Caves and Kiwis

Wednesday, March 31, was our designated day to see two uniquely NZ things: glowworms and kiwis (the birds). The Waitomo (Maori for “the stream that flows into the hole in the ground”) Caves are very famous and attract many tourists both local and foreign. There are four caves that can be accessed and experienced on tours. We chose to walk the Ruakuri Cave since we were mainly interested in glowworms and cave formations. However, the plethora of cave offerings included: gentle rafting in boats, wild blackwater rafting in inner tubes (headlamp, helmet, wetsuit and shoes provided), abseiling (rappelling), rock climbing and zip lining.

Our very tame tour began with a lengthy manmade spiral walkway down to the cave level (the company has moved the entrance in deference to the Maori since the former entrance was a burial site). It was about a 2 hour walking tour in all with marvelous limestone formations, impressive glowworms, narrow passageways as well as large rooms, and views to the stream beneath (including glimpses of the blackwater rafters climbing through shallow water and rocks). In one of the glowworm areas, as we were raptly gazing at the shimmering lights everywhere around us, the guide told us that the Maori word for glowworm is titiwai meaning light/starlight on the water. She then briefly turned dim lights on and we realized we were looking at real glowworms as well as pool reflected spots of light from the overhanging glowworms. Wonderful!

Reminder: glowworms are actually fly larvae which luminescence to attract food. The strings you see in this pictures are their “fishing line” webs. The actual larvae are very skinny and about an inch long.

Throughout our time in NZ, we have been trying to figure out how to see kiwi, the elusive national bird of NZ. These indigenous flightless birds are nocturnal, somewhat endangered, and difficult to spot in the wild. We had checked out various places to see them but descriptions mostly said, “may see birds.” We actually did try to see a kiwi at a museum in Whangarei but their one and only kiwi was supposedly sleeping--for the couple of hours we were there…Hmmmm… So how many times do you pay to try to see a kiwi??!

The Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park promised, “…every visitor is assured of seeing kiwi…” The iSite also suggested that we should try to get there in time for the kiwi feeding at 1:30. We arrived about 11:30. On entering the facility we went immediately into the semi-darkened kiwi house. VOILA--not one but two kiwi!! Kiwi are quite territorial so they were in two different areas separated by a fence.

The large, great spotted kiwi was snoozing in a corner near the glass which made for great viewing of the feathers and impressive talons.  The other brown kiwi was zipping around its enclosure hunting for food by spearing the ground with its long narrow beak. (We found out later that the enclosure is built on an earthen foundation so the birds do actually find live worms and grubs in the soil.) Do you remember the tauntaun that Luke Skywalker rides while doing patrols on the ice planet of Hoth in Star Wars? Well, the way the brown kiwi raced around its pen reminded me of a tauntaun without arms--long leg strides and amazingly fast.

After viewing the impressive array of native birds in the rest of the park, we ate our picnic lunch and then returned for The Feeding. The sleepy kiwi was wide awake now and interacting with the woman feeding her. The staff warned about the attacking capability of the kiwi and stated that this captive kiwi has only bonded with one or two of the staff and had actually attacked another new staff member recently. Apparently, those impressive talons can do real damage. Both kiwis’ burrows were opened and the brown kiwi scooted right in for its naptime. The great spotted kiwi lingered to eat its food. At this point, this half of the building was put into complete dark and closed to the public. The other half with two more brown kiwis was opened for viewing which we enjoyed as well. We were very pleased--we got to check seeing a kiwi off our list!

An aside: I’ve always wondered why New Zealanders are called kiwis. I did a little research and found that different sources have different ideas: “Kiwi are a natural fit with New Zealanders’ national psyche – we relate to their quirkiness…Until the First World War, the kiwi represented the country and not the people – they were called En Zed(der)s, Maorilanders or Fernleaves…In the early 1900s, a Scottish-born inventor living in Melbourne developed a boot polish that didn’t just shine shoes, it also preserved, waterproofed and softened the leather. He called it Kiwi polish in honour of his New Zealand born wife…the polish proved so good it was adopted by the British and American armies, and it wasn’t long before New Zealand soldiers…were called Kiwis…a moniker that quickly transferred to New Zealanders in general……”