Underworld Rafting with Glowworms, West Coast

This is an award winning adventure, taking you to a place hidden in the dark nestled in a breath-taking rugged rainforest landscape. An adventure which should not to be missed!
Underworld rafting is a superb 4 hour Black Water Rafting adventure in the enormous Nile River Cave in the Paparoa National Park. On this adventure you are equipped with wet suits, wet suit socks, boots, gloves, and helmet at our unique purpose build base in Charleston. After changing we leave base ready for an adventure and a short 10 minute’s drive brings us to our starting point. Surrounded by the typical West Coast rainforest we hope off the our bus and board one of our rainforest trains at the start of the Nile River Canyon. 15 minutes journey takes us up to a splendid upper terminal right in the heart of the lush rainforest where towering limestone cliffs and the sound of water tell a tale of water worn passages below. Following the river upstream, a short walk is the perfect time to pick up tubes and to soak up the peaceful atmosphere. Leaving the river bed 130 odd steeps lead to one of the highest cave entrances. High above the Nile River we disappear into the cave system. Emerging in this hidden world we explore a calcite paradise of stalactites and stalagmites, crossing huge chambers, following a maze system of passages the group disappears deeper and deeper into the cave. The walk through the cave is enriched with illustrations, explanations and stories how the cave has formed, local caving history and interesting facts and figures. Guided by the light of our torches the group descends into the bottom level of the cave where a dry underground river bed guides us to the edge of a subterranean lake. The excite is close and sitting on our tubes, linked together we float for 250 m under a stream of twinkling blue green glow worm lights surrounded by the darkness using only the natural light of the glow worms as a navigational aid . Exiting the cave we emerge into a remote and untouched lost world.  The Nile is close and a bit of rock hopping provides access to the bank of the Nile, where a short tube down the gentle rapids brings us back to the train.