New Zealand 

North Island Caves, Glowworms, Waterfalls and Cape Reinga... 


Cape Reinga

Cape Reinga

The Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand), have a long history here on New Zealand having been here for over 1000 years, and this culture is widely embraced and celebrated.  Cape Reinga is one of their sacred sites on the northernmost tip of the North Island.  It is the site where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet. 

Light house


Cape Reinga


Fun world city directions and distances on a signpost at the lighthouse

According to Māori history, this site is the jumping off point for spirits in their journey to the afterlife.  As this is a sacred spot, refraining  from eating and drinking at this site is requested.

Beach to the left on the walk the lighthouse

While seeing the Cape itself is cool, the surrounding area is absolutely beautiful.  The drive to Cape Reinga is definitely a long one, as it took almost 3 hours to get there from Paihia, but it was well worth the time.  

View to the right at the lighthouse

Caves and Glowworms

Caves are scattered throughout the landscape in New Zealand.  Some of those caves have rivers or water pools and it is in these caves that we find glowworms.  Glowworms are found primarily in New Zealand, but can be found in a few locations in Australia.  The glowworms live in moist dark caves and have a unique lifecycle during which they produce substances which create the bioluminescent glow hence the name Glowworms.

Glowworms glow like stars in the night sky

Glowworms dot the roof of caves like stars in the night sky.


Glowworms scientific name is Arachnocampa luminosa and the adult form is a fungus gnat.  Glowworms have three basic life phases:  larva, pupa and gnat.  The larva hatch from eggs laid by the female gnat on the ceiling of a cave and quickly begin to spin silk threads that hang from ceiling of the cave.  The larva can suspend up to 30 silk threads and produce sticky droplets which are suspended along the threads, in a beads on a string pattern.  The entire thread system is called a hammock.  The glowworm larva are very territorial and will eat other larva if they are in their space.  

Hammocks seen with flashlight

The larva produces a biochemical reaction that allows the bottom of the glowworm to fluoresce.  The dark cave with the bioluminescence of the larva look like stars in the sky to mosquitos and other insects that then fly toward the sky and get caught in the hammock of the glowworm.

Glowworms closer view with their hammocks

Glowworm hammocks look like beads on a string

Hammocks - higher magnification

The larva live between 9-11 months and will fluoresce brighter when they are hungriest.  The color of the luminescence can range from green to blue to white based on the age of the larva.

Glowworms with their hammocks with bioluminescence and no external light


Glowworms can grow to the size of a matchstick

The glowworm larva then form a cocoon type structure and form the pupa stage.  They will stay in this stage for approximately 2-3 weeks.  Then an adult gnat emerges, which looks like a large mosquito.  The adult has one purpose and that is to mate and lay eggs.  The adults have no mouth and will die of starvation within 1-3 days.  The female lasts longer than the male and will lay over 100 eggs and then dies.  The eggs will hatch into larva in approximately 3 weeks.  

We visited several caves with guided tours including:  Waitomo Caves, Kawiti Glowworm Caves, and Milky Way Glowworm Caves close to Waipu.  All tours were relatively short around 30-40 minutes, however, at Waitomo Cave we also had a short boat ride in the dark with glowworms overhead.  We were never really able to get up close to take pictures at most of the tours (some did not even allow cameras of any kind), however, there was a cave in the Waipu scenic reserve that had glowworms and was free and open to the public.  It was here that we were able to get upclose photos of the actual glowworms seen above.  

Unique artificial entrance of Ruakuri Cave

At the Waitomo Caves, there were also tours into the Ruakuri Cave.  The Ruakuri Cave tour was a little longer lasting about 1.5 hours and took us through the cave to see stalagmites and stalactites, soda straws and curtain formations.  The Ruakuri Cave did have a few glowworms, but they were not the focus of this tour.

Stalactites and straws

Stalactites

Stalactites and curtain formations


Waterfalls

Waterfalls are John's favorite thing to photograph, so there will be many, many pictures of waterfalls in our blog posts from New Zealand.  So here are the first set from the North Island!


 Whangarei Falls





 Haruru Falls




Bridal Veil Falls




 Marumaruaitu Stream Waterfall



Huka Falls









Water of the Huka Falls has a brilliant turquoise color due to the high concentration of air bubbles with trapped oxygen in the rapidly flowing water.


I will try to do a small section at the end of each blog regarding cost of our activities.  Many things that we do are free, however that we will try to give an accounting of additional expenses incurred during our travel over and above the expense of lodging, food, rental car and flights.  I will give all expenses in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) as exchange rates will fluctuate and some who may read this may not be from the US.

Additional Costs:
Kawiti Glowworm Caves - $50.00/pp
Milky Way Glowworm Caves - $45/pp
Waitomo Glowworm Cave & Ruakuri Cave combo - $165/pp


Coming Soon...
Cathedral Cove Beach, Hot Water Beach, Birds and Geothermal Sites







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