On our way back from Paihia we stopped at a lesser-known natural attraction – a family-owned and run glow worm cave. There is a well-known tour of this kind of cave run by one of the big adventure companies that is quite pricey. This version, however is run by the 14th generation of a single family, one of whose ancestors stumbled upon the cave by accident. I can only imagine after this experience what an incredible surprise it was for that lone founder!
Did you know that 87% of the global glow worm population lives in New Zealand? (The rest live in eastern Australia). It turns out that these little buggers are quite nasty – they are both cannibals (they are territorial and will eat each other fighting for a spot on the roof of the cave) as well as very stealthy predators…they spin and drop silk-like threads that attract edible prey along with the little glowing light on the worm’s tail. Once snagged, the worm reels the unsuspecting bug and has a feast. Savage.
The photo here is a stock one – we were not allowed to take pictures inside the cave for fear of disturbing the worm environment. Despite this pretty dastardly survival technique, the light show we got standing in the complete darkness inside the cave was amazingly beautiful – much like standing under a star-filled sky when there are no city lights to interfere. If you get a chance to visit NZ this is a unique natural wonder to check out.
Just outside downtown Auckland is a magnificent park in Mt. Eden up to the top of the resident dormant volcano – that provides an incredible 360 degree view of the city and all the surrounding bodies of water and mountains. We hiked up to the highest vantage point and were rewarded with a perspective on just how blessed the Kiwis are with green and blue beauty everywhere. Andrew and I agree that the overall quality of life here has to be very high – the ability to be out of city life and into tropical forests, clear blue seas, and laid back attitudes must not be taken for granted.
While Ruthie spent and afternoon and evening with two friends also visiting here, Andrew and I paid a visit to a lovely couple who befriended my parents a number of years ago on a cruise. Jocelyn and Peter live just outside Auckland in a quiet residential area and have been renovating a very old house, turning it into the “downsized” home they can call their own. They have retained some of the really ornate ceilings and other touches that give the house character, but are adding some of the creature comforts that make living in later years a bit easier. It’s quite a project, and Peter especially took great pride in walking us through what’s been done and what’s to come.
We were treated to a lovely dinner in the neighborhood and spent a bit of time talking about the misery we feel as Americans barely tolerating the government insanity of late. Our hosts were more than sympathetic…they are very well-versed on the goings on in the rest of the world since they are so geographically isolated and feel the need to stay up on what’s happening elsewhere. In the current state of affairs I believe they are very lucky to see things from a distance. In all, it was fun to make the reconnection – for ourselves and for the vicarious enjoyment of my parents.
More soon,
Esther
Living La Vida Loca 