the rest of the trip

We didn't try to pack too much into our last few days at Waitomo. We drove around the area, walked to some more waterfalls (every where you look water is falling down rocks in this country), saw some beaches.
Friday, especially, we spent the day driving from beach to beach to beach, with a few waterfalls in between. We headed up north about an hour to Raglan, home to one of the most famous surf spots in New Zealand and an inviting black-sand beach. Watched the surfers ride the wave, hunted for shells. A good time, even if the sun didn't come out quite enough.
Drove gravel roads south for a while looking for a hot-water beach. There is a spot where you can dig into the sand and make your own hot tub, but we couldn't find it.
Saturday afternoon was spent underground. We settled on a cave adventure that included a 75-meter abseil (descent down ropes) into the cave, then wading and floating on inner tubes through the cave and its stream, including a fairly lengthy time with no lights to see the constellations of glow worms on the ceiling. They are small insects who give off a faint blue light, to attract and eat insects who float into the cave. It's a surreal sight - with the lights off, the roof of the cave turns into a star field. You can see where the ceiling is, but at the same time your brain also wants to interpret the lights as far-off stars.
For a finish, we had to rock-climb up about 60 feet (with a safety line) to get out of the cave.
Then Sunday, back to Wellington. We need to get out more.