Glow Worms, Kiwis and Tuataras, Oh My!

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Trip Start Jun 24, 2008 Previous
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  Waitomo Caves, North Island, New Zealand
Monday, August 4, 2008

After waking up to the cold, gray and depressing morning outside of Cape Reigna, Paul and I headed south back towards Auckland on Saturday.  Given the dismal weather, we decided it would just be a day of driving to get us back towards Auckland.  It was a harrowing drive, as neither Paul nor I are very comfortable being the passenger in the car.  We had our first domestic squabble of our marriage when he kept yelping and jumping while I drove and, at one particularly low moment, actually tried to grab the wheel.  We can't figure out why, but we decided that there is some sort of optical illusion on the passenger side that makes it look like the person driving is about to crash into the left side of the road, because if you are looking outside of the windshield on the left, the car appears to be much further left than it actually is.  At any rate, we will be glad to get rid of the car soon, because it's not doing our marriage many favors.

Our marathon drive day continued with the highlight of the trip being a brief stop at McDonald's, where Paul tried the McDonald's Kiwiburger, which had (get this) egg and beet root.  It sounds disgusting, but it was actually pretty good.  I have to say that I think the hamburgers taste better at the New Zealand McDonald's than the Aussie McDonald's.  We finished up our drive in the town of Hamilton, where we hid from the rain and watched the Australian national rugby team play the New Zealand rugby team, which all of the radio stations had been talking about all day long.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say that we watched the New Zealand rugby team wipe the floor with the Australian team.  We still don't understand the rules of rugby, and found Aussie rules football a bit easier to pick up, but rugby is a pretty brutal sport and the guys were enormous.  I was particularly fond of their
shorts. 

The next morning we headed to Waitomo Caves to see the bioluminescent glow worms.  I also wanted to go blackwater rafting through the caves, but it turned out that the caves were flooded from all of the rain, so the only ones we could go into where the Ruakuri Caves.  While waiting for the tour to start, we sat on a bench while I ate some gummy worms.  I had dropped one on the ground, and set it on the bench next to me until I could find a garbage can.  There were a lot of curious looking little birds around us, but I just ignored them.  At one point, I pulled out a map and turned to Paul to discuss the route.  The next minute, we realized that one of the tiny little birds--who had waited for me to turn away--had run off with the gummy worm.  It was pretty funny watching this tiny little bird flying around with this gummy worm as all of the other birds followed it.  I actually felt bad and hoped it didn't get sick, but it really wasn't my fault.  It also brought back memories of when I went to the Grand Canyon when I was a kid and a squirrel ran off with my baggie full of trail mix.  I guess even small animals can tell that I am a sucker.

On the trip to the caves, I learned that yet another thing Paul is afraid of is the dark.  Seriously, even though it was almost pitch black, I could tell Paul was terrified.  He was hanging onto the railing and hugging the wall for dear life.  But, once again, he impressed me with persevering on despite everything.  The caves, which were about 210 feet below ground, were beautiful, and the glow worms were pretty cool.  Unfortunately, we could not take pictures of the glow worms, so you will just have to take our word for it.  It was also fascinating to learn that, in order to set up the handrails and walkways, the construction workers had to put on wetsuits, strap their tools on their backs, and swim through the underground river to get to the construction sites.  I wonder how much they got paid for that job? 
After making our way back to daylight  we stopped by the Kiwi House to get our first look at a kiwi bird.  Kiwis are flightless birds that are about the size of a large cat and are heavily endangered.  They are only native to New Zealand, but have been wiped out by introduced species such as cats, dogs and ferrets.  They are very long-lived.  The ones we saw at the Kiwi House were about 20 years old, and were still relatively young for the species.  Kiwis are also nocturnal, so they are hard to spot in nature.  They are very odd looking creatures, with fur-like feathers and whiskers, but were cute.  We happened to be there around feeding time, and one of the birds was so happy that she kept running around in circles excitedly like a dog or a cat.  We were not allowed to take pictures of them either, unfortunately.

While at the Kiwi House, we also took a look at the tuataras, which are lizard-like reptiles.  Apparently, they are considered a "living fossil" because they are the last of a line of reptiles that has been around for more than 200 million years.  They just look like lizards to me, however, and how they were able to determine that the were not lizards is beyond me.  After leaving the Kiwi House (with my new kiwi stuffed animal named Konnie in tow), we headed north.  Next stop: Taupo, a volcanic area known for its geysers and hot springs. .

The Bird Who Stole My Gummy Worm

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Our Guide to the Caves	Stalactites in the CAve	Paul	The Cave
Cave	Cool Cave	Cave Plaque	Tuatura
Tuaturas	Rainbow

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