[RufRoc]

The Glowworm Caves at Te Anau: During the evening, we went on a short tour to the Glowworm Caves. It was an interesting 2 hour experience, more so because I always thought glowworms were actual worms

Te Anau Glowworm Caves Tour Te Anau Sightseeing Attractions

Here's a video about the experience in the caves (found it on youtube)

YouTube - Te Anau Glowworm Caves - Real Journeys

All the below pics are from a CD that we'd bought out there, cameras ain't allowed below. It was a nice experience in pitch darkness, quite noisy though coz of all the water in the cave. It almost gives you the illusion of looking at the sky at night.

Pics of the cool ride that took us across Lake Te Anau to the caves.













And that's showing the route inside the caves. Where you notice figures standing is the point till which you go by foot and then there's a boat which takes you a lil further (hope its visible in the pics, otherwise you might want to zoom into it). To move the boat, the guy just pulls on these ropes above, tool quite some time to get used to that pitch dark. But then there were the glowworms to keep us company.



Picture this but in complete darkness.



Thats the entrance to the cave. The roar of the water inside the cave was deafening and scary.















And thats us, taken at the mouth of the cave's entrance.



And that's the end of Day 5 of our trip. Tomorrow we drive back to Queenstown and hope the weather clears up for us to skydive. We initially plan to drive to Milford Sound and then to Queenstown but then we decide to have an easy relaxing day, especially after some pretty early morning starts.

[rdna]

Eagerly waiting for the skydiving photos and PLEASE do not touch up the photos. Your natural eye for the right angle and the natural look is what giving the real beauty of the places.

[Punzabi]

I hope you guys are not traveling into earthquake affected zone, are you? I believe shock wave hasn't bothered you as you guys are a bit far away from Christchurch. Be safe guys and all the best.

[RufRoc]

Originally Posted by rdna

Eagerly waiting for the skydiving photos ...

Well, our bad luck continued ... will write about that

Originally Posted by Punzabi

I hope you guys are not traveling into earthquake affected zone, are you? I believe shock wave hasn't bothered you as you guys are a bit far away from Christchurch...

Punzabi, the trip was from 25th Dec - 3rd Jan. There was an earthquake of lesser magnitude on the 25th when we landed but we only knew about it from the news the next day. This one is the third big quake in the last few months ... very unfortunate.

[Dry Ice]

Awesome pics RufRoc. NewZealand is such a beautiful country! Hope to visit it someday!

[RufRoc]

@Dry Ice: Thank you. More pics coming up.

Day 6: (Drive from Te Anau to Queenstown and the evening at Queenstown)

Couple of pics of the lake front motel we crashed at (Red Tussock Motel) and the view from the back.









The morning cuppa coffee.



The New Zealand countryside, enroute to Queenstown. Look out for the sheep, you'll see most of them hiding out in the open. I bet counting sheep must be a favourite pastime for people out there . Was a nice bright sunny drive through the country side.

[RufRoc]

More pics from the drive through the countryside.



























We took a small diversion, off the highway and couldn't believe what we found. Kinda makes you realise how much you miss when you stick to the tourist circuits. We saw a sign saying 'Kingston Flyer' and decided to see where that would lead us to. Found an abandoned railway line, the station now used as a tavern and a campsite right in front of a beautiful lake, surrounded by the mountains.

[RufRoc]

We saw this interesting cottage near the lake, with its entire 'fence' made of wheels. Witty sign on the gate 'Come Bide and Rest a Wheel'.





The scene just outside Queenstown. Lovely drive along those lakes.



























And we're back at Queenstown. Pics from our walk around the town.











Queenstown has a Gondola, right in the middle of the town and we rode it to the top of this mountain. There is a Luge track at the top, so its quite a good place to have fun, especially if you want to pass time before your next adventure/activity begins. You can catch a lovely panaromic view of the town from up there.

[RufRoc]

More pics from up there.





AJ Hackett has another Bungy site right in town. I think this is their only site where they offer free style jumps. It was fun just standing there and watching people try different styles. My vote goes to this girl who actually did a somersault off the ledge ... couldn't catch her on my cam though! There are more cool jumps on the youtube video I'd uploaded earlier.



















Section of the Luge track.



More Bungy pics.



















Spot the ship?















Riding the lift up to the Luge starting point.





And that was Day 6 of our trip. We had rafting booked in for 7:30 AM the next morning and a ride on the Shotover Jet, followed by Skydiving in the afternoon. Jumping off a plane at 15000 ft on the 31st Dec - the last day of the year - would have made for a perfect end to 2010.

[vgsr]

Deja Vu ! very strange indeed. We were in NZ the same dates, stayed at the same Shotover lodge ! We spent the whole nite of the 25th Dec in Christchurch sleepless because of the earthquakes, Some of the photographs are almost identical to what I have. Spent the new years eve at Invercargil
Only, I had a RAV 4 to drive, and just to second what you have said, NZ is one of the prettiest country I have been to and a great driving experience .