July 22
“Wake up! Wake up!” yelled our alarm that morning at 4:20am. It was time to get ready to go to the Kerikeri airport. We got there around 5:10 for our 6:45 flight thinking we weren’t that early, but check in wasn’t even open until 6am. It was a tiny airport, and our plane had propellers instead of engines. We arrived in Auckland around 7:40am to meet my parents. They picked us up to rent a car, and we left for the Waitomo Caves. We took a tour through the caves and learned about the glow worms before getting in the boat and seeing the worms. We saw some cool stalactites and stalagmites. We learned that glow worms lay around 120 eggs, but only the first one to hatch survives because they eat all their brothers and sisters so they don’t starve. Then, they grow and hang down from all these sticky strings that catch bugs so that they can eat them. Since they glow, bugs fly up to the worms thinking they’re stars in the sky at night. Then, the glow worms go into a cocoon and emerge without a mouth or stomach, so they soon die after laying their eggs. The sight of the worms was breathtaking. They were beautiful blue/green/white colored lights shining in the midst of total darkness. My eyes could never fully focus on the worms because they were constantly swaying back and forth. It was quite an experience to sit in total silence and be awestruck by the sight of those tiny worms. It’s amazing to see the things that God has created. Oh and sorry if you were expecting photos, but you have to go there to see the glow worms...no pictures allowed. After the Waitomo Caves, we ate lunch at a pizzeria and headed for the Marokopa Falls. The winding road was full of great views. The falls were roaring, steep, and surrounded by luscious rain forest. It was like a sight into another world. On our way back, we stopped by a “natural bridge” which was formed from an old cave that fell into a gorge everywhere but that spot. We went on a different path back to the car hoping to find some giant oyster that a sign talked about, but instead we got more views filled with rolling hills of unlimited shades of green. The drive to Taupo was pretty interesting with my dad driving…on the wrong side of the road…in a rental car. We made it though. We ordered some food in and went to the pool. It was naturally heated because the ground in Taupo is thermal. It was like swimming in a giant hot tub even though it was pretty chilly outside. After our wonderful, relaxing swim, we went back up to our room to eat dinner and head to bed. P.S. No pictures from me today, I let my rents take them all and left my phone in the car.
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