After a short drive we arrived at the Waitoma Caves. We read that you can see glow worms in them and we were all excited to see them. You were able to book different packages including caving where you can up sail, raft in the dark and so on. We decided to see two caves one with the glow worms (no pictures allowed) and another cave.
The first part of the tour was at the dry part of the caves with stalagmites and stalactite and some explanations about caves and the second part we went on a boat and cruise along an underground river in the dark to see all the glowing worms on the ceiling.
As there were no pictures allowed I got this picture from the Internet and it comes close to what we were able to see. You can also get more information by clicking on the below link to visit their web page:
http://www.waitomo.com
We could have stayed in the boat forever and stared on the ceiling it was so enchanting.
The worms are blind and they use their glow to attract insects and capture their prey with little glue strings. For glow worms to exist they need a cave with water flow. After their pupation they have a very short live to reproduce and then they starve to death as they have no mouth to eat anymore.
The tour in the second cave was a lot of repetition what we already heard in the first cave, but it was nice to be able to take some pictures. But there were no glow worms.
After the second cave we did a short hike, called one of the best short walks of New Zealand.
We just enjoyed the lush green vegetation, the clear air and the stunning, native forest.
After our hike we continued our drive south, direction of Wai-O-Tapu and learnt quickly that New Zealand is an extreme active volcanic country. On our way we first smelled it, as this strong sulfide smell was everywhere in the air and then we saw plenty of action from steaming rivers to bubbling mud pools.
We saw an area close to the above mud pools that looked like people have been camping here and the land does not belong to anybody. We saw a Maori hunter parked close by. Robert and I walked over to ask if it is ok to camp here. Maoris look really beefy and like they want to eat you (and as we heard they used to do that, some long time ago), I felt a little uneasy to ask him any question. However as soon as he smiled at us and gave us the tip to drive 5 minutes more to find a even nicer area all that was forgotten.
See a picture below from a Maori Haka (traditional war dance) below:
At our camp site at the fringe of the forest, we prepared dinner. Rahel slept outside with her sleeping bag, Taylor in the car and we of course in our tent.
To see more picture click on the following link: Waitoma Caves
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