. . . . and Caves (and Glow Worms)

So, where to spend that last part of the tour? If we discounted the far north (and my knee was very definitely in favour of that) it really boiled down to three nights in Auckland or three nights in Hamilton. We decided on the latter because a) Auckland would very probably involve a lot of drinking and hence be a tad expensive, b) we can go and visit a big city any time, and c) there was one place we wanted to visit in the North Island and hadn't and, if we stayed in Auckland, we wouldn't.

So it was back down the road to Hamilton and the Waitomo Caves. Hamilton itself is nearly a big city though not as big as Christchurch. It actually has three main streets. And lots of bars and restaurants. Hmm, scratch the logic of reason 'a' then. We did the Cave tour yesterday (Sunday). Had a little trouble getting out of an otherwise dead town as the police sealed off all the escape routes (we did see thousands of motor bikes in the distance so it was either a Hells Angels invasion or a planned bikers convention). The caves were as you would expect, full of bleeding rocks. The glow worms were more fun, especially if you believed our tour guide. For all you budding biologists out there, the glow in the tail of the worm is caused by the fact the worms have no anus. They do eat mosquitoes but get rid of the waste by burning it off with some sort of bio-pyro chemicals. So the glow is shit, then. More disgusting is the fact that they cover themselves in snot. most of which hangs down from the ceiling to catch the mozzies. Yum! Even more interesting is when they pupate they become a sort of pseudo mozzie themselves but they don't live very long because they have no mouths (or anuses - did I mention that?) but they can mate, and do, for about three days. Then they (if they're male) die or, (if they're female) lay hundreds of eggs and then die. But wait, the fun's not over yet! The little worms do have mouths but have nothing to eat but each other. The survivors (about 10 out of all of 'em) presumably mutate into the pretty little lights we paid so much good money to see. Its life, Jim, but not as we know it! I was constantly hoping that the damp drips on my clothes in the dark were water from the stalactites . . .

So here we are on our last day in New Zealand at the end of our travails. Think we'll find a bar and think about this . . .