Jon’Spot

Nov 30 - Dec 2

So the ride South to Waitomo Caves village was relatively uneventful. Boring really, though I did get to see the machine that moves a portable barrier between lanes of traffic on the Auckland Harbour Bridge (creating more lanes in one direction or the other, as needed).

Waitomo Caves Village is tiny. According to one tour guide, there are only 40 people living in the village (plus a number of farmers in the surrounding lands), though they see around 400,000 tourists each year. The village sits on a large limestone deposits, which have been eroded over thousands of years (as limestone is wont to do), to form miles and miles of caves. Unfortunately, I only planned two nights in Waitomo, as I didn’t realize how extensive the cave system was.

Besides the caves themselves, many tourists come to see the world famous glow-worms. I arrived too late to do much, but while checking in to Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge, my host Colin suggested I take a trip a couple kilometers up the road to a nature reserve at night to view to the glow-worms. After a bit of dinner, I grabbed a flashlight, my camera and tripod, and headed up as suggested. I must say that wandering around a narrow trail by flashlight is both exciting and a little bit intimidating. It didn’t take long to start seeing the glow-worms along various rock faces. I actually managed to find a place to set up my tripod and attempted to take some photos, though I don’t think they came out very well. Not that I expected much - it was night-time in the forest, so at best I got a couple dozen blue specks against a black background - but it was fun trying to figure out the correct exposure to even get that much.

Ok, so what exactly are glow-worms? Well, they’re not really worms, but actually related in some way to the mosquito, I believe. They like very dark places, preferably near water, or some other source of insects. They start their life as eggs, of course, which hatch into larvae. The larvae form dozens of “fishing lines”, which hang from the ceiling. The larvae also emit a bluish light from their tail end. As various insects are washed into the cave by the current, they see these lights and are naturally attracted to them. The glow-worms feed on the insects, and spend 8-9 months eating, growing larger, and storing as much energy as they can for the final stages of their life. Once they reach maturity, they pupate, and become an adult, at which point they have no mouth with which to feed. They must rely on the energy they’ve stored to sustain them for these last few days of their lives, during which they mate and start the whole process over again.

After I got tired of taking 3 minute photos (not to mention, started to wonder what sorts of animals might live in this particular forest, and what they might do to me if they found me), I wandered back out to the parking area, where I was treated to a beautiful night sky. I love starry skies, and in all my planning I completely forgot to read up on southern constellations. Not that this stopped me from trying my hand at taking photos of the night sky (more 3-6 minute exposures… boy, those drain your camera battery fast!). As I sat there waiting for the results, I kept hearing various noises from the nearby trees. Of course, every time I shined my flashlight in the direction of the sound, I saw nothing - except once, when I actually discovered some sort of rodent sniffing around the grass, maybe 20 feet from me. At first I thought it was a possum (which were intentionally introduced to New Zealand, but have now become quite a threat to the native plants and animals), though after a more careful look I wasn’t so sure. Naturally, it got tired of me shining a light in its eyes before I could set up my camera for a shot, and waddled over to the nearest tree to disappear from my sight.

After my late night, I almost woke up too late for breakfast, which made for a late start to the day. I think I finally made it out of my little cabin around 10:00, and proceeded to head back to the reserve I had visited the night before, to see what it really looked like. According to Colin, this was one of the “10 best short walks” in New Zealand. It was a fairly nice little loop, through the forest and looking into a couple little caves, though there were a couple steep sets of stairs to remind me how out of shape I am :). The loop takes 30-40 minutes, though I’m sure I spent over an hour there.

After a brief lunch, I wandered over to The Shearing Shed, where I watched them shear a German Angora rabbit! I must say, it did look a bit like the Spanish Inquisition, as they tied all four feet to stretch the rabbit out and hold him taught while they trimmed off the fur, but aside from a little nervousness at first, he really did seem to be fairly relaxed with the whole process, even as a dozen people walked by and petted him. This particular breed of rabbit grows such thick fur, that if it isn’t sheared 4 times a year, they would actually overheat, so I guess they probably do enjoy losing the extra insulation (especially as we approach summer). Not only is this the only place in New Zealand which produces garments with blends of wool and Angora, but they also sell items made with a blend of wool and possum! Believe it or not, but I think the garments with possum was even softer than those with angora!

Anyway, for the afternoon, I finally made my way to one of the cave tours. On Colin’s suggestion (again), I went on the tour of Ruakuri, a cave which has only been open again for about a year. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with it, though we did get to see a small glow-worm colony. The rest of the day was pretty boring - checking email and doing laundry - though as the stars came out again, I was surprised to see a constellation I recognized - Orion! He was upside down, but I couldn’t resist the chance to try taking some more star photos - I think one or two may have actually come out, too!

Before leaving the Waitomo Caves, I decided to try one more cave tour. This was the other “dry” tour that had been recommended - Spellbound. I’m so glad I did! We were first treated to a half hour drive through the countryside on the way to the caves. New Zealand is (geologically) very young, and the hills and mountains are very steep with very sharp features, unlike the smooth, glacier-defined mountains in Vermont and New York. With all the limestone in the area, there are also lots of sink holes, which only make it look that much more severe. Oh, and there are sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. Not to mention goats, some cows and the occassional horse, but especially sheep. In fact, just assume that everywhere I’ve gone and am going to that I saw sheep, until I say otherwise.

When we finally got to the cave, we had a short walk underground (wearing helmets with lights), giving our eyes time to adjust to the light. We eventually reached a raft, which we boarded and proceeded to turn off all our lights. Overhead was a huge colony of glow-worms - more points of light than I’ve ever seen in any night sky. We floated along the cave for maybe half an hour (out and back to the dock). My only complaint was that I couldn’t recline as I would normally do while looking up at the stars. If you ever make it to Waitomo, you must go on this tour - you really have to see it to believe it!

After emerging to the bright day, we were treated to hot drinks (as seems to be the custom on many tours), before heading to another nearby cave. Really, this was just another “walk in and see how a cave forms” tour, except there were a couple skeletons from animals that had apparently fallen into the cave via sink holes, and wandered around until they eventually died. There was a goat and a cow skeleton, but more importantly, there was a Moa skeleton - a large, flightless bird (it had no wings!) that was hunted to extinction by the Maori about 500 years ago.

The drive back to Waitomo was as pleasant as the drive out - a nice touch that we actually drove back by different roads, so we weren’t just passing by the same scenery. A thoroughly enjoyable trip overall, lasting around 3 hours.

I really wish I’d had more time in Waitomo - I wouldn’t have thought I’d want to try “blackwater rafting” (rafting through the caves), but once I got here and saw some of the options, it really does sound like fun. Ah well, just one more reason to come back another time I guess!

After lunch, ice cream, and a little shopping, I headed out through the back country towards New Plymouth…