Going Underground - and a Spooky Forest Walk

Wednesday 15 January

What to do in Abel Tasman when the weather turns to pish? Go underground at Ngārua Caves and squelch through the woods to visit Harwoods Hole of course!

The trip up Takaka Hill offered several lay-bys with view points but with visibility at under 50m we didn’t stop!

On Lorraine Vawdrey’s recommendation we headed to Ngārua Caves, a fascinating system which also plays host to rare moa bones. The moa was a giant emu type bird which once roamed NZ but is now extinct.

We ate our picnic at the cafe as it was too wet outside and they let you BYO (tbh - the cafe didn't sell much) then gathered our helmets, added a few extra layers and headed underground with about 20 other people.

Our guide was very informative and patient, which was good as we had two minecraft fanatics there with their dad, and a woman with an urge to photograph every details (oops, that would be me!). The kids asked so many fascinating questions so I think we got to learn a little more than on regular tours!

The Ngārua Caves were discovered in 1876 and have been a popular visitor attraction for almost 150 years. Early visitors, even up to the late 20th century left their mark with broken stalactites and stalagmites in places (they were taken as souvenirs), and many carved their names into the curtain like swags of limestone. They are privately owned by a descendant of one of the original discoverers of the cave and more carefully managed these days.

One of the key features of the caves are the rare & extinct skeletons which have been found within this underground vault - there are bones from the Little Bush Moa as well as assorted kiwi and possums. At various points the unfortunate creatures have fallen through holes in the cave roof (known as tomo) and once inside there was no escape.

Climbing out into daylight at the end we were disappointed to find little change in the weather and visibility outside, but we were rather taken with the amazing rock formations on the walk back to base.

After that we braved the low cloud, drizzle & rain to take on an unexpected journey through Lord of the Rings and Hobbit country to find Hardwood’s Hole - the deepest vertical shaft in NZ at 183m - a massive sink hole!

It was a bit damp but not too rainy as we set off on the officially designated "Easy" 5.8km out and back track through some amazingly spooky forest landscapes. Think X-Files alien abductions, Blair Witch Project, Cabin in the Woods... and of course The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey came through here back in 2012.

The deeper we headed into the woods, the worse the weather became - the easy gravelly path often turned to muddy morasses and we had to take a few detours round the back of trees to save ourselves from sinking into the mud.

About 45 minutes in we hit the craggy rocky part which was really quite challenging in the rain - and by now it was pouring down!

Caroline's catchphrase for the walk was "my legs are more flexible than my trousers" so Louis had to help her and me with my dodgy knees over some of the trickier slipperier parts!

Finally, after several "400m/15 minutes to go" signs we realised that time and related distance in space was more flexible than even Caroline's legs, and we may never reach the promised goal hole... but suddenly the rocks reared up in front of us and we realised we were in a crevasse, effectively within the confines of the upper part of the sink hole. Sadly - the visibility and rain made it impossible to actually see the hole, or the high stone walls beside and ahead of us on the far side of the deep shaft - but the soft glimpses we got through the low cloud were pretty impressive, more so than could be captured on camera. In sunshine, it would have been feasible ot scramble over the rock pile and get a closer glimpse of our quarry, but none of us felt up to that... maybe another day!

We headed back and were amazed to find that the forest had its own microclimate - the closer to the hole the wetter and cloudier it was, and as we retraced our steps the rain eased off and the oppressive cloud cover moved up and up - back at the car it was quite bright and almost sunny! And best of all the long drop toilet was clean and non-stinky which is always a bonus.

Back at camp after a windy and low visibility drive back over the East side of Takaka Hill we BBQed some sausages and tried to dry out a little!