Spectacular glow worms in New Zealand
On a recent trip to the North Island of New Zealand, my wife and I were looking for fun things to do. When she saw that there were cave tours, she knew that I would like them. I gained an affinity for cave exploration while in college at Indiana University, where I studied bats, amongst other things, and explored local limestone caverns. Since that time, we have visited numerous caves over many years, some more civilized than others. Not only were there some interesting looking cave tours in the Waitomo region, a few hours from Auckland, but many of these caves host unique creatures that I have never seen before, glow worms!
What is a glow worm?
New Zealand glow worms (Arachnocampa luminosa) are not really worms, but they do glow. They are a type of larval fly that attaches to damp cave ceilings, where they hang sticky silk-like threads. These bioluminescent larvae project a blue-green light that attracts other flying insects, which then get stuck in the threads and are consumed.
Cave Tour awaits
We had to see them! Waitomo has numerous cave tours, including some where you can go black water rafting, which is basically floating through the cave on an inner tube. While that looked like fun, we opted for an easier, less wet option in Ruakuri Cave on an hour and-a-half walking tour. The cave tour we booked is actually wheelchair accessible and lighted, except of course, when they shut the lights off so you can see the shine of the glow worms.
Getting there, plan some extra time
The drive from Auckland took almost three hours, mostly due to traffic we hit while getting out of town. We had hoped to stop along the way, but our late start prevented that, and we were following the GPS mindlessly since we didn’t really know where we were going. Getting close, we passed the main cave, but the entrance to Ruakuri, where we had a booking was, further on. As we headed along a very windy road, we started to get anxious because the instructions said you had to be on time or you would lose your reservation, and we were running late. Then, in the middle of nowhere, the GPS said we had arrived, but there was nothing there, not even a driveway. Of course, there was no cell service, so we turned back to return closer to the area where we had seen some of the other caves. The road was so narrow I could barely turn around, and when I did, I was driving the speed limit which seemed fast on this twisting road with no shoulder, and of course, I was driving from the right side of the car. This was not sitting well with my wife, who was having some moments of panic while she tried to get enough service on her phone to figure out where we needed to be. It was not our finest moment, but we finally found the cave.
Ruakuri Cave Tour
We made it on time (barely) and after a short orientation, headed into the cave. The original entrance was found to contain an ancient Māori burial site and has been closed out of respect. To bypass that area, a new entrance has been carved out, which opened in 2005. This entrance connects to the cave where it lies close to the surface using an airlock system and a lighted spiral ramp that winds down from the surface to the cave level. Not only does this allow for easy walking and wheelchair accessibility, but it is a really cool way to enter a cave.
After winding down the entrance, we entered the actual cave which has an easy to traverse pathway and lights that our guide turned on section by section as our group went through. There are amazing speleothems throughout this cave, and the raised walkway keeps you from stepping on or damaging any on the floor. Cave formations are easily broken and even touching them inadvertently the oils of your hands can harm them. A sophisticated alarm system is set up along the pathways that detects if you extend yourself too far across the barrier (like when trying to take a picture) and it beeps. It is pretty ingenious and helps you realize if you stretched a little too close to the walls.
Rooms full of formations abound in this cave, including stalactites, cone-shaped rock structures that are formed when calcium-carbonate-rich water drips from the ceiling. Below them, stalagmites grow up from the floor, a process that can take thousands of years. Sometimes these formations meet and merge, forming stone columns. There are also curtains, wavy, undulating, ribbon-like formations. Ruakuri has a famous one called “The Sheets” that is thin enough in places that you can see light through the stone. The tour really is spectacular, and I have been in some famous caves, including Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns, to name a few. Flowstone abounds in the cave, coating the wet, gently sloped areas and creating a melty, waxlike look. There are even some areas with crystal like tapestries of calcite.
We made our way along the path, marveling at the dazzling beauty. At one point, our guide stopped the group and pointed out some fossilized shells in the rocks along the way. The fossils are evidence that this limestone cavern was carved out of an ancient seabed. We arrived at an area where we were high above the water, which flowed like a river in the lower section beneath us. You could hear people and soon their helmet lights shone below as a group of blackwater rafters floated under us on innertubes. It looked like fun, but at the same time, I was happy to be dry and walking through this incredible cave.
Constellations of glow worms
Our group continued a little way farther into a section that was only dimly lit, and up on the tall ceiling above you could see starlike clusters of blue light. The glow worms create these powerful little dots of light that form little patches. The guide then gathered us into an area, and he turned out the lights completely. It was pitch black except for the splendor of the cool blue bioluminescent light of the amazing glow worms. These strange larval flies are only found in a few remote areas of New Zealand and Australia. Basking in their eerie light was a wonderful experience I will never forget.
https://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting
https://www.waitomo.com/glowworms-and-caves/ruakuri-cave
