The coolest little worms ever

I wish, I wish, I wish I could say that the main photo on today's blog is one of my own but unfortunately that would be a lie! No artificial light was allowed during today's experience so that meant no photographs so instead I've downloaded someone else's as a reminder of the spectacular nature display we saw today. We packed up and headed north to Te Anau, a town that sits right on the side of Lake Te Anau, New Zealand's second largest lake. Our tour to the glow worm caves was due to leave at 10:15am and because we arrived early we treated ourselves to a morning coffee to give us a boost after having two early mornings in a row. Soon enough we were collecting our boarding passes and heading to the boat. We sailed for 45 minutes over a very bumpy lake. The lake is so long in length that the waves really can build up when a northern wind hits the area. After a very windy time on board we reached the dock for the caves where we split into two groups. Initially we had a couple of sections where we had to bend over to walk into the cave entrance but after that we could stand quite comfortably. A raging river ran through the whole system carving away to create pretty incredible rock formations and patterns. It was such a shame we couldn't even take photos of this part of the cave. After we headed deeper in we soon reached a part where it was only accessible by boat. This is where we saw our first glow worms. Little tiny blue lights shining down from the ceiling. Our tour guide very much shouted every piece of information to us and at one point I had to move away from him for fear he'd burst my ear drums! We boarded a boat and when all the lights in the cave were switched off we floated down the tunnel and saw the most amazing collection of glow worms hanging on to the ceiling and walls displaying their bright blue colour. We all sat in silence as we moved around the area and at times we were only centimetres away from the insects. When we got very close you could see the silk like strands the worms dangle down from the ceiling. It's these strands that trap any prey that flies in towards the glow worms light and all the worm has to do is real them up on their sticky strands. It's a very clever insect because it was the only light source in the cave and many insects are attracted to light and would be lurred into their trap. We left the twickling insect display behind and headed back out the cave where we had a coffee and a talk about the glow worms. On the boat ride back we were blessed with a perfect rainbow in front of us in the sky. Back in Te Anau and after getting some cream for my annoying sandfly bites we headed to the petrol station where Nick helped a lady used the old fashioned machine to pump up her tyres. A few minutes after she left she returned with a bar of chocolate to thank him for helping her. The photo shows Nick's "appreciation" face which is basically him looking like he's going to cry. We drove some of our journey to Milford Sound this afternoon and are staying in the last department of conservation site on route for the night. After an amazing trip to Doubtful Sound yesterday we're quite excited to see what Milford has to offer tomorrow.Read more