Spelunking for Glow Worms

This weekend I had hoped to head to Napier to see the National Womens Netball Team, The Silver Ferns, play, but I found out the hard way that tickets sell out very early!   So, based on the recommendations of my fun friend Andy, I went to Waitomo in search of Glow Worms!

Waitomo is about a 3 hr drive northeast of Hawera.   My glow worm cave tour guide said the town's actual population is only a few dozen.  The prevalence of limestone in this region makes cave touring quite an attraction.   For a brief geology refresher, limestome caves are remnants of dried up underground streams.  Rainwater then seeps from the ground through the limestome, and as it evaporates it leaves a lime deposit behind which leaves the beautiful stalactites we see hanging from the ceilings of the caves.

Waitomo, which in Maori means "water passing through a hole", is named quite appropriately for all the caves I was able to see over the weekend!

Here's two pictures from Te Ana o te Atua (Cave of the Spirit):

Caves are quite hard to photograph, because one wants to see the intricate detail (as above) but also not neglect just how huge the actual structure may be!

So what are glowworms, you ask? They're actually not worms at all!  They are actually the larval stage of the fungus gnat Arachnocampa luminosa.    These amazing creatures are the *real* reason tourists visit Waitomo!   Basically, the eggs hatch into larvae.  The larvae spin silk web strings known as snares that are sticky and hang down to catch their prey.  By the wonders of bioluminescence, the worms emit a light that attracts the prey to the snares.  And, kind of like spiders, they catch their food to the bugs silly enough to fly towards the light (and into the sticky snares).    These worms like cold, damp, wind-less places to hang their snares, so caves are perfect.    And boy was it a beautiful sight to see THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of them glowing on the cave ceiling!

I was all excited to PHOTOGRAPH these little buggers on my cave tour--- I even chose a tour that allowed photography as your raft floated down the cave.   However, the cave is pitch black (besides these guys' light), and flash photography wasn't allowed--- so here was my end-product photo----

Talk about Glowworm fail, huh?    *sigh*.  

But when the PROFESSIONALS do it (aka the touring company), here is what I actually saw, just not able to clearly photograph:

The long sticky snares up close:

And the glowworms in action!

It was truly amazing.  Yes, there were actually this many, and they were that bright!!   Hard to believe they weren't just plugged-in Christmas lights in a dark cave.  :)

After my spectacular worm tour, I decided to get a little exercise and hike my way around the trails of Waitomo:

It drizzled all morning, and the position of these cows said 50% chance of rain:

(did anyone else grow up being told that when cows were sitting down in a field it meant it was going to rain?)

But then this came along!!

My shadow!  AKA SUNSHINE!  And I didn't get scared and run away.  NO MORE WINTER!!!

But it was a muddy hike, with plenty of puddles (this one quite pretty):

This hike taught me about two very cool hiker-friendly inventions:

1.  the stile: a structure which provides people a passage through or over a fence or boundary via steps, ladders, or narrow gaps.  

And #2, I don't know what it's called, but I call it the push-down gate:

 BEFORE....

AFTER!

How cool is that!  (I'm pushing the gate down in the 2nd pic, by the way--- and it pops back up when you're done!)

Two great inventions to please the hikers and keep the cows/sheep/alpacas/horses/whatever where they belong. :)

I spent the night in a Waitomo superb named Otorohanga, which prides itself on Kiwiana lore.

They had great displays which told me all about Kiwi history, such as why the "silver" fern is a symbol of New Zealand:

(Because the underside of the "kaponga" fern, a species endemic to NZ, is much lighter than it's topside, and looks "silver" in the light!)

I met a SUPER nice couple at dinner in Otorohanga who invited me to join them to eat/chat.  It was quite lovely company, and they even invited me to visit them sometime to see some glowworms, kayak, and ski all near their house!  Gosh, these Kiwis are so friendly :)

I spent the next day hiking, spelunking and waterfall chasing some more.

The Mangapohue Natural Bridge, a 17 meter (56 feet, Geoff) limestone arch that is all that's left from an ancient cave.

There were trees growing on top of the arch!  CRAZY!

And then the trifecta of falls:

Mangaotaki:

Okuru:

(where I met another lovely Kiwi couple who taught me some NZ botany!)

and my favorite, Marokopa Falls:

Marokopa definitely is better than Maricopa, don't you agree, Arizonans?  :)

So I started my journey back to Hawera Sunday afternoon, a little sad that the weekend was over.  The radio weather forecast was RAIN, and of course it started to pour.   But then I start to see the sign for "Mike's", an organic brewery I remembered seeing on the drive up early Saturday morning.  It was 5:30 now on Sunday PM, and the sign still said open!   So I pulled in to the parking lot, and the sun was peaking out despite the rain, and what did I see?

Who needs a pot of gold when you've got an Organic Pilsner? The lady let me wander freely around the the brewery on a self guided tour.   How fun!

What a happy perk to end another fun weekend.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today's blog is sponsored by Energizer Batteries, for TWO reasons.

1.  Foreign batteries are a piece of crap and don't work in my camera- Energizer Batteries proudly power the camera that took all my pics!

2.  When I was a tiny tot, I had a Fisher Price glowworm. 

During an attic cleanout when I was about 9 years old or so, I rediscovered this GlowWorm, and IT STILL WORKED with the original batteries in it!   Of course, they were Energizer.  Being the little smart  consumer I was, I wrote the Energizer company a glowing (pardon the pun) letter about how great and longlasting their batteries were.   They sent me a free coupon!  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until next time!