Volcanos and Caves

First of all, I need to mention that this fragile creature they told us about actually exists..

The IronKiwi, found at daylight in Otorohanga. Quite thick-skinned..

 Left this zoological sensation behind and found myself after a 3-hour drive in the heart of North-Island, the Central Plateau.. Had some nice view onto the volcanos , Huka Falls and Lake Taupo..

Went the Tongariro alpine trip the day after.. The latest eruption was in August, so of course a real danger ;-)

Weather was well.. NZ like - changing from sunshine to rain, to snow storm whiteout to sun and snowfall again.. Took some 6h or so..

After an awesome Filet Mignon in Taupo and a hostel stay I decided to drive to the West into the Waitomo Cave region.
After a 100m abseiling we (USA, Austria and Kiwi explorers) had some hours to explore this amazing cave. Unfortunately commercially driven, so no individual trips are allowed..

  


Addicted to caves- as I am -  I stayed another night at Waitomo (again, excellent steak for dinner) and had a view on Ruakuri cave (dog's den). The legend tells abount the remains of people that have been killed by wild dogs and were buried below the cave entrance.For that reason a new entrance were built. Nice shot.

 Of course, traditional ways of caving still exists:

 Unbelievable.. A "no trespassing" sign, deep inside a cave.. Remember... Whats below your property belongs to you in NZ...