Takahe

Long day today, but great nonetheless.  I was up long before the sun to catch a bus to Te Anau.  I waited around there for a while before I took a catamaran through lake Te Anau to the glow worm caves.  I didn't get any pics of the cave (no photography or videos allowed), but it was incredible.  Once you make your way along the small walkway (hunching over quite a bit at the beginning - only about a meter high), you're in a place that looks fake because it's so amazing.  Water is rushing beneath you, and a few lights light up the cave here and there.  The further you go along, the more tiny glowing dots you notice on the 'ceiling' of the cave.  Once you pass a thunderously loud water fall there is no talking allow.  Everyone (well, a group of six) silently makes their way on to a tiny 'boat' and then all lights are turned out.  The guide then pulls the boat through the water using a rope attached to the cave wall; at this point it's completely black - you can't even see your hand in front of your face).  Once you make it around a bend and your eyes begin to adjust, you are treated to thousands upon thousands of tiny glowing dots on the cave walls and ceiling.  As the water is almost perfectly still, and there is virtually no sound it's like moving under a night sky that is only a meter or two away at most.  The worms glow reflects off the still water (thought it's still pitch black) and gives a sensation beyond words.  The day was long, filled with old people and sleeping on an uncomfortable bus, but it was worth it for that 10 minutes beneath those lights.  They were without a doubt one of the most amazing  natural things I've ever witnessed.