Exploring the Underground Galaxy of Glowworms

As we arrived at the WildWest Adventure Center , we were immediately instructed on the dangers of caving… and as with our other adventures so far, we signed our lives away! After the briefing we were once again sized up and fitted for our wetsuits, long underwear, thermal footwear, Gumby Boots , and crash helmets equipped with a front head light (just picture the biggest dork you can imagine… yes, that’s what we looked like!).

The trip began with a ride into the Coal Mining Territory followed by a 40 minute hike to the entrance of the cave which includes several crossings over unsteady rope brides, rooted terriane, and sludging through mud puddle. Oh yes, keep in mind that this was in the full gear we mentioned above! Once we finally reached the caves entrance, we were once again briefed on the dangers of caving and given once last chance to turn around before entering into the two hour tramp (kiwi word for hiking) through the glowworm cave approximately 100 meters into the ground.
As we entered the cave, we only had our guide Sabastian, an Aussie, and our own head lamps to guide us through. It is hard to describe the actual feeling of being inside this cave. Can you picture this…

Daylight no longer exists. The comfort of the steady ground is gone. The terraine keeps going further down into the ground getting colder and wetter as we venture forward. There are boulders that we must climb and natural “pot holes” of water that we must avoid that are anywhere from a few inches to 10 feet deep. The air was cold and damp and everything around us was slimy and slippery and we had to keep three body parts in contact with the rock at all times (either two arms and a foot or two feet and an arm) that was unless we were in the water completely. The only sound you could hear was the flow of the waterfalls ahead, our splashing feets beneath us, or the sound of own voices.

The “initiation” of gloveworm caving began with a swim across the largest of the water pools - although it was a chilling endeavor, it was nothing compared to the cold from the previous days swim on the glacier. We all made it safely across and we offered our first challenge: a crawl through one of the side caves which you had to slitter along on your stomach twisting and turning and contorting your body through for a 10 minute trip to the other side. Once you enter there was no way to stand up, turn back, kneel, or even stop… you just had to keep going forward until you reached the other side of the tunnel. Even for the strong at heart, this was a very claustrophobic experience.

Continuing to move through the cave we got to see glimpses of the flickering lights of the glowworms above. It was an experience that almost seemed fake. It was a ceiling scattered with what seemed to be thousands of green Christmas lights… you had to keep reminding yourself that this wasn’t a Disney world ride, but an actual cave filled with glowing–worms! The next challenge was a slide down the natural waterslide…

The waterslide - sitting on top of the waterfall you wondered how you were actually going to maneuver into the tiny manhole below that plunged into the earth (depth unknown, we had to just trust that it was deep enough for us and that we would make it out!). Seriously, the pool below was so small. Picture a typical waterfall with a pool of water below, that was not it! Now picture a typical waterfall with a manhole sized pool below. It felt like a roll of the dice that we would actually make it into the water without crashing into the rocks along the side. One at a time, we hugged ourselves with our knees pulled up to our chests and took the plunge into the unknown merky water below. This was no small feet… our bodies were completely submerged, head lamps and all, one by one we all made it and out successfully.


Some of the other activities along the cave route included tubing backwards down the cave river head lamps turned off... while we navigating through the cave only by the light of the glowworms above, a hot chocolate break , a trip through love tunnel, and to finish things off an exhilarating white knuckle down the 100 foot natural rock hydro slide. What a day. Unfortunately no personal pictures since our underwater camera did not have a flash… you just have to trust us on this one! The photo above is a sample from the tour company we used.

Our last stops in the South Island were uneventful, but we got to relax and unwind at Hanmer Springs (natural thermal pools) and spend a quiet afternoon exploring the city of Christchurch. Now we’re off to Wellington on the North Island!