In Maori, “wai” means water and “tomo” means to enter or fall in; Waitomo literally means “the place where water falls into the ground.” This is because the Maoris would see streams of water just disappearing into the earth. The reason behind this is that there is a vast labyrinthine cave in the area. There is a national park to see some of these caves, but the absolute best way to see them is to go tubing through them. I went with the Black Water Rafting company- the premier place to do this activity apparently. The caves in this area have a multitude of rivers that run through them and are the homes of New Zealand’s glowworms that illuminate these cave’s ceilings and walls. The Maori used to regard these glowworms as the first form of light. Seeing these glowworms was absolutely spectacular and is the reason why seeing the Waitomo glowworm caves is one of the most highly-recommended things to do in New Zealand.
My group to ee these caves was a group of 12. From the base, they gave us gear to wear which was just thick, padded wetsuits. We then got on a bus and drove fifteen minutes to a random flowing stream. There, we practiced jumping into the water without tubes and also get a feel of the icy mountain water. When we were done practicing, we made our way to the cave. When we parked the van, we walked fifteen minutes through the Gondwanaland forest to a small hole in the ground. One by one we went into that tiny hole. Honestly, I want to know who first saw that hole and was like “hey, let’s check that out” and just plunged into the dark abyss. Without knowing that massive cave network, you can easily just get lost and die down there. It is pitch black in those caves- without a flashlight, you’re screwed.
I can’t tell you the exact path of the cave and instead placed our faith in our two guides. Often times, we would have to duck under stalactites, step gingerly in rushing rapids, tube on the water, hang onto ropes in currents, and on occasion, we would have to lie flat on our backs on the tubes and paddle through small crevices where our noses were only half an inch from the cave ceiling. It was wild and incredible. Tubing through this dark cave was just totally exhilarating. And despite the water being freezing and the cave chilly, my adrenaline kept me warm. By far, the best part of the experience was the glowworms. Throughout the trek, you could see them on the walls and ceiling if you look close enough. However, there is one point on the tour where for a solid fifteen minutes, we were on our tubes in a big cavern in complete darkness. We connected our tubes so someone wouldn’t get lost and were pushed along. You would look up and you can see all of the glowworms illuminating the ceiling. There were so many of them that they looked like stars in the night sky. I will remember that image vividly in my mind for years to come. It was completely awe-inducing. The magnificent trip lasted three hours but we were only in the cave for half that time.
After that wondrous adventure, I needed to find a place to stay for the night. At the local information center, they recommended a place called Roseland’s Restaurant- a secluded farm about ten minutes down the road that offered a free place to stay for Camper Vans, $10 all you can eat casserole, and $5 beers. An incredible deal for an incredible day.