Otorohanga & Waitomo Glowworm Cave - Natural Wonders

After a short drive, we pulled into the Otorohanga Kiwi House just moments before the keeper talk began. We entered into the kiwi house, a completely dark room they called their "barn" that they had created to reverse the day & night so that people could get to experience these nocturnal & flightless birds.

Generally, kiwi birds spend a lot of time sleeping (nearly 20 hours a day), so it's not guaranteed to get to see them action. However, when we went into the room, on the other side of the pane under the ultra low lights, they were actually up and active!

We gasped with awe and excitement. Just inches from our faces we got to observe these crazy creatures in action in their nocturnal habitat. They gave quite a show of pecking and digging around in the dirt. And there was even a little skiff between the two birds! They told us this was an unusual amount of activity, and we were so grateful to get to experience it!

 

A few facts we found interesting: 

• Kiwi birds are endangered and only found in New Zealand. 
• They are about the size of a chicken, and possess tiny wings but they cannot fly. 
• Because Kiwis are nocturnal, they rely entirely on their sense of smell and by feeling around with their whiskers!
• They are the only bird in the world with nostrils at the end of their beak (for smelling out grubs for food!) 
• They can live up to 50 years, though few survive within the first 6 months of being born because of their predators: stoats, ferrets, weasels, cats & even dogs.  

After the presentation, we were off to see the other birds in this "Native Bird House" along with some geckos and lizards.

We attended the keeper talks of both the Kaka and the Kea. It was fascinating learning about the Kea birds, in that they really are quite mischievous.

Apparently there was once a tunnel under construction, and every morning when the workers would come back to the site, they would find the construction cones turned over. They didn't know who or what was causing this, but day after day, when they'd arrive back at the job site, sure enough, the cones were all flipped! It was becoming quite a problem. They finally setup surveillance cameras, to determine who or what was causing this, to find it was the Kea birds! And these pesky birds would specifically wait until all the workers were gone to have their fun! The workers needed to come up with a solution, and thus the Kea became one of the only birds to have ever had their own playground built, so they would stop messing with the cars and the construction site! No joke, you can read about it here!

Just as we were about to leave, we got into invited into keeper talk for the Kakariki - the red crowned parakeet. We enjoyed feeding them, holding out cups of food for them to come land on and have a snack. Once we had our experience and began to loose patience, we then enjoyed feeding the every-ready ducks in the pond below.

We headed out, had some fish and chips in Otorohanga and poked through the shops. Then we made our way down to the Waitomo visitor center and waited for our cave tour to begin there.

Our guide was a young animated fellow and it was his last tour before heading off to study engineering. The caves were incredible, massive formations of stalactites and stalagmites of many pillars that they call "finger touches" between the two that were more “recently” formed, as in happening within the last hundred years! 

We learned that what forms these structures, is simply the mineral deposits carried in the water as it travels through the Earth. The more you learn, the more appreciation grows for the scope of time in which caves are formed and have existed.

We also learned that, in an earthquake, a cave would actually be a relatively safe place to "weather the storm" because the layers of limestone actually absorb the shock, and make the caves remarkably earthquake resistant! Which makes sense, considering how ancient caves are. However in light of seeing Christchurch's utter devastation just weeks prior, it gave us so much more appreciation for these natural wonders!

We then passed through what they called "the cathedral" which was known for its perfect acoustics and impressive history of known and unknown names lifting their songs into the air. Our guide opened the floor for someone to share a song...and of all the times...my mind went blank.

As he waited for someone to take up this opportunity, my heart beat hard in my chest, I knew I should sing something, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I deliberated in my head..."I could sing my original song "Thank You", I could make something up ...or I could sing something everyone might know and could join in on like "Amazing Grace"...

But wouldn't know it, indecision plagued me, and then the moment was lost, and the cave tour continued onward. Yeah, I'll be living with that regret forever as a singer! Sheesh. But you know how it is when put on the spot. Had I had a couple minutes to prepare, I may have been ready to know what offering to bring to the table for that sacred moment of silence held in the grandeur of this place.

Finally, we came to the final part of our tour (and what we had came for) and loaded into boats docked in the drippy cavern in the depth of the cave. Our guide said from this moment on, to refrain from speaking, and all lights went out. He pulled us silently with a line through the pitch dark for a moment.

And then, the darkness above us opened up into a majestic galaxy of speckling blue constellations!

It was astounding. Melody couldn't contain her words, and gripped my hand whispered to me over and over and over phrases of awe and amazement "wow, woooow, woahhh, wow!" It was truly stunning.

So, glowworms. They weren't on our radar prior to New Zealand either. The glow essentially comes from a chemical reaction that occurs with their excrement! This tricks small insects into thinking there is "light" within the of the cave, and as they head for the light, they get caught in the sticky stringy larva the glowworms hang down, and they feast! The natural world is so wild!

As we weren't able to take pictures until we got out towards the light of day, here's one I grabbed from the internet so you can get a sense for these galaxies of "poo" that we got to experience!

The moment didn't last nearly long enough, but for the brief time, pulled silently upon the still water under the glowing ceiling, it was definitely an experience to remember.

Then we were out and back into the light of day.

We headed back to Auckland, grabbing fast food on the way, then stealthily ditching the remnants of our trashy eating before arriving back at Steve & Therese's haven for healthy food and nourishment, ha!

Our time in New Zealand was coming to a close.

-M