The Ohakune Easter Hunt
Events Calendar
A few of the exhibits were under construction or improvement it's sort of the off season down here. We debated coming back around during one of the feedings times to maybe see more kiwis, but the girls were excited to see the glowworms, so we decided to move on to the nearby Waitomo Caves. The Waitomo caves are only one of the cave tours you can enjoy from this spot the other two are the Ruakuri Cave and the Aranui Cave. The Waitomo caves take about 45 minutes to tour, but if you have a few hours and like wandering through guided limestone cave tours, there's a package deal for two or even all three caves.
The other tours require some traveling to get to, so we just signed up for the Waitomo caves.
- photo + video + interactive | designer + artist?
- Born in Sin (Brotherhood/MacAllister series).
- The Pressured Cook: Over 75 One-Pot Meals In Minutes, Made In Todays 100% Safe Pressure Cookers.
- Ohakune Easter Hunt;
- Tournament of Death 2 - The Deluvian Temple.
- Where to watch.
- Painting | jason ohara.
Later on, we heard from another traveler that the Ruakuri caves were pretty fantastic and that all the caves have glowworms. Before we entered the caves proper, our guide told us a little bit about the history of how the caves were discovered. The first part of the tour was a pretty standard walk through the limestone caves where the glowworms live.
Friday, 12-09-2014: Day 23.
After we looked at some of the more interesting formations in the caves an elephant, a camel, a face , we got our first glimpse of a glowworm colony: Then we walked down even more stairs into the dark and got into a boat our group was so large that we had to split up into two boats; we were in the first. Our guide, who stood on the bow, then pulled our boat through the caves via a series of overhead ropes. It's really dark down there; about the only light you can see is the blue glow from the glowworms on the ceiling above you.
I'm pretty sure our guide got lost at one point because we seemed to go in circles a few more times than necessary, but maybe he was just giving us a good look.
In any case, one can't help but wonder what would happen if you somehow became adrift down there. Photography isn't allowed in the glowworm caves because it'll disrupt the worms, but our guide told us we could snap a few photos "off the books" as we started to exit the cave. I'd left my camera behind, but I did try to get a picture with a small point-and-shoot anyway.
My picture of the glowworm ceiling. Check out the Waitomo Caves photo gallery for more better images.
Customer reviews
Like any good tourist attraction, someone snaps your photo against a green screen at the beginning of the tour, then try to sell you a package of photos of you in in front of various backdrops at the end. On the way, we had to get gas. A word on gas in New Zealand: Diesel seems cheaper, but we were told we'll have to pay tax on the diesel fuel we buy when we turn in the van at the end of our trip.
We also did some grocery shopping at the New World sort of like a Trader Joe's next door to the gas station to pick up some staples for dinner before heading off to the Top 10 Ohakune Holiday Park. There are numerous Top 10 parks scattered about the North and South Islands.
And, so far, most of them are within walking distance of the town center, which is pretty convenient. They also have reasonably reliable wi-fi available, usually through IAC. Sometimes it pays to RTFM.
Tom Fassbender is a writer of things with a strong adventurous streak. He also drinks coffee.
bulletin by Ruapehu Bulletin - Issuu
Read more of Tom's posts. We're a family of four traveling the world for an entire year.
These are our adventures. September 16, Daily Report , New Zealand. Kiwis and Glow Worms. But she looked a lot like this: Later on in our trip, we saw this skeletal reconstruction that gives you an idea of how big kiwi eggs are: Girls' Day In Mothers Day TAS Ball 23 Sept Queenstown Comps Sept Winter Muster 5 August Motorcycle Club 21 May Raetihi Fun Run Nov 19 Maori Graduation 18 May Kaimanawa Trek 2 Dec Aunty Mary's 80th 14 April Raetihi Rodeo 19 Mar Rodeo Practice 5 Mar Kura Kapa Haka 17 June, Murray's flood March Karioi Sports 25 Feb New Police Station 25 June Winter Fashion Show 4 June, Big Chill 25 June Police Challenge 13 June Mrs Clutterbuck's War Anzac Day, Barbara's 50th Birthday 1 June Raetihi Gutbuster 24 April Karioi Sports 26 Feb, Midnight Truckstop May Waiouru v Marist 17 May Ohakune's tin houses April, Early Autumn Snow 3 May Hui Aranga April Foam Slide 3 Nov