The Ostrom Family Adventures

As promised, I wanted to write about our kayaking trip last weekend. This was our first really touristy thing we have done so far. 🙂 and this does not do the experience justice.

We went with a river guide and group out of Karapiro and left around 6:30pm and explored part of the lake that had been formed by the Karapiro dam being built for hydroelectricity and flooding over Horahora town that supported the 10 megawatt Horahora power station previously.

It was really strange to think that at one point we were floating over this 3 story concrete building.

For my lovely rowing friends and family, Karapiro is also one of the training lakes for the New Zealand rowing team and competitions.

We survived any attempt at giving us a “free swim” by, who our guide called “the Australians.”

We paddled out of the lake down the Pōkaiwhenua stream and through this small green canyon.

Once upstream a bit we pulled over, had a snack and drink time and watched the sunset and chatted through the golden time and then the blue time as the sun went to sleep.

Our guide spent some time talking about the native plants, birds and endemic worm species. He also shared a bit about all the invasive plants from Europe, Asia and North America. There are a Lot!

The Gloworms go through their life cycles in cool damp dark areas like the canyon walls and caves. We haven’t been to the nearby Waitomo caves yet, but plan to get there soon. Paddling in the open air was more Mason’s style than floating in a cave to see these little fellas.

At dark, we paddled out from our little camp area and were able to just float between the canyon walls surrounded by lush green ferns and foliage that came alive with what almost looked like Christmas lights. The honeysuckle smell was strong and the evening Tui bird sounds were the only sounds besides an occasional light dripping from the foliage.

It was magical and more beautiful than I could have imagined. The bioluminescence of the bacteria in the guts of the worms created this ethereal setting that felt like you were floating through space with stars high above you in constellations as well as constellations so near you could touch them. Your own body could have been the size of a planet or of a bug 🐛. So so cool.