Days 16 and 17: Rotorua, New Zealand to Home

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Days 16-17 (7/25/02): Rotorua-Home


We awoke a little earlier and had our last breakfast. We took off and headed for the Waitomo Caves. 

We took a little side trip and walked across the Arapuni Swing Bridge. It gave a good view of the river that was being used by New Zealand as an hydroelectric plant. (I believe that 80% of New Zealand is run by this type of energy.) 

The Arapuni Swing Bridge


Ladies posing at the Swing Bridge

The river at the Swing Bridge


We got back on the bus and went to the caves. We saw a video on the way that was designed by the Kiwi Tourist board. It starred Ned Beatty and a local actor named Billy T James. I guess Billy was a famous Maori actor who died of complications of a heart transplant.

The Waitomo caves entrance

Luke, Jessica, and Lauren on a boat at the caves


The glowworms are larva that create the glow to catch their prey by luring them towards the light. They have webs waiting for them. It gave the feeling of going through space with all the glowworms acting as stars. The boats with all the people in it were nice and quiet.

After the customary gift shop buying, we took off again towards Auckland. We did make one more stop to buy souvenirs and Hokey Pokey ice cream. Hokey Pokey is a New Zealand specialty that is composed of vanilla ice cream and toffee chips. It was very delicious.

We arrived at the airport and managed to get through all the security checks. the plane was a little late but took off. Since we passed the International Date Line again, we got to relive our Thursday, July 25th.


We arrived in Los Angeles in good shape, but our plane to Memphis was late by 40 minutes. We made the transfer in Memphis with anticipation and arrived in Grand Rapids around midnight.

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