Waitomo Caves... Glow Worms!

 February 15, 2011

Senne's Summary: Today we left Auckland on our way to Taupo. We stopped to buy a Taonga and then went down to Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms!

This morning we started out on our next leg of our tour down to Gisborne. Steve has now taken over driving duties full time, and has gotten used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. So far I haven't seen him head into oncoming traffic, but I have been sleeping a lot in the car, so maybe I’m missing the scary parts?!? It almost feels normal to drive on the left side now!

Shortly after we left Auckland we stopped at a shop to purchase a Taonga for Steve and I. Taonga is the word for treasure in Maori. These particular Taongas are pendants worn to protect you… kind of like a St. Christopher medal. We each chose one made of greenstone (New Zealand Jade). Fran told us to just keep looking and the one that was right for us would pick us. I think it worked… we both knew exactly which one we wanted after looking at them for awhile. Steve picked one that is called a Manaia, which is traditionally seen as a holder of great spiritual energy and protection from evil. Mine is a Koru, which traditionally means peace, tranquility and new beginnings. When we bought them Fran told us that we couldn’t wear them until they had been blessed. Luckily she knew someone who could bless them at one of our road trip stops 😀

We made one touristy stop today at Waitomo Caves.

First you walk into a tunnel and head down steps into a cave. A tour guide tells you a bit of history about the cave. At this point you can see a few glow worms… but not many. Then you go even further down into the cave and get into a boat.

That was our boat

As the boat travels into a pitch-black area of the cave you can look up and see over 10,000 glow worms on the ceiling. It was like a sky with thousands of stars in it. It was really an amazing thing to see. If you are ever in New Zealand… it’s worth it to drive out here, and pay the ridiculous price to see it.

Of course you are unable to take photos inside so I've included the link to their official website if you want to see what it looks like!

Side note: I’m not sure why New Zealander’s think they can charge an arm and a leg for every tourist attraction… seriously… we’ve skipped a bunch of things because the prices are outrageous! They’d make more money in the end if they’d lower their prices! That being said… the glow worm cave was worth it!

After our visit to the Waitomo Caves we headed on towards Taupo where we were staying the night. The drive was absolutely beautiful.

New Zealand landscape

We are definitely city people at heart… but the countryside in New Zealand was absolutely gorgeous. I never got tired of admiring the super-green grass and trees, the sheep, and the large volcanic rocks that seemed to be everywhere! (It wasn’t just that I was in a haze from the motion sickness tablets… it really was stunning!)

More New Zealand landscape

We arrived in Taupo in the early evening and met Fran’s niece Angie, who was nice enough to let us stay over at her place for the night. We also met another nephew Terrence who lived right next door and had guests visiting him from Germany. When we arrived we were offered a “cuppa”… which is a cup of tea 😀 I have been drinking WAY too much tea since we arrived in New Zealand! As we were drinking our tea Steve’s new favourite TV show came on…”Coro”. 😉

And yet another birthday cake, for the lovely Auntie Fran!

We had a nice visit with Angie, Graham and Terrence and then headed off to bed for the night.