New Zealand is a mountain bike and canyoning Mecca so it might come as a surprise that

1. I hadn’t been before
2. On my first trip there I had no intention of doing either
3. We also wouldn’t be heading to either Queenstown or Milford Sound

Kylie and I had been talking about a New Zealand winter road trip for a while and when the stars aligned where we both had time and opportunity we leapt at it.

We had 10 days to smash out a road trip where we’d nerd out on geology and climate, this meant some of the more well known spots got dropped off.

We also wanted to do it on the cheap so if you want to know where we went and what we saw stay tuned, I’ve got about 2000 photos yet to edit and cull so I’ll post them as I go in a little series over the coming days or weeks or whatever.

Anyhoo we flew into Christchurch at some ungodly hour and got a ride to North South Holiday Park where we had arranged a late check in. It was about 1am when we pick up the keys from the key safe and make our way over to the cabin.

Um didn’t we get a double? asked I as I open the door.

Yes says Kylie.

I’d walked into the wrong cabin…. Opsie

Finding the right cabin we settle in. We’d picked a basic cabin, it was basically just big enough for the bed, a bar fridge and a counter top. But considering we just needed somewhere to sleep for a few hours it was perfect. and surprisingly comfy.

And for $54NZD, which included a courtesy bus into town the next day, we couldn’t go wrong.

Next morning we get dropped off at Tui Campers. One of the reasons for flying into Christchurch was the amazing deals Tui do on their camper vans.

And all set up in a Ford Transit van we hit the road for the West Coast via the Lewis Pass. Destination Cape Foulwind, where we’d camp the night in a cosy little Freedom Camp.

Freedom camping in NZ has gone through a little change recently and now to do it legally in most places you need a certified self contained camper. Thus the Transit camper.

Now on the west coast it was time to take in the sights and sounds.

Our first stop was Charlestown for a river rafting tour with Underworld Adventures. Kylie had done this one before and raved about it as a must do.

Look, my home town of Lithgow famously boasts the Glowworm tunnels and the canyons and caves of the Blue Mountains host them by the thousands but this tour was something else.

After suiting up the trip started with trip on a funky little petrol engined train.

Toot toot!!!

All Photos from the cave are ©Kylie unless stated otherwise as the second half activities meant I didn’t take my camera.

At the end of the train line we pick up our tractor tubes and walk up through the rain forest to the start of the Metro Cave.

The cave is quite extensive and we explore passageways and crawl-throughs before making our way down to the next level

The second level is where we find the first of the glowworm displays. The following photos are promos from Underworld Adventures. Click to Enbiggen.

The Glowworms here are Arachnocampa Luminosa close cousins to the ones in the Blue Mountains, Arachnoocampa Richardsae. Arachno means spider like, due to the silky stands they use to catch pray. Campa refers to them setting up a little hammock and wait for food to come to them. Luminosa refers to the fact they are Harry Potter Fans.

Next we descend to the 3 level which is where we find the river and mount our tubes.

Due to needing to paddle and hold on and stuff we couldn’t really get any photos of this section, let me just say it is mind blowing. You alternate from easy floating under a cavern of glowworms to quicker sections where it’s important to avoid being pushed into the undercuts.

It was hella fun

And then we reach the end of the cave.

But the fun isn’t over. We head out to where the Ananui creek meets the mighty Nile River, Waitakere. From here it’s hold on tight for a fun ride down some mild rapids back to the train.

Would recommend this to anyone, it’s a great trip. The cave system is quite extensive so there are drier options but even midwinter the thick wetsuits hold off the worst of the cold.

Continued on (and I’ll try to be less wordy and more photoey)