Waitomo

Sun. 3/29 We drove to Waitomo down south to see the glowworm caves. The North Island is lush, green, semi-tropical with giant palms, tree ferns, & steep hillsides dotted with sheep and cows. Our cave tour was with Norm, a very funny, charming avid caver whose enthusiasm was contagious. We met a couple from New Jersey who have been touring here for three months in a campervan. They gave us lots of good advice and we are already planning our next trip. The caves were amazing. We went down the river in a raft in absolute dark with the cave roof covered in tiny glowworms. It was like looking at the Milky Way close up. The glowworms are actually maggots but as Norm said, "That's pretty hard to market." We drove across the island to Rotorua. Bop's getting pretty good at this wrong side of the road thing. It's hard to take pictures though because all the roads are narrow two lane with no shoulders or pull outs.