Blogs from Waitomo Caves, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Today, bright and early, I headed off for a two hour drive to Waitomo, home of the legendary caves and gloworms. Very excited - first bit of adventure in a while and the first time I've been caving. Not looking forward to the wetsuit - however seeing as I'll be white water rafting tomorrow as well, I'd better get used to it. First things first - we're greeted by Aaron, a Kiwi of supreme dry humour, and Terry, who looks like Sportacus from Lazy Town (or for anyone local to Burnham/Highbridge - Steve Wills). There were 12 or so I guess of us, all not really knowing what we were about to do, other than get in a cave and see gloworms. We're equipped with wetsuits, booties, crash helmets with headlamps and jackets, for which these ... read more

Hi! We left Russell and the Bay of Islands and headed down to Waitomo Caves, which is South West of Auckland. It was a long drive and we made it to Waitomo Top 10 Campsite by tea time. At our site we met a couple from Australia who were very friendly but would not stop talking! I think we ended up having our dinner at 8pm! The next morning we headed off to Waitomo Caves to explore the glowworm cave. The actual cave wasn't as spectacular as the Jenolan Caves but as we made our way into the darkness we started to see the cave ceiling light up with thousands of glowworms! It was pretty amazing! We made our way down to the river and were told to crouch down, the guide then shone a light ... read more

Ein weiterer Trip mit den International Students, mein 2. nach dem Farmtrip, und diesmal ging es nach einem ca 3stuendigen Autotrip zu den Waitomo Caves. Die Waitomo Caves sind in Neuseeland beruehmte Gluehwuermchen Hoehlen. Nachdem mich die Kassiererin als Staffmember angesehen hat, was ich ja auch sozusagen bin ;) durfte ich umsonst rein anstelle von $48 normalerweise (was meiner Meinung nach etwas zu viel waere, fuer das was man sieht). Aber fuer ganz umsonst konnte ich die Hoehlen und die Gluewuermchen geniessen. Auch kenn ich inzwischen ganz genau den Unterschied zwischen Stalaktiten und Stalakmiten ;) Danach ging es noch mit den Maedels an den Strand. Der Sand war schwarz und sehr sehr schoen und es wurden viele tolle Bilder gemacht :) Mit einem kurzen Zwischenstopp in Mokau fuer Eis oder Chips wurde der Tag abgerundet bevor ... read more

My journey is going too fast now! The New Zealand bit is nearly over and I haven't been here long enough :( Yesterday went to Hobbiton and had to sign a secrecy thingy cos we saw the new set for the new Hobbit movies. So no photos can be shared.... But it was fab Today went to the glow worm caves and two other great caves - aranui and Rotarui. The stalagtites and stalagmites were absolutely amazing. It's been really sunny too since we got here - so lucky with the weather. Everyone here ways it's incredible that the weather has improved so much since last week! Only San Fransisco to go now and I will be home again - damn thing is too quick. Was cuddling little animals today too and got to see a ... read more

These are the pictures that the owners of Spellbound Tours in Waitomo Caves sent to me via email......showing the glow worms and the "strings" which hang down to catch food for themselves and the larvae. Impossible to take these pictures with my camera.....quite a surreal sight as you go through the cave in darkness with these glow worms glowing on the "ceiling" of the caves. Very, very few places in the world which have these glow worms, especially in such huge numbers. ... read more

April 4, 2011: Well…..when we woke up…..it had rained….and it had rained HARD quite a bit of the night. However, even though everything was wet outside, it appeared that it might clear off…..if only for a short period of time. We both took care of the morning rituals…..and then we went into the kitchen/lounge/social room…..and had a bite or two of breakfast, along with coffee and tea. I had already begun talking with a young man from Germany…..and so, during our breakfast we continued our discussions and comparison of our two countries. Saying our farewells, we loaded the car and soon were driving out of New Plymouth along another gorgeous coastal highway…..and it continued for about 30 minutes….perhaps a bit more. We made other stops for some photos, one being where the beach was absolutely black……extra ... read more

Waitomo Caves 3/20/11 Dangling from one hundred feet in the air, it was hard to believe that only a couple hours earlier I had been warm in bed in Auckland.  After renting a car and driving for a couple hours, Sarah and I found ourselves at the Waitomo Caves joining a tour group.  These caves, well known for having the greatest density of glowworms in the world, were also the site of my first attempt at rappelling (or abseiling as its called in NZ).  The first step to abseiling down 100 feet into a dark (and wet) cave was to take a leap of faith (literally) out into nothing.  After taking said leap, I proceeded to slowly rappel down the cave until I stood in a knee deep puddle at the bottom of the cave.  Next ... read more

Mar. 2 Back in Rotorua Quiet day today. Did take the time to explore the museum here. It was originally build as a thermal/medical spa. The building is very impressive and was well worth the time we spend there. It is currently being restored so half of it was closed. Tomorrow we are off to Taupo. March 3 To Taupo Today is a shorter travel day with our first stop at Wai-O-Tapu, a thermal wonderland. This another of NZ’s many volcanic areas but is a very colorful one. We only had about an hour to take a look, but well worth the run around the grounds. We started with watching a geyser blow its cool. This geyser was enhanced by adding rocks around it to create a cone, and then it is seeded to make it ... read more