One of the most fascinating things about the underground world is the diversity of creatures that live there, often in total darkness. And I mean TOTAL darkness. If you have ever been on cavern tour where they shut off the lights for about 5 minutes to let you get a feel of the totality of what darkness is like, such as for those who were born blind, and how uncomfortable it makes you feel within the first 30 seconds, you can begin to appreciate what it must be like for the deep underground creatures of the world. Of course, they have the advantage of never knowing what light is, so the totality isn't as disturbing as it is for us.
But not all cave creatures are forced to live like this. In fact, there are some creatures that have benevolent purposes in life. And that is to be the light for the others that live among them. And then to eat those that get tangled up in their sticky snares because they headed toward that light. Ok, so not all THAT benevolent, I guess. But they aren't that always bad guys, since they simply cut free any prey that is too large, or unwanted. So, now we are back to benevolent again.
One of these creatures of the light is the titiwae glow worm of New Zealand's Footwhistle Cave (also known to local Maori as Te Anaroa Cave). Only one species, Arachnocampa luminosa, is found throughout New Zealand and large number of the glowing larvae of these carnivorous fungus gnats can be see during Waitomo's Caveworld tours. Don't worry, they only eat tiny flying creatures, and as larvae they are pretty much stuck on the cave roof so they aren't going to come after you.
But when they shut off the lights in THIS cave, the beauty of their truly natural, biological light will astound you! It is something you have to experience yourself, videos and photos just do not do this any justice at all!
But that's not all that family-run and locally-owned, Cave World has to offer. They also offer night abseiling (a.k.a. spelunking) where they provide everything and no experience is necessary. In fact, the Night Abseil is definitely an adventure tour that is considered by many to feature the best glow worm display in New Zealand. Black Water Rafting (a.k.a. Cave Tubing) gives you the chance to jump off a waterfall, ZOOM down a hydro slide and then drift under more glow worm lights. There's even a hidden waterfall that you can visit, if you don't mind crawling into small spaces wearing a hardhat and a rope.
And...Cave World is the only operator in Waitomo to offer exclusive, private cave tours.
Book your tours now at Cave World and do it all! Because if you don't, you'll always wonder what you missed
