January 17th. We spent the day exploring some very large caves about 1.5 hours from our base in Matamata.
Waitomo Glowworm Caves
The first visit was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. The entrance was a gradual descent into caverns with stalagmites and stalactites and weird limestone formations. The guide told us about the history and formation of the caves, very little of which I remember so you’ll have to visit them yourself someday to find out. However, I do remember that they were originally discovered by a Maori chief and some white guy in the late 1800’s who immediately decided that the wonder of the caves should be shared with others so they started preparing an infrastructure and two years later ran their first tours. Many of the current staff are descendents of that Maori chief.
As the caves became darker, our eyes gradually adjusted to the diminished light and we began to see the glowworms twinkling on the ceiling. They are really pretty to see, but their life cycle is pretty gross. They are actually maggots, or larvae, and their poop is what glows, resembling stars in a dark sky. The twinkling attracts insects that find their way into the caves and are looking for a way out. They get caught in sticky filaments hanging down from the maggots and become food for the little critters. Eventually, the larvae turn into adults with no digestive system that mate, lay eggs and quickly die. The eggs are laid in groups of twenty distributed in different areas because the first one that hatches eats all its siblings in order to start pooping, and glowing, and attracting other food. Very weird.
We finished our tour of the caves in a boat floating on a quiet river through to the exit. We were not allowed to talk or take pictures and it was almost pitch dark. It was a serene experience gazing up at thousands of these twinkling lights as the guide gently pulled the boat along on a cable -- a starry, starry night deep under the ground. Here is a short National Geographic video, but it doesn’t really do it justice. You have to be there - in the silence and the dark.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjqGlLVIAtg
Ruakuri Cave
Not far from the Waitomo Caves is the Ruakuri Cave complex also with an underground river, but this one is a rushing, roaring river which you can raft down if you up for some extra excitement. However, if you read our post about our horse trip on Easter Island, you will be aware that I banged up my knee so at this point I was hobbling around on a cane. Fortunately, the Ruakuri Cave is the only one in the southern hemisphere that is completely wheelchair accessible or I would not have been able to manage the 1.5 hours of walking involved. So I sat in relative comfort while David pushed -- bless his heart.
In this cave, we were allowed to take pictures of the fantastical formations.
This is the bottom of an old waterfall spill channel from way, way above us.
And here are the happy spelunkers.
It was very strange to emerge from the dark, chilly cave into a hot, sunny day.
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