, they that lived hundred of years...
We spoke together and it seems to be years passing,
they told me about them ...so much story, the first
time they saw a man, etc...my neck was hitting because
of the looking in the watter but that wasn t important.
Suddently the eyes closed again, the sound of their
voice stop to speak...lights where coming, the light
of my friend...Robert was the first. Should I told
them about it ? They will think I m crazy. Maybie
I could share that with Kearen. He would probably
know about the stalagtite. Hmmm I decided to keep
it as a secret. My secret.
I left my friends. Would I see them again? Who knows.
I was so happy. Our team continue the way back to
the exit. Without Kearen we could never find back.
There is one way but tousend holes. We go through
the hole in half water. If you get stucked on the
wrong direction. Head first where the water come from
you could be death, just because all the water will
came and get stucked in your direction, filling the
few air in the gallery like you fill a bottle of water.
So no panic. Just go put your head down, get wet.
The toe of my feet were freezing, but my eyes were
filled with beauty. The darkness can be beautifull.
Down the earth everything was new, everyting was fantastic.
Kearen saw that beauty every day but this cave could
be as dangerous as nice. Precausion was allways to
be there.
We get out of the hole, once Robert was inside a very
narrow hole. Probably the best passage there because
you need a good 3 minutes to make less than one meter
down, why ? Because its so narrow and you are the
only one who can get you out of it. Imagine 3 peoples
umarming you and you have to move down. Twist, stretch,
squetch and hop you made it. GGGGGREAT. The thing
is. Move don t be stressed by the position. Think
how, and react like a snake....slide....ehehhehe
As we came out it was still afternoon. We were totaly
wet, the boots were full with water. Cold water. My
toes didn t responce.
We enter in the car...wonderfull day in the darkness.
I will do it again...We arrived at the refuge, get
a warm showel and change our clown-clothes for our
dry boring ones.
Then time to eat. I met Tim the sleeping man and Craig
the full of story guy. Very nice people.
Then I went to my van, played a little guitar song
and had a deep deep sleep.
Thx Kearen for that experience. |
