EXPLORING WAITOMO NEW ZEALAND’S LUMINESCENT GLOWWORM CAVES
The Waitomo Caves incredible limestone formations and luminescent glowworms, which is known as Arachnocampa luminosa or the New Zealand Glow-Worm, found only in New Zealand. It is the major attraction and reason which is attracting millions of travelers since 120 years. It’s really difficult for me to put this wonderful experience in words as this incredible can not be penned down.

© King Ho Yim | Dreamstime.com
I drove to Waitomo from Auckland around noon, so that I had some time for exploring two of the three caves. After I reached there I came to know that there are two types of cave systems, some had glow-worm and some did not have. The name of the caves were - The Glowworm Caves, the Ruakuri Caves and the Aranui Caves.
There are many private operators for guidance and adventures. I decided to book the Black Labyrinth Tour, which conducts tubing and rappelling adventures in the Ruakuri Caves.I took the tour for 3 hours, they had a lot of options and you may decide according to your own time. I badly wanted to visit the Glowworm Cave, So I took less time here.
I visited the Glowworm Cave first. I was stunned! We were not allowed to take photos inside the cave, as it was dark and a scary type structure. The guide told us that its is very suitable to record some kind of music and then I came to know, The Vienna Boys Choir, Sting and many others have recorded music there. After passing through the cave, the guides lead you onto a crowded boat which passes along an underground river into complete darkness. Then you could see the greenish lights of the glow-worms on the ceiling of the cave which resemble galaxies of stars and constellations. It was very interesting to study this wonderful creature. The guide was very intelligent to and capable enough of giving us information about this glow-worm. The glowing comes from a chemical reaction taking place in the worms’ excretory system and it is glow worm shit (very funny to believe that we were all the way here so see a worm’s shit!) It was indeed a sublime experience. Photography is not permitted in the Glowworm Cave.

© Martin Pelanek | Dreamstime.com
After visiting the Glowworm Cave, I had our snacks and quickly went down for the next adventure. I wore wetsuit, boots, headlamp etc. I was accompanied by some other tourists. A van driver took us to the next cave.
I got a strong feeling of some great adventure and the trainer told us to jump into cold river with our inner tubes. After practicing it 2-3 times we were left in the cave. Once in the cave, we floated down rivers and jumped over waterfalls. It was great fun but it was becoming little scary. We had a lifeguard with us.
We had an opportunity to float in darkness in the cave and it was a dark night with galaxies of stars and cold water with pin drop silence. The glow-worms on the ceiling of the cave made us forget the fear and icy cold water. We were not allowed to take cameras in the cave but honestly a photograph simply can’t capture the experience.
Exploring the Waitomo caves was one of the best experiences of my life. I had some other great experiences is this country - New Zealand. I must say, New Zealand is the land of adventure, beauty and fun! Plan your trip soon.