Otorohanga and Waitomo

Today has been a bit epic so this might be a long post. If you are short of time or just cant can't be bothered here are the bullet points:
* Woke up at 4am for a day trip to the heart of the North Island.
* Saw live Kiwis
* Saw beautiful caves
* Saw famous glowworms in caves
* Train home was delayed by 2.5 hours
* Much "oh shit"
* Took solace in a pub
* Am finally home at 11pm

As it is my last full day I planned a day trip to Otorohanga which has a bird sanctuary with a nocturnal kiwi house and Waitomo which has several famous caves. This was by train which I had used for my previous trip and was so reliable then. Liz said she wanted to come which me, which was a pleasant surprise as she has been here 5 years and not yet been to the South Island, so it was all booked and off we set on an adventure before dawn.

It was another gloomy start, a good day for caving though and the train ride to Otorohanga was pleasant. I took charge in manly fashion when we arrived and began the short hike to the kiwi reserve. This failed miserably as my map reading skills took us in the wrong direction and a "scenic" detour into an industrial estate. When we got to the place the heavens opened and it poured with rain. The first and best bit was thankfully indoors; a dark room set up as night with kiwis foraging for food. They are weird buggers when you see them moving; part dog part bird. They just seem a bit wrong.

The rest of the wildlife at the bird park was outside so we got wet but saw lots of native wildlife including Tuatara lizard things, native ground birds and waterfowl. The latter were fine with the wet but the falcons and parrots looked decidedly pissed off and spotting them huddled in their enclosures began to become a game of I Spy.

Sick of the rain we got a taxi and our driver was the lovely Irene, an OAP intent on organising the rest of the day for us. I had things all preplanned but took a couple of things on board. I had booked a tour of Aranui caves for the rock formations and Waitomo caves for the glowworms and boat ride. Irene also suggested the museum and some timing tweaks to get the most out of our day. We booked her for the return trip to the station so that was one less thing to worry about.

Aranui caves were great and we had a fantastic maouri guide who really knew her stuff. It was also a small group and photographs could be taken of the amazing limestone caves and stalagmites etc. This was a real highlight and when we emerged it was blazing sunshine which lasted for the rest of the day. New Zealand weather can be weird.

The Waitomo glowworm caves was a bigger group and had crying kids (blah) and cameras were banned so was not as good until the last 10 minutes where you have a boat ride in the dark with the glowworms (which are actually glowmaggots but that is less glamourous) on the cave ceiling lighting up like stars.

Deciding to give the museum a miss, in true Liz and Dan style we went to the pub for the last hour as it was sunny and sat on the balcony. Satisfied with a full day of activities, Irene collected us and drove us to the station. The plan was to be home by about 8pm. Irene was very chatty again and imparted her local knowledge, also asking how the museum was:

Irene: And did you go to the museum?
Me: (pause, not wanting to offend her suggestion of visiting) Yes.
Irene: Did you see the Moa skeleton?
Me: (Conscious of beery breath) Yes.
Irene: Did you enjoy it?
Me: (Deftly changing the subject like a ninja) These hills look like Wales.

Of course this all went to pot when Liz realised she left her coat in the pub and we made Irene do a detour to collect it.

Waiting at the station was fine as it was sunny but after 30 minutes of the train not showing up we got worried. This train is once per day and if we don't get it I am basically stranded in the middle of the North Island until tomorrow and will either miss my flight or face a hefty taxi ride and I really couldn't face Irene arranging my life for hours on end.

Finally another stressed looking traveler informed me that the train was running 2.5 hours late due to some problem with the line (I later found out they had to switch the electric locomotive with a diesel). There was no option but to return to the pub (after consuming a dodgy Chinese).

The wait wasn't too bad (thanks beer!) but by the time the train arrived it was almost the time we should have been back in Auckland and the return trip just dragged; especially when the sun set and all we could see was black. Eve was a saint and collected us from the station but we did not get home until nearly 11pm and had to wake Gaz as Liz forgot her key.

I am shortly off to bed and have an 08:35 pick up for the airport and my 30 hour flight home. Oh joy!