I have managed to keep my day shifted about 3 hours forwards from New Zealand time. Monday morning and I am up bright and early to drive to Wellington. Ahead of the rush hour, if you could call it that.I have managed to keep my day shifted about 3 hours forwards from New Zealand time. Monday morning and I am up bright and early to drive to Wellington. Ahead of the rush hour, if you could call it that.
The route takes me back past Rotorua, then follows the volcanic line along the interestingly named "Thermal Explorer Highway". Every other side road is signpost to volcanic this, hot spring that, geyser something else. Side roads in-between advertise numerous opportunities for white water rafting and jet boat rides, though maybe not so exciting in the current drought. A maze of shiny pipes emitting steam is the feed to a geothermal power station.
Further south the road becomes the "Desert Highway" and climbs to a scrub covered plateau. It doesn't seem dry enough to be a genuine desert. Obviously volcanic mountains off to the west are crested with snow. I am sure I have seen this before in one of the trailers for the Lord of the Rings shown on the Air New Zealand flight. Road signs indicate that the road may be closed during winter, other signs point to ski resorts.
Arriving in Wellington I drop my luggage at the ferry terminal before returning the car. With a couple of hours to spare I stop at a web café and check my email. Countless spam for porn, loans, mortgages, viagra and plastic surgery with a similar objective. Somewhat surprisingly, there are no requests from the widow of a Nigerian oil minister to help her move millions of dollars out of the country. 350 deletions later I have a few left worth responding to. The good news is that like everything else in New Zealand, web cafés are cheap.
At the Picton ferry terminal I am met by Kevin from the Blenheim Dive Centre and Jason, a local diver who has kindly offered to show me round. The fresh water dives planned for tomorrow are reputed to be too cold for the 5mm steamer and hooded over-jacket I have been wearing, so we go back to the shop and sort out a rental suit.
Next morning Jason meets me at 6:30 for the drive to Riwaka. A couple of hours through some incredibly varied and picturesque terrain, ranging from mountain passes to vineyards and hop fields. This is the sunniest part of New Zealand with Blenheim holding the sunshine record for the last few years.
The roads get smaller and rougher until eventually we are on a dirt track leading to a grassy picnic area. A stream runs out of a wooded valley. From here on it is a 300 metre walk to the resurgence.
Sliding in I get that ooh moment as water floods through the front zip of the wetsuit. Its crystal clear, visibility only being limited by the penetration of our torch beams and the walls of the cave. Despite the initial shock the I soon warm up to a tolerable level of cold as Jason lays the line into the cave.
Its only 10 minutes before we are climbing a pebbled slope to the next sump. The section with "no clear surface" could easily be free dived, except we stay below the water longer to enjoy the dive. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, though the best is still to come.
The second sump is a similar length, this time with a permanent line. Again it could be free dived, and again we take a comfortable 10 minutes to enjoy the dive. Jason points out an eel that is completely unaware of our torch beams.
The stream flows from beneath a massive pile of boulders banking up into a huge gallery. We shed our dive gear and spend half hour or so clambering up the boulder slope end examining various cave formations. Some of the cracks lead back into a dry cave system that could take a few hours to explore if we were not on a tight schedule with more dives to fit in.