We were up early because we were on the 7:45 glowworm excursion. We started by taking a 20 minute boat ride across Lake Te Anua which we later learned was named after the daughter of a Maori chief. Here are pictures of the lake.
We arrived on the other side and were met our guide. He took us into the cave. We walked on walkways over raging water. The water was really loud and so clean we could drink it. I think caves are cool and this one did not disappoint. It was beautiful, but unfortunately we couldn’t take pictures. We started seeing glowworms as soon as we entered the cave. We walked along for awhile and then got into a small boat. It was completely dark except for the glowworms and our guide pulled us through the grotto on a line strung overhead. Our guide asked us to be silent and it was very cool to be in this dark, quiet space peering at the phosphorescent lights emitted by the glowworms.
Insects are sweep into the cave by the raging water that flows into and through the cave. Glowworms are about an inch long, look like slender slugs and have an organ on their tail which emits light. They create “fishing lines”, threads that hang down from the ceiling of the cave covered with a sticky substance. They use the light in their tail to attract insects. When one gets caught the glowworm reels it in and injects enzymes into the insect’s eyes to start the digestion process. No surprise what comes next… Yuck! After the worm has matured a bit it pupates and emerges into a moth-like creature to mate. They only live long enough to mate, males live for 76 hours and females live for 96 hours, just long enough to create the next generation.
After the cave we headed back to the visitor center for a short lecture on glowworms. Then back on the boat to Te Anua.
Here’s an interesting story that we heard on the way back across the lake that gives a little insight into the New Zealand psyche. Milford Sound is just a little north of Doubtful and very popular with tourists because it is close to Queenstown. Parking was a big problem and the government considered put up a three story parking garage. However people balked, saying this is about nature not commerce, we don’t want all these cars here. So they increased the price for parking to $10 per hour and improved the public transit system. New Zealand logic!
Once back on dry land we went to the grocery store and got some pastries for breakfast and got underway. We planned to drive to Dunedin. The drive was mostly across a plain surrounded by gently rolling hills, covered by sheep and cows. I know I keep saying this but it looked like Switzerland!
We stopped to take a picture and met up with Edward and Diane, our friends from Te Anua. Rick had started talking to them in the supermarket parking lot and later that day they appeared at the camp ground we are staying at. They are Dutch nationals currently living in Norway. He is a fishing guide and they own a campground near their home. They have spent a lot of time in New Zealand previously and told us about a nice campground on Otago peninsula. We followed them there, making a number of photo stops on the way.
We arrived at the campground and Rick and Edward had a beer and talked for a while. Meanwhile, I was investigating things to do. We decided to see the blue penguins at the Royal Albatross Center. After dinner we headed northeast about 10 miles to see the penguins. Blue penguins are the smallest penguins in the world, weighing about 2 pounds. They go to sea all day to feed and return to their nests as it is getting dark. There is a colony of them next to the Royal Albatross Center. At 8:30 our group headed down to a viewing platform next to the beach. The penguins assemble in the water and come ashore in large groups called rafts. We saw a total of 155 penguins which came ashore in 6 groups. They climbed the penguin highway and headed back to their nests. We didn’t get great pictures because it was dark and we couldn’t use a flash but they were very cute and fun to watch.
The staff warned us that as we drove away to be careful of penguins that had wandered to the road. We were driving cautiously and sure enough three penguins wandered in front of us. We stopped and two of them walked back to the edge of the road. The third one stayed under the van, a little shocked and very afraid about joining his buddies. There were probably a dozen cars behind us all stopped waiting for this penguin to get out from under the van. Finally he decided to move on and we continue back to the campground without another penguin sighting.