The first destination for our tri-generational caravan was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, which came highly recommended from pretty much everyone that we asked about it. Our guide book, "NZ Frenzy," also spoke glowingly (so punny) of the caves. Truly, it did not disappoint. Located in a small town in the Waikato region, which is in the West Central part of the North Island, the caves were about a 3 hour drive from Wanganui. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast called the Waitomo Guest Lodge and at night we walked across the street and enjoyed delicious food at a brew pub called Huhu. In the morning the B & B owners scurried around and brought us small plates of toast with every imaginable spread, the "highlight" of which was Vegemite, which is some kind of heinous delicacy of a veggie-vitamin paste. (You may remember it from that Men at Work song.) We all sampled it and enjoyed watching other people's faces pucker or gag. Apparently one should only put the thinnest possible scraping, and (important) ONLY AFTER first applying a generous spread of butter to the toast so that all the little nooks and crannies are filled in. It was unusual but is apparently all the rage in Australia!
Anyway, back to the caves. We had two tours planned: the first at the Glowworm Caves and next at Aranui Caves, which do not have glowworms but are instead deep caverns filled with striking stalactites and stalagmites.
Glowworms, or Arachnocampa luminous, are found exclusively in New Zealand. We had already seen them on three occasions now, though this was actually the first commercialized instance. Glowworms are the larvae stage in the lifecycle of an insect which eventually grows to be about the size of an average mosquito. Its tail glows because of bioluminescence, which is a reaction between chemicals given off by the glow worm and the oxygen in the air. This reaction produces a pale green-blue light that attracts insects who then get stuck in sticky lines that the glowworm hangs to attract its food. The glowworms are only found in caves because they require damp dark places where their light can be seen.
Waitomo Cave is extraordinary in that a river flows into and through the cave, making a perfect place for a massive colony of glowworms to reside. The local Maori people knew about the existence of the caves for some time, and then an English Surveyor named Fred Mace did more extensive surveying in 1887, exploring the cave with a local Maori chief. They floated on a raft by candlelight where the stream goes underground and into the cave. And, wow, I can attest that it must have been quite a sight back then, because it still is today all these years later.
The caves are managed and run by extremely friendly local Maori who really knew how to run an awesome tour. We descended into the cave and learned about the different geological features, and then at the deepest spot, saw glowworms on the bottom sides of the low underhand of the cave where it sits just above the water. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed to be taken, but we snagged this photo off the internet...
Next we went for an eerily quiet and very dark boat ride through an underground river cave, the only lights being the constellation of beautiful glowworms all around and dangling within inches of our heads. We exited the boat where the river flows INTO the cave, and then had a lovely couple of short hikes around the various streams and small caves in the vicinity before our second cave tour, which was just a 5 minute drive away.
Glowworms, or Arachnocampa luminous, are found exclusively in New Zealand. We had already seen them on three occasions now, though this was actually the first commercialized instance. Glowworms are the larvae stage in the lifecycle of an insect which eventually grows to be about the size of an average mosquito. Its tail glows because of bioluminescence, which is a reaction between chemicals given off by the glow worm and the oxygen in the air. This reaction produces a pale green-blue light that attracts insects who then get stuck in sticky lines that the glowworm hangs to attract its food. The glowworms are only found in caves because they require damp dark places where their light can be seen.
The caves are managed and run by extremely friendly local Maori who really knew how to run an awesome tour. We descended into the cave and learned about the different geological features, and then at the deepest spot, saw glowworms on the bottom sides of the low underhand of the cave where it sits just above the water. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed to be taken, but we snagged this photo off the internet...
Next we went for an eerily quiet and very dark boat ride through an underground river cave, the only lights being the constellation of beautiful glowworms all around and dangling within inches of our heads. We exited the boat where the river flows INTO the cave, and then had a lovely couple of short hikes around the various streams and small caves in the vicinity before our second cave tour, which was just a 5 minute drive away.
The Aranui Caves is dry (no river) but quite amazing to behold with its deep caverns filled with colorful stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and decorative formations. There is little life deep inside the cave but just inside the entrance is a colony of cave wetas, which are insects unique to NZ that date back to prehistoric times. They are closely related to crickets and locusts and their name translates roughly from Maori to mean "the ugly one." (They reminded me of that Indiana Jones movie where the woman reaches into a crevasse and then when she pulls it out she is covered with giant crawling bugs.) We were allowed to take photos (no glowworms in these caves). Unfortunately Jen was not with us and so we lacked our skilled photographer, and I did my usual very mediocre job. Here is a picture from outside the cave, and then a couple within (and we hope to add more once we get some from the grandparents).
Our favorite part of the Aranui Caves was a huge cavernous room deep underground named the Cathedral. Our guide told us that it had terrific acoustics and to try it out. The girls sang what I thought was a fairly robust and lovely version of the recent pop hit "Say Geronimo". But I realized that they had not really belted it out when our tour guide took his turn. He let loose a booming yet tuneful rendition of "In the Jungle" that set our ear drums vibrating! It was LOUD!
Our favorite part of the Aranui Caves was a huge cavernous room deep underground named the Cathedral. Our guide told us that it had terrific acoustics and to try it out. The girls sang what I thought was a fairly robust and lovely version of the recent pop hit "Say Geronimo". But I realized that they had not really belted it out when our tour guide took his turn. He let loose a booming yet tuneful rendition of "In the Jungle" that set our ear drums vibrating! It was LOUD!
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