Waitomo Caves

The town of Waitomo is situated about 2 hours north of the Egmont region. It's claim to fame is the natural glow worm caves and nothing more. Several other companies have piggy backed on the several tourists that come to this area but in the end, its the worms that steal the show.

Though you have several companies and ways in which to enjoy this natural wonder, we decided to do a bit of everything which includes abseiling, rafting on an innertube and rockclimbing up the cave. It begins with a 35 ft abseil into the bottom of a cave with a river flowing through it. We pick up our inner tube and begin hiking upstream. About 20 minutes later, we are instructed to hop on the tubes and away WE GO!

As we take a leisure ride down the river, we soon find ourselves in a cave with thousands of glowing dots all around us. It felt as if we were in Disneyland again as it looked like a bunch of stars. As amazing as this ride was becoming, it dawned on us that as romantic as this picture was, it was still thousands of worms hanging on top of us waiting to spread its eggs.

Chalk it up to New Zealand for providing us with yet another unique experience that can only happen due to its climate and natural habitat.

- the loneasian