The next day we woke up before sunrise and drove back to the highway before making our way to Waitomo. Waitomo is a tourist town famous for its huge system of caves, particularly the glowworm caves. Calling them glowworms is really quite misleading, as they are actually cannibal maggots with glowing poo. They use the glow to attract any cave bugs that are unlucky enough to get stuck in their sticky silk strands that hang from the ceiling before devouring them whole. Eventually they cocoon themselves and emerge as flies with no mouths whose soul purpose is to mate and after about three days they die of starvation. For being vile little creatures with such brutish lives, they sure do make a cave look prettier.
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| I can't believe the camera actually picked them up |
The tour got off to a great start when we went to check in and found out that due to a clerical error, our reservation had already been paid for and so we gained entrance free of charge. The first cave we toured was Ruakuri Cave and we practically got a private tour because of how early we went. The man made entrance to the cave was something straight out of a Star Trek movie. It was there we got our first introduction to the glowworms and got to see some awesome cave formations. After that we toured Aranui cave which had halls much larger than those in Ruakuri Cave and we got to see a few cave wetas (big bugs). With the way the cave had "shelves" and the way they had the lighting done, it felt like we were being led into a sacrifice chamber straight out of a movie. The third and final tour, and the real highlight was the Glowworm Cave. It is by far the most famous (and subsequently most touristed) of the three caves. The tour starts with the group being led down into what is known as the cathedral which is known for its great acoustics. Every year the Maori tribe who owns the cave holds a sermon and concert in the cave and it's supposed to be spectacular. Later we were brought down to the lower level of the cave where we boarded a small boat and were prompted to remain silent while we glided through the water with hundreds of glow worms lit overhead like little stars. It was quite a sight to behold, and when we emerged from the cave into the forest I felt enchanted and refreshed.
The following day we took our final tour of the weekend, back to the Ruakuri Cave, but this time instead of a walking tour we were black water rafting. After we suited up into our wetsuits we entered the cave, this time through a barely visible hole where the river enters the cave. The water was very, very cold, but we soon forgot about that as we squeezed through a low overhang and into a small chamber where we walked through a gushing underground waterfall. The river gradually got deeper until our awesome Maori guide prompted us to turn off our headlamps and get into our tubes. From that point on we floated in the darkness staring up high overhead at the many glowworms while he serenaded us with an assortment of famous Disney tunes like In the Jungle, A Whole New World, and even the Titanic theme song. The way it echoed through the cave was magical. Near the cave exit our guide explained to us that he would now leave and it was up to us to find our way out of the cave on our own in the darkness. This of course, was a joke. We continued to silently drift downstream unguided to the cave opening and again emerged enchanted and refreshed.
After a hot shower and a complimentary bagel and soup, we decided to go check out some sites further down the road that our guide the day before had recommended to us. We passed a sign on the way mentioning that there would be no gas for 100km. This is something very strange about New Zealand infrastructure that I have yet to mention. There doesn't seem to be many gas stations, even on the main highways. On the way to Waitomo from the DOC campground we almost ran out of gas and had to take a 20 minute detour to find a gas station. Another thing worth mentioning is that instead of being a grid, their highway system seems to be more like a tree with tons of small branches connected to a primary highway. When you're trying to get from one place to another this can make things a bit tricky and take much longer than you might think since there is often no direct route. To compound it all there are tons of hills and mountains which makes New Zealand roads windy and slow going.
We closed out the day by driving to Marokopa Falls and Natural Bridge before the three hour drive through beautiful country back to Auckland. Kayleigh and I both agree it was the best day we've had.
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| Even the farmland is beautiful |
Kiwisms for today:
alcoholic = pisshead
drunk = on the piss/pissed
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