Slimy guests at lunch  (scroll down & skip the eels if you don't like them; there's a fun jump afterwards)

It's now time for our ‘cave snack’.  The cave snack consisted of some coffee, tea, orange juice, and some high-energy granola bars.  Again, this is another example of the shrewd management of this trip.  The food provided to us had a lot of complex carbohydrates, but not bulky to the point of filling us up.  Someone, at some point, realized that is necessary to get some food into the travelers, so that they can successfully complete the rest of the afternoon without losing energy.  And it is also likely, that many of the people taking these trips perhaps skipped breakfast.  So, it's important to get some food into these people part way through the day.
 
So, we all sat, with our legs dangling over the cliff looking down at the pool of water, many of us eating a granola bar, and having a small cup of coffee.  While we were sitting there, one of our guides pointed out that there was an eel in the water.  And sure enough, we could see something's going around in the water immediately beneath us.  Somebody tossed a corner of their granola bar down on the water, I think one of the tour guides.  (I thought feeding the wildlife was a big NO, but whatever.) The eel immediately came up and ate a little corner of the granola bar.  This was not a small creature.  It probably was about as thick as a good-sized trout. 
 
Here's some fun eel pictures!  These are Conger Eels, similar to the NZ eels that breed under Tonga and then migrate to the NZ river system. 
 
 

The NIWA Atlas of New Zealand Freshwater Fishes states,

  Many people find eels revolting, probably because of their slippery skin, snake-like appearance, and ability to produce copious amounts of slime. Eels actually do have scales, but these are embedded within their thick skin so that they have a smooth and slippery surface.  
here's a picture of a little eel that someone took on a trip in the same cave:

image source
 
 I thought it was very interesting, but some of the other people in the group were little bit apprehensive.  No, let me restate that.  Everybody thought it was very interesting at the time.  I don't think everybody quite realized, or I don't think some people in the group quite realized that we are going to be down in that water within about 10 minutes.  A few more scraps and crumbs from the granola bars were tossed down to the eel, which quickly swam up and ate them.  Our tour guides explain that the eel appears perhaps every two or three days, perhaps when it is hungry.  The guides seemed to determine that the eel is female, and have given her name.  However, I have forgotten what the name was.  One travel blog claims the eel has been named "Gollum".
Our wetsuits were 5mm.  Eel teeth are generally 2mm.  So nothing to worry about.
 

After a little cuppa, and the granola bar, our plastic cups were collected and stowed in a bag.  Our female guide walked a few feet back into the dark along the wall and came back with an inner tube.  She said, "here's how you do it." She put the inner tube of around her butt walked over to the edge of the cliff, which was over the water, and walked straight off a cliff.  She fell straight down onto the water.

The bang from this jump, was just as loud as when she was slamming the inner tube down on the ground to announce the arrival of our group members on the flying Fox.  Great big slam.

(this image from the tour organiser)

 
 

Since the distance of this drop was perhaps a third of the distance that they dropped us off of during the Rangitata rafting, I figured I should take the initiative and go next.  I said, "all good fun."  And then I picked up an inner tube walked over to the edge and jumped off.  9.8m/s2. The first half second or so, as you're getting used to this rate of acceleration, always provides for little flash of panic.  I remember thinking as I approached the edge of the clif, that I was very appreciative that I had done several of the little adventures already on this trip.  As a result, the potential frightening aspect of a drop of this sort, was really quite minimal relative to what I'd done before.  But, as I said, there's always a little good of a flash of panic as you accelerate up to terminal velocity when falling through the air.

 The big boom when you hit the water, is certainly a case of all bark and no bite.  There's a great big bang, but the air in the inner tube provides most of the cushioning to break your fall as you fall into the water.  Easy and comfortable.
 

Another little element of of apprehension that I recall passing through my mind as I was falling through the air, was the possibility that I might rotate in midair and to the water or not  butt-first.  But, all's well that ends well, I landed on the water just as one would hope to land on the water, and it really did not hurt. 

I got little bit of a mouthful of water, but nothing too much.  It crossed my mind that the best thing to do to relieve some of the apprehension of the people standing up on the cliff would be to give some on the tour the indication that it was actually a lot of fun, and not frightening or dangerous.  So, I shout out "hey that was great fun!  I want to do that again!"

 One by one, the rest of the group jumps off the cliff and lands in the water creating is a succession of slams.
 I could see why the plans for the course of the afternoon were not immediately announced to us as we sat down for our cave snack.  When it was announced that we would be jumping off the cliff, a wave of apprehension swept across perhaps half of the members of our group.  They clearly were not comfortable with the prospect of jumping off a cliff and falling such a substantial distance.  If they had time to sit and think about how far they were going to be falling, while they were eating their little granola bar and cup of coffee, they would have more opportunity to think of reasons not to do it.  And that’s not even getting into the eel issue.
 

"And the Stars Looked Down"