Feb 9 - Te Anau Glow Worm Caves

The little town of Te Anau sits on the shores of Lake Te Anau, New Zealand’s second largest lake after Lake Taupo. We had a bit of time to get lunch - I found the grocery store and got yogurt, grapes and lemonade and enjoyed the view by the lake while I ate. I wouldn’t have been eating outside back home!

Next adventure - climb on a catamaran to go across Lake Te Anau to the Glow Worm Caves. Glow Worms emit a luminescent light from their tails which indicate that they are hungry. Their favourite food is the pesky sand flies (rather like our mosquitoes) that we have had to deal with. We were just the right size for a tour group, so Bobbi our guide took us under her wing. Alas, no photography is allowed in the caves because it would bother the worms and because too many people have whacked their heads on the rocks because they were looking at their cameras instead of concentrating on the terrain. (My iPhone doesn’t work well in low light, so my pictures wouldn’t have been of any use anyway.)

The Te Ana-au caves are a culturally and ecologically important system of limestone caves on the western shore of Lake Te Anau, in the southwest of New Zealand. It was discovered in 1948 by Lawson Burrows, who found the upper entry after three years of searching, following clues in old Māori legends. It later became a major tourist attraction for the area, as the part of the caverns close to the lake shore is home to glowworms. ite.

This underground world is astonishingly beautiful. By geological standards the caves are very young (12,000 years) and are still being carved out by the force of the river that flows through them. The result is a twisting network of limestone passages filled with sculpted rock, whirlpools and a roaring underground waterfall.

Deep inside the caves, we climbed into a little boat (felt like I was going across the River Styx). The boat was maneuvered by Bobbi - probably by ropes. While we sat In complete silence, she took us to a hidden grotto. In the subterranean darkness, thousands of glow worms produced a glittering display that was truly extraordinary.

Glowworms fish for food by dangling as many as 70 fishing lines from the roof. Each line is between 20-150 mm long and are covered with thick drops of sticky mucus. Insects get attracted to the light emitted by the worms; they circle closer and then get trapped and paralyzed by the chemicals in the lines. When the line vibrates, the worm quickly hauls it in. The trapped prey is killed and the insect's body is converted into the equivalent of a tasty milkshake for the glowworm. Fascinating!

After the boat ride, we worked our way back along the walkways, ducking very low in some spots. No bashed heads in our group. Bobbi gave a short, very energetic presentation about the little beauties we had just seen - they are territorial, cannabalistic, predatorial wonders.

Back on the catamaran. Back across the lake. Almost time for dinner.

We were ushered into our own private dining room for dinner at the hotel. David said that anyone looking at us would have thought that we were fancy, important people - NOT!! We had the most extensive dinner menu to choose from that we have had on the whole trip. So many choices. I had seafood chowder and then salmon. Left room to do justice to the excellent dessert buffet.Read more