Waitomo Cave, known as the glow worm grotto/cave, is derived from two Maori words, wai meaning water and tomo meaning cave. The Waitomo River eventually vanishes into the hillside.
On this fascinating and unusual visit we learned from a docent that a New Zealand Mountie and a British surveyor discovered the cave in 1887. They rafted down the river but could go only half way into the cave. Two weeks later they discovered the present entrance and in 1889 the first tour took place.
The glow worm is different from a firefly The light from a glow worm is less than from a firefly but when multiplied by thousands the sight is spectacular. The life span of the glow worm is eleven months and there are four stages. First is the egg which turns to larvae, then to a cocoon, and finally to a fly---similar to a butterfly. The glow comes from the larvae suspended from the ceiling. It snares its prey by dangling filaments of sticky beads. Chemical oxidation creates the glow.
After touring the cave we boarded boats and floated quietly though the grotto where thousands of worm larvae hung suspended from the ceiling. It was a rainbow of color, like none any man could create. There was no picture taking, so I bought a postcard. We were all as quiet as church mice as we slowly floated down river. It was the most fantastic sight!
ORCHID GARDENS
Today water ballets and displays are quite common and I’ve seen many in many different locales. However, the Orchid Gardens in Rotorua, New Zealand were my first.
The gardens and flowers were lovely, but the water organ/ballet was spectacular.
A local guide told us, “The gardens were built in 1985 at a cost of 1.3 million dollars. The water organ contains 700 pipes and 14 pumps. This set of pipes was made in Germany at a cost of $250,000, and there are only another four or five sets like these in the world.”
Water shot dramatically from the pipes simulating a ballet and the whole performance was set to computerized music.
When the water show was over I said, “I’d really like to sit through that again.”
My traveling companion agreed and we did. It was a marvelous performance!
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