Waitomo to Rotorua

Day 4 Waitomo to Rotorua

Waitomo:

This has been our most relaxed day so far, one reason being that we drove the shortest distance, and the other, that we ended our day with three hours at one of New Zealand’s famous thermal spas, Hells Gate.

The day began with a 3 hour tour of Spellbound glow-worms cave and the Cave of Spirits cave. Glowworms are the nymph stage of a short-lived insect. They thrive in the perfect environment of New Zealand’s caves because of the constant darkness, temperature and humidity and the fact that a river runs through the cave, and that the river is clean and pure and full of larvae that hatch into flying insects.

The glowworm nymphs hang on the stone ceilings of the cave, and under rocky outcroppings. Their bright blue-green glow emanates from a rear compartment of their body where they produce an enzyme and protein, which when combined with oxygen, produces a glow that attracts flying insects. The glow-worms drop mucousy threads from their bodies that capture the insects who fly up toward the light. The worms then reel in their prey and eat them.

The glow-worm nymphs mature from into pupa at a rate dependent on how much they eat. (Interesting to compare that to the way humans who reduce calories are supposed to live longer too). Eventually, the glow-worms all enter their pupa stage, then hatch into flying insects themselves. They live in that stage for only a few days, just long enough for the male to impregnate the female, after which the male dies, and the female lays her eggs on the roof of the cave and then dies. And when the eggs hatch, the cycle begins again.

Floating down the river with all our lights off and the glow-worms above us could have been a Disneyland ride because it was so magical, although this time we were experiencing the real thing.

Because the cave is many layers, the river we were on plunged into lower layers so we heard the loud roar of the waterfalls – and stayed a safe distance away. Our guide, Louisa, was excellent and answered our many questions, giving us a whole education in the geology, anthropology, flora and fauna of New Zealand.

Rotorua:

After leaving Waitomo, we had a relatively short drive across the country from West to East to Rotorua, the geothermal hot-spot of New Zealand. As soon as we drew near the large Lake Rotorua, especially the shallow, ultra-hot section at the south end, the smell of sulphur was so strong that my nostrils burned.

We drove to the other side of the lake to Tikitere to “Hell’s Gate.” There we treated ourselves to a private hot mud-bath together, followed by a very brisk ice-cold shower (supposedly best for closing the pores and revitalization), then a soak in a hot sulphur pool. Rand braved going closer to the source of the hot spring and emerged with a clear line on his body, below being bright red like a cooked lobster, and above his normal skin-tone. After our sulphur bath, we had one of the better massages we’ve ever had. The masseuses seemed to bring that South Pacific extra-sensory connection to their touch. It was divine. Adrienne was my masseuse and she’s worth the trip.