We survived the erie night alone by the lake - although Dave was sure that a Friday the 13th monster was going to emerge from the lake at some point! We headed to the Waitomo Caves today which was about an hour from our creepy camping position. we had heard nothing but good things about this experience - as it has 3 caving sites one which is renowned as a Glowworm cave.
We were lucky enough that the same company who own the Campervan, also own this experience so we got a buy one get one free ticket to see 2 of the 3 caves.
The first cave was called the Ruakuri Cave, or 2 dogs cave as it translates, and its an ancient Maori burial site. Fortunately we didn't go through the burial chamber which we thought was very respectful. Instead we took a spiral staircase down to the enterance of the cave - that is all airtight and sealed. Going into the cave was very cool - its a huge 2 hour tour through the cave - seeing Glowworms up close and some sensational Stalagtites and mites. The rock features are incredible - it makes Wooky Hole look crappy (and honestly I always loved Wooky Hole). We also learnt that glowworms are actually maggots - and spin webs to trap food to eat in their incubation into flies. But the really funny fact we learnt was that when they become flies, they are born without mouths - so die a few days after and are re-eaten by the glowworms. Such a weird cycle...
The best part of the day was the second cave - named the "Glowworm Cave" it was simply magical - you take a boat ride in the cave with no light at all. There are millions of glowworms in this cave - the millions of little lights looked like a small solar system or galaxy in the cealing. It was such a cool experience - like nothing we have ever seen before. To be completely honest it is a view we can not describe in the blog. Its a real must for any traveller here - so cool!