Ruakuri Cave
A little shy of 3 hours south of Auckland are the incredible Waitomo glowworm caves. As part of our school holiday trek, we all agreed that visiting the caves was high on everyone’s list, so on a rainy Monday, we figured there was no better place to be than underground.
There are three caves to choose from, the Waitomo Cave, Aranui Cave, and Ruakuri Cave. (These aren’t the only places in New Zealand to find glowworms - see my post about Totara Park - but I’m under the impression these are the most impressive.) All three caves are near to each other, though the tours do not leave from the same spot, so make sure you leave yourself enough time to get to the right parking lot. You can buy tickets for a single cave or buy bundles if you want more glowworms in your life. With a five and a seven year old, we opted for one cave. There is no way their attention span is long enough to go through more. We chose Ruakuri cave because it has both glowworms and allows photography. Waitomo has glowworms but no photography - though it does have a boat ride - while Aranui allows photography but has no glowworms. Ruakuri seemed to be a happy golidlocks cave and was the longest tour on offer, clocking in at an hour and a half - which truth be told turned into well over two hours.
We were part of a tour of 16 with one tour guide who led us to the manmade entrance of the cave a short walk from the parking lot. After getting a short safety talk, we went through a thick door and lined up along a circular walkway. The whole place was dark as the only light in was from the door we just walked through. Once our group was lined up, layer upon layer of glowing orange lights began to appear one level at a time going down toward the cave. It was a very dramatic, bat-cave-esque reveal. The whole entrance to the cave was a giant spiral walkway downward which made the attraction wheelchair and stroller accessible. At the bottom of the spiral staircase was a stone with watering flowing over it and another heavy door into a long concrete tunnel/air lock. (At this point, I was convinced this was the batcave!) And once we made it through the long tunnel, we arrived at the most stunning area with incredible stalactites and stalagmites. My jaw actually dropped when I entered this space, it was that incredible, especially after I found out that the rate of growth for these formations is about 1 cm2 per year. And these things were huge!
We ventured deeper into the cave, listening to the river rush below us. The walkways were sometimes just suspended bridges which were a little bit scary and I kept a very close eye on the kids who have a habit of wanting to see everything. At times there was lots of light, and at other times we were walking in near darkness. I was glad to have a guide!
As we reached the bottom of the cave and could see the rushing water just a few feet away, we were met with the sight of thousands upon thousands of little glowing lights stuck to the walls and ceilings. These were the fabled glowworms. Our guide gave us an informative rundown of their life cycle: eggs are in groups of about 20. The first to hatch eats his brothers and sisters, then finds a good spot to release a number of spider-web like sticky strings. The worm will glow to attract the mosquitos that are washed into the cavern by the river below and will only have success about 5 or 6 times over the next 9 months. At that point, it will wrap itself up in its strings and transform from a larvae into an adult fungus gnat, meaning glowworms aren’t really glowworms - they’re glow maggots. That doesn’t have the same saleability, though. Once they’re transformed, they find a mate, lay eggs in groups of 20, and die.
We were fascinated!
The cave continued as we learned its history, starting with a Maori king following two dogs into the cave. Later he was buried at the cave’s entrance, making the burial site a sacred location. There were several legal battles, changes of ownership, and negotiations before the cave was reopened to the public in 2005 in its current state, but there are some areas where the old wooden walkways from tours at the beginning of the 1900s still visible at times. The whole tour lasted quite a bit longer than the one and a half hours promised. We clocked in over two hours underground before returning to the manmade entrance at the top. The kids were entertained for the whole two hours, though, and managed not to destroy anything. That’s a small miracle!
There are several cafes and tourist spots around the caves, but we found an amazing little lunch spot in the nearby town of Otorahonga called The Fat Kiwi Cafe. I had one of the best eggs Benedict I’ve ever had, and the kids devoured their nachos.
I am so glad I finally got to see the infamous glowworms/maggots. When the kids are older, I would love to return to do the dark water rafting trip down the river through the caves. That sounds delightfully spooky and exciting, but definitely an activity for older kids.
