Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Another beautiful day started with a 2 hour drive to Waitomo for the Glowworm Caves.
The name Waitomo is a concatenation of two Maori words, wai meaning water and tomo meaning hole or shaft, so quite appropriate. The rock here is limestone. For those that don't know, limestone was formed under the sea from the shells and bones of long dead sea creatures. The weight of the water compacted it all into rock. Then the tectonic plates got in on the act and moved the rock around until it was above sea level. However, as a result cracks were formed within the rock and water saw the cracks and thought yay, let's have fun. The water expanded the cracks into huge caverns. At the same time, the water that was moving vertically down through the rock collected the calcium and when it reached the caverns left it behind creating stalactites. But some of the calcium dropped to the floor, forming stalagmites. Some of them joined together to form pillars or columns. The process also formed other great formations like ribbons, curtains etc.
There are 3 caves available to visit and I opted to see all of them.
First up was the Aranui Cave, but there were no little wormies. Instead, there were numerous fine examples of the kind of formations mentioned above. The cave was discovered by Aranui when his dog chased a pig into it.
Then it was time for lunch, so I partook of a steak sandwich while waiting for my tour of the Ruaraki Cave.
Ruaraki translates as Den of Dogs and was so named from the wild dogs that lived in the entrance. For a while the caves were closed to the public as the entrance is sacred ground. Therefore, it was decided to construct a new entrance, which takes the form of the spectacular spiral.
As well as some great formations, there are also many glowworms residing in the caves, and we could take photos.
Then it was on to the Glowworm Caves themselves. Again we are shown various formations before the climax when we drifted along in a boat on then river where our way was lit purely by thousands upon thousands of glowworms, truly awesome. Photos are not permitted inside these caves.
I then ventured further west and discovered that this section of the SH37 is amazing to drive, full of twists and turns.
My destination was the Mangapohue Natural Bridge. A short walk from the layby follows a gorge. It is believed that this was originally a cave which the river eroded until the roof collapsed. The Natural Bridge is the one bit of the roof left intact. This is great example of the massive power of water.
Another 6km down the road is another example, the Marokopa Falls.
When checking into my motel, the proprietor advised me of another opportunity to view more glowworms. So, after a quick brie sandwich I headed back to the Ruaraki Reserve and embarked upon the bush walk through more amazing rock formations. Once the sun had set, clumps of glowworms became visible in the vegetation.
So the day was a glowing success!
Distance driven today: 280km.
- comments