Week 565 · Ruakuri Cave & Hobbiton, New Zealand
Glowworm Caves
Because of the rain, we had to plan day by day. The forecast looked like a complete washout in the morning but maybe dry in the afternoon south of Auckland — so we planned caves in the morning and Hobbiton in the afternoon.
On my earlier trip I had visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, which had a short boat ride through the underground caves and river. There are two other tour options — one that features a longer cave hike, and another where you suit up in a wetsuit and wade and tube down the river. I initially wanted to do the tubing trip ("Black Water Rafting") but when I looked at the description — "in a couple of places, you will have to go underwater and pull yourself on a rope through a small cave to get to the other side" — I reconsidered. We went with the Ruakuri Cave tour instead. It didn't focus on glowworms as much in the advertisements but had just as many, and allowed photos.
It was a great cave tour with a good guide — a high school student with dreams of moving to the USA. We could see the Black Water tubers going below us in the river. One other detail: the river is filled with eels who like the glowworms that fall from the ceiling. They also nibble on the legs of the Black Water rafters. Of the three options — I'd recommend Ruakuri.
1. Ruakuri Cave — longer cave hike, just as many glowworms as Waitomo, photos allowed, eels in the river below. Recommended.
2. Waitomo Glowworm Caves — the famous boat ride through the underground river under a ceiling of glowworms. Short but spectacular. No photos in the main chamber.
3. Black Water Rafting — wetsuit, inner tube, underground river, pulling yourself through submerged cave openings on a rope. Eels nibble your legs. Pass.
Off to Hobbiton — about 1.5 hours from the caves, and the rain was stopping. Hobbiton is the permanent movie set for the Hobbit films and was previously used as a temporary location for Lord of the Rings. Originally the director found this farm, filmed the first movie, and dismantled the set — but over the next couple of years Lord of the Rings fans would make a pilgrimage to the location. After filming the next film, rebuilding, tearing down again, and dealing with more visitors, and then deciding to film The Hobbit trilogy, the farmer who had leased the land suggested a permanent set with tours. It has since become one of New Zealand's major tourist attractions.
Since I wasn't familiar with the movies or books, I didn't get a lot of the commentary — but the site was impressive with all of the Hobbit Holes (most were just the front). Over the last couple of years they have built out a couple of the holes to visit inside at 70% human scale.
"Since I wasn't familiar with the movies or books, I didn't get a lot of the commentary — but the site was impressive."
