To Waitomo - January 23, 2000.

A long stretch of road lies ahead of us today. Our plan is to cover the 440 km from Paihia to Waitomo, about 250 km south of Auckland. Being one of New Zealand's top destinations Waitomo is known for its limestone caves and its glowworms. Glowworms are tiny mosquito-like gnats that live in dark moist caves. Hanging at the cave's walls they weave sticky threads to catch insects. To attract these insects in the darkness, they have a luminescent organ that produces a soft greenish light. That's the reason they're called glow-worms.

As usual we get up early and head for our first stop: Whangarei. Whangarei has two attractions that we want to see. First we're driving to the Whangarei Falls. According to Lonely Planet they they should be very photogenic promising to be a perfect spot for breakfast. The 26 m high falls are indeed very attractive. A viewing platform next to the falls is a good place to see the water flowing over the edge. A walking trail leads around the falls offering other excellent viewing opportunities and the possibility to get down and see the falls from below as well. Indeed a good spot for breakfast!

After about an hour we leave again for our second destination in Whangarei: The Clapham Clock Museum.

The photogenic 26m-high Whangarei Falls in Whangarei.

A few of the clocks in the Clapham Clock Museum.

A few of the 1300 ticking intems in the Clapham Clock Museum in Whangarei.

The Clapham Clock Museum is situated at the riverfront in the center of Whangarei. It's an attractive little museum with a collection of about 1300 clocks from all around the world. Fortunately the clocks all show different times. Imagine 1300 clocks beating at the same time!

After taking the guided tour, our vocabulary has been extended with new words like clepsydra, hickory dickory and nark. Just like the Friesian, cuckoo, balloon, gravity, station and grandfather clocks, they're also just clocks.

At around noon we reach Auckland again. A little behind schedule we decide not to stop for lunch on top of Mt. Eden but to continue our way to Hamilton. About 20 km north of Hamilton we make a short stop in Ngaruawahia, an important center for the Waikato Maori. It is the home of Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, queen of the Maori. The Turangawaewae Marae should be impressive. However, after finally finding it, we wonder why.

Auckland revisited.

At about 5 pm we reach Waitomo. There's enough time to put up our tent, prepare dinner and still be in time to take today's last tour through Waitomo Cave. The first part of the 45 minute tour is nice but not very different from any other limestone cave. The second part, however, is a boattrip on an underground river. As our eyes grow accustomed to the dark, thousands of twinkling little lights appear all around of us: glowworms. As the glowworms are sensitive to noise (and light) we float in silence admiring the fairy-tale environment. Out in the open again, the glowworms still seem to be with us as we look up in the dark open sky.