We were looking for a quick afternoon activity and decided to check out the Kawiti glow worm caves. Glow worms, (I believe) are found only in New Zealand. We have watched documentaries about these worms and wanted to get up close and see them for ourselves.

The cave is privately owned so there was a guided tour with appropriate charges, $15 adult, $7.50 child. A bit steep for a half hour but ok. Our guide was from the 13th generation of the family that owned the cave. He was pleasant and informative and when we told him we were American he shared a story of Bill Gates visiting the caves and giving him a helicopter ride and an X-box.

The cave was very cool and Zack was really into the stalactites and stalagmites which were large and thousands of years old. There were 5 eels all named after American pop stars, we saw 2 of them. The glow worms were at the top of the cave and looked like tiny stars when the light was turn off. They use the light which is a chemical reaction to attract food in the form of mosquitoes. There were thousands of glow worms everywhere and we were able to get close enough to see them really well. It was an informative and interesting tour that we really enjoyed, Especially Zack. (And a good science lesson too).