New Zealand Glowworms

Why would these intrepid travelers be in a cave, at night, 150' below a New Zealand farm? To see glowworms of course! These matchstick sized creatures can't be found everywhere so here we are, crossing worms off the bucket list. Ok, worms weren't actually on the bucket list, but we loved the tour anyway. We are in the glowworm capitol of the world, Waitomo, on the Footwhistle Glowworm Cave Tour. An event we were happy to discover while shopping for a B&B. It will get high marks in Trip Advisor.

Theresa, who is a bit claustrophobic, overcame a mild panic attack as we went into the cave. To her credit, she has faced many challenges and somehow gathers the courage to go on in spite of the 4,000 beat a minute heart rate. Not fearless, but carries on in spite of her fears. This ability has allowed us to explore mummy tombs in Egypt, the inner bowels of the Hover Dam, and zip-line in Hawaii. A friend once said she is about as helpless as a Green Beret! I love this woman!



Ross Knows His Ferns Too!

Ross Barnes, owner and tour guide, developed the cave over 8 months of long days with two others. What they have created from an otherwise uncomfortable and scary cave, is a delightful, safe and well narrated tourist attraction for worm enthusiasts around the world. Seriously, this town of 26, hosts a half a million people annually, to see worms! He and Ann, his wife of 40 years, also run a nice, inexpensive, BnB called Big Bird. The reason for the name became obvious when an ostrich, taller then me, walked by!



Here, Ross holds a sea shell fossil found in this cave, which is way above sea level. This hints of an interesting geologic past where New Zealand, this cave included, was thrust skyward, creating these islands from the sea floor. Tectonic plate movements happen at roughly the speed of fingernail growth. It probably took hundreds of millions of years to push this mountain of limestone, out of the ocean but hey, what's a hundred million years to a planet that's had more than 4 billion birthdays?



Bear Bones!

Ross, who was a park ranger for 14 years and very knowledgeable about such things, told us that these bones were old bear bones, I don't know what kind of bear, but I was happy that none have been seen in the cave lately. Big furry things that growl, run faster than humans, and eat meat could make our 150' depth work against us. I'm pleased to report that no human bones have been found... yet.

Glowworms live stuck to the ceiling of the cave by a mucus glue, and fish in the air for passing insects. One mosquito will keep a worm well fed for about 6 months. We didn't see any flying bugs, which makes me think most food is near microscopic. Acidic silk threads capture the tiny flying insects which are devoured by the worms to fuel their chemically luminescent tails, which draw in more insects... and so on. The Great Worm Mandela at work.


Poisonous, Acidic, Worm Threads Dangle to Catch Prey.