Waiomio Glowworm Caves

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Weekend Notes| June 04, 2022

https://www.weekendnotes.com/waiomio-glowworm-caves/

Have you ever met a glow worm? Turns out, we’d met its cousins, but never expected to have such a great science and history lesson in the Bay of Islands.

We had missed the Glow worm caves between Auckland and Rotorua so were glad to find these near the Bay of Islands.

Glow worms, species Arachnocampa genus Luminosa, thrive in these damp, dark caves and are killed by photography, even infrared exposure, so interior photographs were not allowed.

This is a family-run cave, descendants of the original chief (unusually, a woman) who, legend tells us, had taken pity on an abused woman, Roku, escaping from her husband after he beat her.

Roku took shelter in the cave, built a fire for warmth and to cook her food, and slept on the floor.

To survive, she stole crops, usually sweet potatoes, which was eventually discovered.

The tribe found Roku in the cave, took pity on her, and sheltered her until her husband threatened tribal war and they were forced to return her to him.

They estimate this happened 360 years ago, and the growth of limestone over the sandstone is about 1 cubic inch per 100 years.

The cave is narrow, our entry dependent on boardwalks installed with handrails for most of the trek.

Floods have weakened the boardwalk at the exit point so the bush walk is “on your own” (at your own risk) at the time this was written.

No photography inside the cave as the red light burns the worms – luminescence only 0.02 – and stuns their growth or burns them outright

This danger was discovered when the population, counted periodically, dipped below the typical 10K, the amount that this region can feed based on the glowworms territorial nature and need for space to capture their prey – flies, midgies, etc., moths

After photography was forbidden, the population returned.

Photography in front of the cave and on the bush walk is highly encouraged.

We had Kaitlynn as our guide.

We had a lantern for every 3-4 people and were asked to carry our lantern like a “torch” – and it had three speeds: full, dim, and off.

A creek runs thru the cave and water drips from the limestone – no touching, that will discolor or kill the limestone. The sandstone base is stagnant.

The limestone doesn’t have the green color we saw other places and the creek is a dark, clear color, unlike the green water seen at the Blue Mountains caves.

First stop, Kaitlynn explained the difference between stalactites and stalagmites. The stalactites, growing from the ceiling, “hold on tight.” The Stalagmites, “might make it to the top.” When the two join, they form a column.

There wasn’t as much bridal veil effect pointed out along the way, though some was noted by me on the side walls.

At this point, we were instructed to turn our lanterns off and, voila! The glowworm tail was instantly visible. It really did look like the night sky.