Morning looks a whole lot like yesterday's grey, but that's okay, cuz we're going underground!
First things first. Da blog. Can't get Ronald McDonald's free Wifi to fire up so we end up at the gorgeous public library to mooch theirs. Outside, we have an illuminating conversation with one Arnold Baker, a 70 y.o. local sheep rancher, mostly about the New Zealand ACC program of state coverage for accidents, the national medical program, the legal system and application of tort law and all "from the horse's mouth. (Don't worry, I didn't ask if he'd heard the one about the Kiwi sheep farmer...)
The Waitomo area is famous for a series of limestone caves, most with traditional Maori significance, that have become tourist draws with attractions such as underground rafting, rappelling, rock climbing and even musical events. We came for calcium carbonate formations and the glowworms. In Ruakuria Cave, the government has done a wonderful job at creating tourist accessibility that is not too pre-fab nor tacky. Descending a 50' high spiral staircase to the cave proper, we pass rooms of excellant and ornate stalactites, mites, curtains and coral deposits. An underground river, swollen by recent rains, roars under our suspended walkway. And when the lights go out, our eyes are treated to the luminesence of hundreds of glowworms. See, glowworms are the larval stage of the fungus gnat. They live on damp cave ceilings, suspending silky threads downward, hoping to catch the nearby flying insect that has just arrived by underground water. Insects are lured into the deadly trap by the soft greenish light emitted by the glowworms and become entangled, then reeled in for lunch. The glowworm stays in its larval stage most of its short 9 month life, then quickly matures, mates and dies, leaving the next generation stuck onto cave ceilings to enjoy more glowing times and of course, to attract tourists.
Back on the road, the Ralfs, in the safety of their little grey Corolla, purr southward thru extremely hilly, jungly terrain, meeting the Tasman Sea at Urenui before reaching New Plymouth in the Taranaki District. This town of 45,000 is prosperous, fueled by offshore natural gas revenues and bountiful farmlands and its central core boasts an expansive boardwalk, and a host of fine shops and eateries.
Impressive Mt. Taranaki, today lurking behind a shroud of mist, dominates the eastern field of view.
Happy Hour is a fine Malbec and we crash early.
You can tell the one about the Kiwi sheep farmer when you get back. The folks at the Pumphouse are dying to hear it.
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