Day 14: Taupo to glowing poo maggots

Today is our penultimate day and final night in this beautiful country, and we had one last adventure booked in.

Leaving Taupo about 9.30am we headed northwards again towards the village of Waitomo, which is famous for its underground caves that are home to a population of glow worms.

You can be boring and just walk into the caves to see the glow worms, but if you are feeling adventurous, you can go black water rafting (i.e. clambering through caves in rapid running, 13 degree waters, dressed in a full wet suit, gum boots and helmet, toting an inner tube that is intermittently used to float along to view the glow worms living on the cave roof).

At one point, we were given an introduction to the life and biology of glow worms. Turns out the bit that makes them glow is their excreted poop and mucus, used to attract prey to eat, and they are actually the larvae form a type of fly.

A.k.a they are glowing poo maggots.

But that name tends to put people off, so 'Glow Worms' they became!

Anyways, pooping aside, the whole experience was super fun and we all had a blast. We also very much welcomed the hot shower and hot soup at the end!

We started the Black Water Labyrinth tour at 1pm and ended up leaving there about 4pm and drove 30 minutes to our accommodation just south of the town of Te Awamutu.

By sheer chance we have chosen a delightful place for our last night in Aotearoa. Called 'The Old School House', it is a complete stand-alone B and B type accommodation, complete with fresh flowers, fresh eggs, home made fresh bread and even Vegemite!

Instead of going out to hunt for a place for dinner we decided to stay and enjoy the freedom of lots of space and cosy surrounds, and so we got pizza delivered and a couple of loads of washing done.

We certainly know how to live life large!Read more