Hamilton

We woke up early today, in readiness for our trip to the glow worm caves, which cost the great sum of $67 (£33.50) each. Brilliant weather – warm, bright sunshine and no wind!

First we had to walk some distance to find coffee, which tasted great, although Walter did not get his full cup due to the fact that his man bag slipped off his shoulder so he spilled some of his coffee.

We left at 9.45 a.m. in a mini bus, with only seven people in the group plus the guide, a local farmer called Ross. We drove through stunning countryside on a very narrow twisty road. The main feature was the outcrops of layered limestone rocks, which were most unusual as they looked like piles of pancakes. It would appear that this part was once under a very shallow sea as the rocks contain shells, skeletons and debris of organisms that are found in the sea.

There were two caves, and we had a cup of tea and biscuits in an open shelter in between the caves. We also spent a little time walking on bush tracks.

The first cave contained the glow worms, which are not worms but are in fact the larval stage in the life of an insect called the fungus gnat. The scientific name of the NZ glow worm is Arachnocampa Luminosa as they spin webs to catch their food, as do spiders. Luckily they do not look like spiders otherwise I would not have entered the caves. The larvae live inside a cosy transparent cocoon and they spin long silken threads in order to catch their food, which are other insects who are attracted to the lights. The entire cycle of the glow worms takes about 10 to 11 months and 9 months of which is in the larvae stage.We spent about 40 minutes in the cave, most of it sitting in a rubber dinghy looking up at the little lights, but it does take some time to get used to the darkness.

The second cave was a dry cave, which had spot lights so we could see where we were going, thank goodness. The rock formations were brilliant.We also saw some extremely old Moa bones, which had become buried in the mud on the bottom of the cave. The poor Moa had no doubt been caught up in a major flood hundreds of years ago. All in all it was a fantastic experience and well worth the money. We had more coffee afterwards plus an enormous fresh berry ice cream and felt very full. When we got to Hamilton, a very prosperous city, we went for a long walk as we do not want to end up like the most enormously fat man we saw at the coffee shop.

We have been drinking wine during our time in the NI, just in case you think we have become teetotal. However, we are trying to drink only small amounts, and to really appreciate the wine we drink, which has mostly been red wines from the Hawkes Bay region.

So it is off to Auckland tomorrow to reluctantly hand back the camper van and catch the plane to Christchurch. Before I forget, can NZer's please make sure you wave or toot to drivers of camper vans when they pull off the road to let traffic past. I can assure you it would be very much appreciated.