Traveling with Ray Owens

Yesterday was a day at sea. So in summary, we ate, we played cards, we had cultural experience with a group of Māori dancers and performers. It was similar to when I was chief the other day but a bit more humor.

And we packed our suitcases.

Today we said goodbye to our lovely friends Frank and Jeanette. They are heading back to the USA today. Penny and I are sticking around New Zealand and Australia for another 2 and a half weeks.

We started our post extension today. We had to officially enter New Zealand today. Prior to today we were cruise ship passengers and we came and went with just a cruise card and our drivers license. Today we had to show our passport.

Mark is our guide for the next few days. Bunny is our bus driver. I asked if Bunny was on his birth certificate. He said no. How did you get that name? The answer was “My parents”. I did not push the matter further. I suspect he was a cute and hoppy toddler.

We stopped at a rest stop for a toilet break and there was a nice rose garden across the street. I took pictures.

We are driving to a national park. On the way we stopped to have lunch at a very lovely farm house. The farmer milks 300 cows. The wife cooks a wonderful lunch for 3 buses of people, about 75 hungry tourists. The lunch was delicious as it was mainly food grown on their farm and the ice cream with cherries was even better.

Next we are going to see worms. …. We did, we did see worms and they glowed. We got to visit Waitomo the caves where the glow-worms live. The Māori people knew of the caves but since they had not found a reliable source for batteries for their flashlights they did not really explore much beyond the first few meters of the caves. In fact, or maybe in myth, they believed caves were the gateway to the underworld. It was some time later when Europeans began to explore that the little creatures were found to exist. These tiny little worms (2-3 centimeters) are bioluminescent critters like a firefly aka lightning bug. But they do not fly. Actually, according to the book I bought because they told me I could not take pictures, they are not worms at all. They are the larva stage of a small fly. They live in caves and stick to the ceiling. The cave is a special kind. It is a limestone cave that has a river that flows through it. The river has small insects that are floating on or above the water. When the water enters the cave it gets dark. This is where the glowing part comes in handy. Bugs are attracted to light. But how do the non flying worms catch the insects? This is where the worms imitate their cousins the spiders. The worms secrete from their mouths strands of very sticky fibers that hang down from the little hammock like place where the worms hang out. The bugs get stuck on the strands as they charge towards the light. And Bob’s your uncle glow-worm lunch is served.

There was a great deal of oooing and wowing as we floated in a boat down the cave past the worms. Our local guide was really funny. He pointed out stalagmites and the tight variety and then told us what the guides had decided they looked like if you have as good of an imagination as they do. So naturally we all agreed that indeed that funny rock did look like an elephant in profile.

The trip from the caves to Lake Taupo was a long trip in a very annoying coach. For most of the 3 hour trip the coach made a high pitched squeak that was more like a banshee screaming that I could hear from my seat (No I have never heard a banshee scream but I am sure it sounds like our coach.) Penny was sitting toward the back of the bus and was not subjected to the noise. It was beautiful scenery but a very winding road similar to driving the hills in Arkansas at a high rate of speed.

We arrived at our Hilton hotel and were met by absolutely no one. You should have seen the geriatric folk trying to wrangle their too big and too much luggage to the rooms. It was complicated by there being up to six doors to get through to arrive at your room. We pulled it off.

Dinner this evening was at another hotel down by the lake shore. It decided to rain while we were loading the bus but by the time we were leaving the dinner it had stopped raining. Another tasty meal and a chance to meet more people.

It was a very early morning and I am ready to sleep. Tomorrow I hike to a waterfall. Penny decided to take a more panoramic sightseeing excursion.