Traveling was put on hold. We entertained ourselves by going rock climbing on the weekends, an adventure all on its own.
By the middle of May, however, the lethargic nature of campus life had been tolerated long enough. There had been talk of a place called Cave Stream several hours in the direction of Arthur's Pass, but up until this point there had been little discussion of visiting.
Desperately needing to break the miserable cycle that comes as a result of being attentive to one's school work, on the third Saturday of May it was decided that Cave Stream would be taken on.
Less than two hour drive from Christchurch, the hills surrounding Cave Stream have boulders strewn about. There is almost something of Stonehenge-type feel as you look across the landscape.
The mountains remain present, of course, a central theme of New Zealand.
Being directed by a helpful sign, we walked down a path through the grass, eventually merging with a running stream. Following the moving water, the cave's entrance was discovered. The attraction's name now made sense; the stream ran swiftly through the cave.
Lots of faces in these photographs.
After pausing for the habitual group shot, we were off.
We knew that we would get wet. One thing that we failed to consider fully, however, was the temperature of the water. If you look closely, you can see Stephen expressing his displeasure as the full sensation finally hits him.
Needless to say, the cave was a very wet place. Struggling to adjust to the cold water, we did our best to avoid tripping as we stumbled across the rocky ground that existed beneath the surface.
The cave could have likely been moved through in little more than an hour; however, we had no intention of doing that.
Branching off of the main channel, there were many networks of tunnels and passageways. Generally requiring that the face of the rock walls be scaled in order to reach the opening, some were more accessible than others. We managed to explore every one that we came across.
Some were smaller than others, requiring a person to get on their stomachs and squeeze and crawl through a tiny crack in the stone, fighting to push your hips through and avoid being trapped, stuck in a moment of panic-inducing claustrophobia.
We managed.
Making our way through the unknown passages, we nearly crawled into a space coated in what appeared to be a white foam-like substance. Spiderweb, maybe? We turned and got out of there, pausing only to snap this.
Other than this one minor detour, we explored freely and happily.
And managed to take a break and prop ourselves against the cave walls...
...or wedge ourselves against them and keep our feet off the ground.
And to jam and wiggle...
and scramble on all fours...
...all for the sake of searching for something to discover.
Little of that cave was left unexplored.
And finally, we dropped back down into the stream and resumed our forward progress.
As we grew nearer to the end of the tunnel that was the cave, the water level began to rise steadily. Water just poured from everywhere; dripping from the ceiling, running down the walls - the power of the current increased as well.
Obviously undaunted, we persevered. After about thirty minutes of sloshing through waist-deep water that fought desperately against our every step - as Cave Stream is best accomplished by moving upstream - a ladder leading towards daylight was spotted.
Sitting at the top, remaining just inside the cave, we rested and talked about what we had just done, not quite ready to end the day. We were all thoroughly filthy; to be expected, I suppose, after crawling through the combination of sand and dirt that was found within the cave.
The smell of earth was very strong on all of us, especially in our clothing. Oh... that smell. Awful. Damp, heavy grossness. It took multiple washing to get that stench out.
And of course, more photographs of the conquerors.
One final group shot? Yes, why not?
Because more than just studying happened in the month of May.
And now we have proof.
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