Two days ago we did a Glowworm Tour in Waitomo. Glowworms are not actually worms but are the larvae of the Fungus Gnat, a creature looking somewhat like a large mosquito but without the mouth pieces. The glowworm lives in caves, where it spins spider-like threads and emits a faint blueish light. Insects that have strayed into the caves are attracted by this light, get stuck in the threads and *munch* *munch* *munch*…
This might sound kind of groce but it was actually the most stunning thing I have ever seen. The tour starts off with the group putting on helmets equipped with torches, and then walking into the cave. A good few meters in, all lights are switched off, and you are in total darkness. You can’t see anything at all. Nothing. The guide then lights the torch again, and we set off to the boat. In this dimmed light, your eyes already adjust somewhat to the darkness, and once in the boat, with all lights dimmed, you can suddenly see the lights above your head: thousands and thousands of small, blueish lights a few feet above. The longer you spend in the boat, the more you begin to see. At first, the lights itself were the only visible things, but later on you can discern the boat, and the people around you, and the sides of the cave you are in.
Since the light that the glowworms emit is really dim, it’s virtually impossible to make photo’s of them without a tripod: even a ISO 1600, f3.5 and a shutter of 30 seconds, they were only faintly visible, and a bit blurred 
Our tour operator has a small photo gallery though, and I’ve posted two of the photo’s below. Visit their gallery for more photo’s and bigger versions.
Wat gaaf Jan die foto’s! Je bent een serieuze natuurliefhebber aan het worden. Je opvoeding en vooral vakanties met je moeder en zusje in Drente en de eilanden hebben kennelijk grote invloed op je gehad. Waar kan ik die photo gallery vinden met mer foto’s van deze wonderlijke Fungus?
Veel plezier en groeten aan Nienke
Ian, laat op zeg! Dit is de link naar de foto’s:
http://www.glowworm.co.nz/photo-gallery.html
Hoi Janneman,
Die glowworms waren inderdaad echt heel vet, maar wel vies als je de wormen zelf bekeek… Hihi.
Kusje, Nien
PS. Ian, bedankt voor de groeten:)
Inderdaad een raar beestje! Had je zelf nog wel zin in munch munch munch na afloop? Isabelle is helemaal gril, en had weer een perfecte smoes om vanavond aan tafel niets te lusten!
Mama en papa zijn nogal raar en laten me vieze rijst eten xxx
Rijst was heerlijk!