Caves, worms, and a bushwalk.

Yesterday morning, we enjoyed a light breakfast while Janet (our other host) told us about the weather patterns in New Zealand. After breakfast, we headed back to the Aranui cave area to do a bushwalk, which took us around a rushing river and into a huge cavern, while also providing signs on cave formation. We enjoyed the early exercise, especially as there were several flights of stairs to climb throughout the walk. We finished by coming through the glowworm area, though of course we couldn't see the worms with the sun up, but the reflection of the sun on the water was a nice end to the walk.

At the end of the bushwalk!

Returning to Waitomo, we linked up with our tour group, Spellbound, and our guide, Ma'nu. (Spelling is not verified.) Spellbound is known for taking smaller, more manageable groups on a closer, exclusive tour, and they did not disappoint. Ma'nu drove us to a privately-owned cave on a farmer's land, which the farmer began using to give tours only a few years ago. While driving through the hills, he pointed out several volcanoes on the horizon, including Mount Doom from The Hobbit (obviously not its real name). He then let us off on top of a hill and we marched down through some hillside and forest to arrive at the mouth of our first cave, the glowworm cave. Along the way we saw some eels swimming their way upstream a river, which was very cool.

Now I thought that our evening out with the glowworms had a lot of worms out. I was sorely mistaken. At first, we couldn't see many of the glowworms because our eyes hadn't adjusted. However, Ma'nu showed us some of the worms up close, as well as their silky, acidic threads they use to catch and haul up prey. We then entered a raft to head further into the cave. As we rode on our raft deeper and deeper, and our eyes further adjusted, the whole ceiling filled with glowworms. Ma'nu explained that the worms are deaf and blind, and then made some big vibrations by hitting the raft. The worms glowed even brighter, creating enough light for us to see each other (we had long turned off phones and flashlights, or torches in New Zealand English). We could even see the worms brightly reflecting in the water.

Photos from our second cave, which also had glowworms, but not nearly as many.

We stayed in the cave for several more minutes before heading to our second cave, which was full of calcium stalactites and stalagmites. The formations in this cave particularly interested me, and I found myself lagging behind for several seconds after each area to take pictures. The lights they ran through the cave provided perfect mood lighting for picture taking. Ma'nu also showed us a couple areas where there were animal bones of creatures long gone who had fallen or been swept into the cave. Caves are cool.

After Spellbound (which is aptly named, I've decided) Katie and I grabbed some postcards and then hit the road for Rotorua. We bypassed a lot of the traffic we had coming in, thanks to Ma'nu's directions, and arrived at our next B&B earlier than expected. We dropped our stuff, and headed into town after getting lost thanks to our map's lousy information. We had dinner at an excellent Indian restaurant, known both for its food and its service - both were fantastic. After dinner, we returned to the B&B to watch Maori television, finish our wine bottle from the night before, AND drink the wine that Pete and Heather left for us (so kind!), since we're their first honeymooners. (She made sure to mention that the Maori facial design on our headboard is a symbol of fertility.)

Today, we're going to Hobbiton!