Waitomo Caves Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Apr)
Waitomo Glowworm Caves Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Apr)
Waitomo is around 190 km from Auckland situated on the north island of New Zealand.
I had book the time slot to view some part of the places at their website with a fee. It is know as the best glow worm caves in New Zealand. Parking and dinning are easy to find and plenty at site. I book the triple cave combo that is Waitomo Glowworm Caves, Aranui Cave and Ruakuri Cave at their website for around 100+ NZD. So plan ahead your timing, it need time to travel from 1 site to another. There are guides to show you around at places. The boat trip to the Waitomo Glowworm caves is a WOW. There are also several tour companies organised tour trip to here from Auckland.
While on the North Island of New Zealand I visited the glowworm caves and we rafted. I had whitewater rafted before and was expecting something adventurous like that. However, the water in the glowworm caves was peaceful and lacked some of the adventure I was expecting. This would be a wonderful family adventure.
#happynewyear
#happynewyear
New Zealand's unique 'glowworms'
Located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, the Waitomo Glowworm Caves are one of New Zealand's most famous natural wonders.
The cave was formed about 15,000 years ago and is a very rare active limestone cave. Originally, there was a small lake on top of the cave that was frozen over. Later, due to climate change, the ice and snow gradually receded, flowing into the cracks of the limestone layer below, slowly eroding into a cave. Since it is still relatively young in geological terms, with water flowing inside and the cave still expanding, it is referred to as an active rock cave.
Legend has it that in 1887, a local Maori chief named Tane Tinorau and an English surveyor named Fred Mace were the first to enter the Glowworm Cave. They made a raft out of flax stalks and used candles for lighting, heading towards the bottom of the cave along a small stream. Once their eyes adjusted to the dark environment, they were amazed to find countless shining points reflected on the water's surface. Upon closer inspection, they realized that the cave walls were covered with thousands of glowworms, and those strange points of light were emitted by them.
The glowworms exude beads of sticky mucus, one after another, and emit a blue luminescence from their tails, scattered across the upper reaches of the deep cave, resembling a mesmerizing scene of a star-filled sky.
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Now, in order to better protect the growth environment, photography is not allowed inside the entire cave🙅
Like a galaxy of stars, the glowworm caves are too mesmerizing to blink away!
Located in the Waitomo region of Waikato, this cave has a history of over 130 years, featuring a variety of stalactites and stalagmites as well as glowworms. The reflection of glowworms on the water surface, like countless pearls reflecting in a mirror, is breathtakingly beautiful. Some people refer to this natural wonder as the 'Ninth Wonder of the World'!
The underground streams continuously erode the soft limestone, eventually forming a vast complex of caves. Here, you can find stalactites growing down from the cave ceiling, stalagmites rising from the cave floor, and cone-shaped layered rock formations created by dripping water. The awe-inspiring work of nature is truly admirable. Thousands of glowworms on the cave walls seem to piece together a 'twinkling Milky Way'. These bioluminescent glowworms are the larvae of a species of Diptera unique to New Zealand. They attract their prey with their striking luminescence and capture them with sticky threads of mucus.
During a visit to the glowworm caves, one can take a human-powered boat ride around the dark cavern and marvel at the spectacle of glowworms that resemble a sky full of stars, while listening to the echoes of nature. No talking is allowed in the cave, but the sight before your eyes, as splendid as a starry river, is truly breathtaking.
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