I'd opted for the Labyrinth experience, a 3 hour tour, with 1 hour underground - I knew it was going to be freezing and i figured that was long enough for me down there. Dan was doing the Abyss, a 5 hour tour and would be staying overnight in Waitomo so once we got there we headed off in seperate directions for the day. There were 3 others on my tour that I knew from the Kiwi bus; sisters Sarah and ??? and Sarah's boyfriend Johny. It was nice to have a few other peeps I knew on the tour as i was feeling a little apprehensive about what it involved!! There was about 15 of us in the group althogether though and everyone was really friendly and team work was all good. There was also a lovely english couple on there who reminded me so much of Jules and Oli.... they were so like you guys - it made me miss you more than I do anyway!
Anyway, the tour.. we got kitted out with our sexy wetsuits, hardhats and bootys as you can see in the fetching pic's here - i don't think I've ever looked so good!! haha! then headed out to the caves.. first stop though... tube selection... the caves are mostly nativaged through by sitting in the inner tube of a type and floating down letting the current take you. Size selection is most important and done by sticking your bum out and shoving the tube around you and seeing if it falls off - a compical sight with 15 of us all doing it at the same time. Then we had a practice jump off a step into the river - as in the caves there are some waterfalls that you have to jump backwards off - ooer! - then it was off to the caves themselves! We walked down and climbed down into the darkness.... stopped and took a few minutes to introduce ourselves and get used to the lack of light in the caves. All done we set off, the first bit was the scariest if you get claustropobhic, you had to lie flat back in your tube as the cave was so low and be pulled through it by the guide.... and did i mention the water.... freezing- and i mean freezing - by the time we finished i barely had any feeling on strength in my fingers that it was actually a struggle to get my wetsuit undone!!Anyway, we spent the next hour floating down in the caves, jumping off waterfalls, gazing up in the dark at the glow worms (infact Maggots) that the caves are famous for and checking out the stalagtites all around. It was qutie a scary thought that we were several metres below ground but it was an amazing experience and the guides were fab so we all felt very safe. i have to admit that an hour down there was long enough for me, and my bladder too - I'm not sure I could've managed another 2 down there but it was wicked and so much fun - now that I've thawed out anyway!! There is a hot shower, soup and bagel at the end of it too, bargain and very welcomed by all of us!
We had a couple of hours to kill before the bus headed back to Rotarua so headed into town (and i use the term loosely as it consists of about 5 buildings and very little else) we got ourselves a hot choc (or milk for oddbod me) and chatted the time away. As Dan had stayed in Waitomo it was just Jamie and I that evening - again in our efforts to safe money we opted for vegging in the TV room after dinner, i was quite happy cosy in there, i was still trying to warm up!! Plus I had an early start the next day..... it was to be my day of pampering!!
Although, it is questionable that a day of pampering would be done some where called Hell's Gate but that was the venue so off i went. I managed to oversleep and actually only caught the shuttle bus by seconds and thanks to Jamie waking me up when he realised i really shouldn't still be in my bed. Cheers Jamie!! Hell's Gate is one of Rotarua's geothermal parks. It attracted me as it has a large volcanic park that 
you can walk around and see all the steaming mud pools, mineral pools, an active mud volcano (pictured here) and hot water waterfall and all sorts - as i said before all that stuff fascinates me so I was really excited about seeing it all. I opted for a guided walk too - which is were i learnt about the Sulphur smell thing i mentioned before.
After the walk came the pampering, they were doing a winter special that included a massage so I thought it'd be rude not too... so i was shown into my massage and relaxed for the next while - it was bliss, although I do have to say the massause (sp?!) was slightly annoying - i don't think she stopped talking once and i could've sworn the idea of a massage it to relax. Anyway, despite that it was lush and afterwards i was shown into the thermal waters of the Spa to relax some more before my Mud bath. The mud baths were the other reason I'd chosen this place particularly - not all of the spa's have mud baths. I was shown into my own private mud bath and it was fab... very very hot though and i have to admit would probably be more fun if you weren't alone but I wasn't about to let that stop me going. My bikini is still suffering the effects of the mud now too.... after you get out you have to have a freezing cold shower - a shock to the system i can tell you - 
in order to open up your pores again and get your circulation back to normal as the mud clogs it up i believe. After that though it's back into the nice warm spa to chill out until you're ready for your Manuka tea (yum!) in the lounge. I could so get used to this lifestyle!!My morning of pampering went all to quickly, and after randomly bumping in to Lotte and Graham there too I spent the afternoon catching up on bits and pieces before whiling away my last evening there with the boys (and 2 newbie Scottish boys that had moved into our dorm too) in the hostel's spa pool - well, may as well carry on the theme for the day eh!) Tough day really!! ;-) x
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