Woke up to the first overcast/rainy day in NZ since we arrived. But that didn’t slow us down! It was an AMAZING day!
Started the morning off with a short but exciting hike to Whangarei Falls. To me it was an adventure, but in New Zealand it was just a small city park. I hiked to the bottom and took some fun photos along the way. Once I got down, I decided to hike TO the waterfall.


I hiked around the pool at the base of the falls and tried to get behind them. Ultimately I decided the rocks were too wet and slippery for me to go any further. Just as I was turning back, a boy about 10 and his dad scrambled past me even closer to the falls. I thought about going with them, but decided, wisely I think, that my ability as a 57 year old was not the same as a 10 year old or a 10 year old’s parent.
After the falls we started driving back to Auckland to see some camper vans. however as we were driving along I shouted (literally) “Turn there!” No questions asked, driver turned and we were off on an exciting and unplanned excursion! I saw a sign for glow worm caves (on my NZ bucket list) and no way I wanted to miss it!
After a short drive down a paved country road that turned into a dirt country road and the ensuing conversation about whether we were delivering ourselves to axe murderers (Hilariously never occurred to us that we might have just taken a wrong turn). We ended up at the Milky Way Glow Worm Caves.
I’ve been on cave tours before (several excellent ones in Texas). However I have never searched for or seen glowing worm butts. I have chased glowing bug butts in the form of fireflies, but never glowing worm butts. it was a fun and interesting experience. The cave was small compared to some I have toured (they are working to prepare more rooms for the public). The glow worms definitely make it different!
The glow worms glow to attract prey. They capture the prey in their spiderweb like strings that they lower from their glowing butts and also send little beads of liquid down to make the string sticky. Moths, mosquitoes and other flying bugs get stuck to the string and the glow worm reels them up and eats them. Sounds gross but is actually fascinating to see.



