Tag Archives: new zealand
Dry Cave
After the glowworm cave, we went to what was called a dry cave (although it was not completely dry). That was the cave with the moa.
It also had cave weta. I wasn’t able to get a good picture because they are not friendly creatures and tend to scurry away. They’re skilled scurriers.
Anyway, I went to Weta Cave and I also saw cave weta. So…um…I don’t know. It sounded more interesting before I wrote it down.
Glowworm Cave
This morning I went floating around underground looking at maggots.
New Zealand’s famous glowworms are not really worms, but the larvae of the fungus gnat, which extrudes sticky threads from its hinder regions and uses bioluminescence to attract insects.
When the larva becomes a fly, it mates, then flies around until it either starves or gets eaten by other glowworms.
But during the larval phase (about nine months), they cluster together in dark, wet places and put on a spectacular light show. We floated back and forth on an underground stream looking at constellations of these things above us. You’d need a tripod and probably at least a 15-minute exposure to get something good. This is what I could get with a hand-held shot at ISO 6400.
That’s nature: beautiful yet disgusting.
Moa Update
Found one! Granted, it’s seen better days, but it’s over a thousand years old, so I think that’s understandable.
The Legend
When their need became great, when the weight of The Shearing became too much to bear, there appeared one to deliver them…
He was…White Thunder.
Culinary Note
Yesterday I had beer for lunch. Today I had tea and cookies. Breakfast and dinner are fine, but lunch on the road can be problematic.
The Shire
Sam’s House
Entrance to Bag End
Bag End
The tree is dead. The leaves are artificial and were fastened to it individually, then painted after they faded in the sun.