Waitomo Caves

After our lovely morning out in the sun for the hobbit tour, we spent the afternoon in caves. The Waitomo district is full of caves, and some of them have been turned into attractions which offer tours, mainly for the purpose of viewing glow worms. Those who want a bit more of an extreme experience can go black-water rafting, or absailing. Last year when my brother visited we did the black-water rafting, which was absolutely a new, but fun, experience for me. I have not yet worked up the enthusiasm for absailing. Maybe one day J

The tour we selected was for the Spellbound caves. The tours are small, limited to 12 people, and include an experience in two vastly different caves, with a nice tea break in between to warm you up.

The first cave we went into was to see glow worms. We all had hard-hats with lights on them, which provided the only illumination (other than that from the glow worms), once you had gone deep in enough that you could no longer see the entrance. The bed of the cave was largely covered in water, so we meandered down a built-in walkway until the water was deep enough to support a raft. Once we reached that point we boarded the raft and our guide took us up and down the canal inside the cave so we could view the worms. I have decided that I am not crazy about being inside of caves, but I do enjoy seeing the worms. They tend to be green-ish, so once the caves are dark (as our guide had everyone turn off their head-lamps), it is like being outside on a very dark night with lots of green stars J

So what is a glow worm? They are essentially just cool maggots. Glow worms are the larvae of a certain species of fly called a fungus gnat. They are able to use one of their organs to create a glowing light, which attracts food. The food gets stuck in “fishing lines,” sticky silk threads hanging from the ceiling of the cave where the glow worm is hibernating throughout the larvae stage. Once food is trapped, the larvae pulls the thread up with its mouth and enjoys its dinner. Once the larvae stage ends, it forms a hard shell and becomes an adult fly. Once an adult, it can no longer feed as it has no mouth so they live only a few days.

Unfortunately the darkness of the cave is not good for photography, so I have no photos to share. I simply recommend you come visit me and we can go to the caves so you can see for yourself!

The second cave we went in was probably the more traditional cave that most people picture. It was full of stalagmites and stalactites, and had water dripping from the ceiling, and was just a bit damp and cold in general. The formations were impressive though, and it was fascinating to see the different varieties of formations and science-y things. My sister, who enjoys caves a lot more than I do, said she has not seen anything nearly that good in Arkansas at the places she has visited. I enjoyed her knowledge of caves because it gave much more meaning and understanding to what I was seeing.