“I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back.”
― The Lord of the Rings
Black Abyss
Waitomo is mostly known for their glowworm caves. Most people book a short boat ride to view the countless New Zealand glowworms (Arachnocampa luminosa). I probably wouldn't include this activity in my trip if there wasn't a much more adventurous alternative: the Black Abyss, a caving tour.
After putting on a wetsuit, you start with a 35 m abseil into a pitch dark cave. While you're waiting for the others, you can already admire the first glowworms.
Next, you do a short zipline inside the cave, with more glowworms above you.
After a short break with hot chocolate and a cookie, you jump with a big tube into the dark, refreshing water.
What follows is a short light painting photo session.
For the next hour or so, you are swimming and/or floating on your tube through the big cave. Despite the wetsuit and the hot chocolate, it was freezing cold, getting worse over time. My teeth were chattering, slightly distracting from the otherwise awesome experience.
Once you reach a dead end, you form a "tube train" with your group, and the guide slowly pulls you all back to the starting point. You can now once again enjoy thousands of glowworms in what feels like a star-spangled sky. You also learn a few interesting facts about those creatures. Glowworms are not related to fireflies in any way. It's mostly the larvae that exhibit the largest bioluminescence. They use this technique to attract prey, and the hungriest individuals will glow the strongest.
There's also a small waterfall, which makes for another great photo opportunity.
After you give back your tube, you'll continue the caving tour by foot, following more narrow passages.
Finally, you are given a decision to leave the cave the easy way, or climb your way out on cascading underground waterfalls. I probably don't have to mention, which option I've chosen 🧗
I expected this to be the highlight of the north island, and I wasn't disappointed! While I've had many "first time" experiences in New Zealand, this tour combined a couple of those in a 4–5 hour time span.
Omaru Falls
On my way to Waitomo, I did a short walk to the Omaru Falls.
I can imagine the waterfall looking nice during sunshine, but after rain it's just a brown soup falling down. With long exposure, it still looks interesting, though.
Fauna
There are no (new) birds this time, but I've made some other encounters.
