If you think the surface Landscape of New Zealand is amazing, try going beneath the surface.
Te Ananui cave. Courtesy of Underground Adventures.
Going into an extensive cave system is not an endeavor to be entered into lightly. These subterranean worlds contain dramatic scenery, wet irregular floors, tight and narrow spaces, deep crevices, and darkness so absolute it plays tricks on your mind. In our native Colorado, the caves can also be home to bears who do not welcome interlopers. But if you have seen The Lord of the Rings movies, you know that New Zealand caves can contain goblins, trolls, and much worse things. So with a combination of excitement and a little fear, we geared up to explore the Te Ananui cave.
Gear up is the right word for it. We arrived at Underworld Adventures a half hour before our scheduled departure to get fitted out. We dressed in full-body wetsuits, boots, gloves, inflatable life vests, and hard hats complete with miner’s light. All done up in yellow and black neoprene, I looked like a dorky, over-the-hill superhero who needed to hang it up.
Fun getting geared up for the big adventure. Photo courtesy of Chuck Black Photography.
Then we set out on our version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. First, a van sped us along a back country road. Our guide Liana told us how this part of the West Coast had been one of the most successful goldfields in New Zealand. An entire metropolitan area grew up in this region, and in the end, miners extracted something like $12 billion New Zealand dollars worth of gold before the claims played out. Like the story of most boom towns, the money ended up in the pockets of the bankers and others who supplied goods and services to the miners and not in the threadbare pockets of the men who did the hard, dirty, and dangerous work of freeing the precious metal from the earth.
We left the van in a car park and boarded a small train that carried through the rainforest on narrow rails. At times, we were treated to glances of the river and the limestone cliffs and otherwise wholly shrouded in the dense vegetation. Countless ferns flowed by like a river of green. New Zealand has roughly 200 species of fern which is a lot by any estimate, but it’s especially interesting in this temperate climate as ferns are generally found in the tropics. Yet ferns abound here, with some species found nowhere else in the world, like the silver leaf fern. This iconic plant is the national symbol of New Zealand and the emblem of the nation’s world-champion rugby team. You know a team has to be tough if they can have a tree leaf as a mascot rather than a bear, bull, or another frightening animal.
Photo courtesy of Chuck Black Photography
We disembarked the train and met our “new best friend,” an inner tire tube. For the next two hours, we would carry, roll and slide this black rubber donut with us as we explored the cave, and in return for our effort, it would float us out of the cave and back down the river. But first, we needed to cross the river. The way across the river was via an aging suspension bridge. This wood and cable contraption looked like the original miners had built it and not maintained it since. It swayed as our small group marched across it, and it felt like walking in the boat on a rough sea, but with the risk of falling to serious injury on the rocks below.
Once the bridge was behind us, the stairs lay in front. One hundred thirty-one stairs, to be exact, not that I was counting. It wouldn’t be a bad hike if we didn’t have to do it while dressed in neoprene, making it hot and uncomfortable. So we were all glad to enter the cool cave when we got to the mouth.
All of us at the entrance to the Cave. Photo courtesy of Underground Adventures.
For the next two hours, we crouched, squeezed, slipped, and stumbled through an underground labyrinth. We viewed stalactites and stalagmites growing in many unique shapes. It is humbling to know that these flowing spires of calcite grow at the glacial rate of about 3.5 mm a century. We saw growths standing as tall as myself, and I marveled at the patience of nature. But it’s not just that it takes so long to grow them; it is the interesting variety of shapes they can form. One named the King stands tall and overlooks a chamber of smaller formations like supplicants bowing down before their sovereign. Another, called the dragon’s teeth, is a long line of sharp narrow spikes that looks like the gaping jaw of a giant, subterranean reptile.
The good news about the stalagmites is that they tell us the cave is very stable. It has taken eons for those formations to grow, meaning the cave must not have changed or moved in that time. That made me feel better as I tried not to think about the hundreds of feet of rock above my head.
Stalagtites in Te Ananui Cave, New Zeland. Photo courtesy of Chuck Black Photography.
Delaney was getting a little out of sorts and possibly hungry from the exertion. I attempted to recapture her interest by reminding her about the time Tom and Becky got lost in a cave in Mark Twain’s classic book Tom Sawyer. I tried to point out how scary it must have been to be down there with no light. Not sure if the guide heard me talking with Delaney or if I am subtly psychic, but that was when the guide asked us all to turn off our lights. It’s very rare to find yourself in a place with no light. Usually, what we call dark is just low light, and you know that if you wait a few minutes, you will adjust and be able to make out some light again. But down here, there was no adapting because there was no light. After a few minutes, I lost track of which way was up. And I kept getting the idea that there was a little illumination at the edge of my vision, only to turn my head and find absolute darkness. Then I thought I saw it again on the other side and turned back. Now I understand the ghost lights and spirits that others supposedly found underground in the past.
With lights back on, we continued through low, narrow passages into large open chambers. After an hour, it became clear to my equally tall or taller sons and me that cave guides would not be our future careers. I could have won an award for the most scrapped-up helmet at the end of our adventure. But I’m glad I had the brain bucket on, or I might still be lying unconscious in that cave.
The author and his son. Courtesy of Underground Adventures.
The final large chamber we entered featured a large flat stone. As we got comfortable sitting on the inner tubes we were careful not to burst on the way through the cave, the guide asked us to turn off our headlights again. This time we were not greeted by darkness but by hundreds of points of tiny bluish light just above our heads. It was like being outside at night gazing up at the stars. These are the famous New Zealand glow worms that live on the ceilings of caves and attract prey using their tiny light as a lure. The pray then becomes entangled in sticky threads hanging down from the ceiling and ends as lunch for the worms. It’s beautiful and a little gross at the same time — one of those things better to enjoy than to think about, like hot dogs.
We sat for some time in the dark, looking up at the lights. Unlike the last time we turned off our lights, we had something for our eyes to focus on. Because of that, we noticed the absolute silence of the cave. My oldest son said that silence was the most memorable part for him. He lives in a world of constant stimulation, and that level of stillness was a new experience for him.
The author floating through the Te Ananui cave, New Zealand. Courtesy of Underground Adventures.
Next, we made our way to the water at the bottom of the cave. Finally, those old tires we had carried and protected would return the favor. We each stepped into the water and got on our tubes. Then we grasped the feet of the person behind us to form a long chain, turned off our headlamps, and floated through passages filled with glow worms. Floating in silence with the lights up above, interrupted periodically by what I assume were rock ledges hanging down, gave me the impression I was floating through a nebula in space. It was otherworldly. Everyone approached this moment reverentially, and no one spoke or made a sound. We slowly drifted under the bioluminescence, each lost in our own experience. Time lost meaning as was floated downstream, but eventually, we became aware of light as we approached the cave exit. Our subterranean sojourn was over, but our journey was not yet complete.
Leisurely floating down the Nile River, New Zealand. Courtesy of Chuck Black Photography.
Back out into the sun, we intermittently floated and walked to the Nile River (there is one in New Zealand, and although disoriented from being underground, we weren’t so lost we thought we were in Egypt). The current increased in the main channel, as did the excitement. We floated lazily at first, but as the track narrowed, the current sped up, sending us on an exhilarating ride over several rapids in nature’s version of a theme park ride. The neoprene suits were now welcome as the spring runoff was icy cold, and we would have gotten soaked and cold without them. Then as the river widened and slowed, we made our way to shore and rejoined the train where it had patiently waited for us.
The ride back was much subdued compared to the excitement of riding up. We all sat quietly with our thoughts until we returned to the base, where we happily returned our now wet and muddy neoprene costumes, showered off, and put on the clean, dry clothing we brought with us.
Deep in the Te Ananui Cave system, New Zealand. Courtesy of Underground Adventures.
We had spent about four hours on the tour, almost half of that underground. If I could add anything to the experience, it would have been more time floating on the tubes. The stretches of relaxing drifting under the thick green vegetation of a rain forest and towering limestone cliffs were relaxing, which was a welcome counterpoint to the exertion and crouching to get through the cave. I could have happily floated all the way to the ocean and was a little disappointed when I found out we were not going to drift that far.
If you want to go, the company is Underworld Adventures located in Charleston, West Coast. You can find them on the internet at www.caverafting.com
Photo courtesy of Chuck Black Photography
