We chose to go to tiny Waitomo for the sole purpose of visiting caves populated by glow worms. We chose Spellbound Tours because Christopher saw a photo of David Attenborough on their website. I thought he probably chose a good outfit so we followed suit.
The owner of our hotel suggested a short night hike where we could see a few worms before our cave cruise the next day. Christopher’s photo below is a dazzling result! The cave tour began with a short hike to the mouth where we all donned hard hats before boarding the inflatable boat to cruise down the subterranean river.
It took some time for our eyes to adjust, but when they did, we were encircled in a mass of “stars” like a galaxy inside the earth. The glow worms are actually fly larvae that build silk tubular homes attached to the ceiling of the cave. They then drop sticky beads on silk threads down from their tubes which capture hatching insects from the water below as the insects fly toward the “light” above. The light is the tail of the glow worm. It was an E ticket magical experience to be surrounded by these simple creatures.
We came across two skeletons. One was that of a now extinct moa (a flightless bird about the size of a human) while the other was of a much more recent hapless goat. Both animals had probably fallen down through a sink hole, been injured, unable to escape and eventually expired in the cave.
We exited the cave safely and were happy to see the bright light of day!
My evening walk attempt! 
The “BIG” glow worm 
Sink hole to surface from inside cave 
Togged out to go worming 
Posing for the camera 
Glow worm prey lines 
More 
Skeleton of a Moa 
Skeleton of a goatStalac 
Stalactites and pillar 
Survivors emerge unscathed