The Heading There blog has rounded up some of the finest adventure travel stories you’ll find online. And yes, Wandering Justin is part of the fun.
waitomo
A Basic Bit of Glow Worm Biology
This is pretty funny … someone came to my blog today to find out whether the poop of glow worms glows.
The answer is no – that’s because glow worms don’t poop. The glow that they make is their form of excretion. But rather than just launching solid or liquid waste, it converts the leftover matter into light that’s used to attract its prey. The glow worms dangle silky threads from their spots in their home caves. Insects see this and thinks they’re seeing stars, and fly toward the light. They get caught in the threads. Then the glow worms eat them, absorb the nutrients, turn the excess matter into light and begin the cycle again.
Really, that’s pretty fabulous. It takes stuff in, but leaves nothing but heat and light behind. That’s an incredible bit of evolution. And certainly, it has to be the envy of every mechanical engineer.
If you’re interested in seeing glow worms, there are a number of places in the world to do so. Of course, I’m pretty partial to Waitomo, New Zealand. Here are a few related posts:
Rappelling into the Dark
7 Hotels in New Zealand
Rap, Raft & Rock
Move Over, Sheep: Rabbits Star at New Zealand’s Shearing Shed
Really, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen someone shear a rabbit the size of a Shetland Sheepdog.
Okay, so that’s a slight exaggeration. But let’s see you visit The Shearing Shed in Waitomo, NZ, and be able to look away. All over New Zealand, locals will try enticing you into watching a sheep get shorn. I’m from the Old West, and this is Old Hat.
Shearing a huge bunny, though, is another bag of oats entirely.
We did this after a pretty full morning including caving. We were pretty hungry for something weird to do, and Waitomo isn’t exactly Wellington. Heck, it’s not even Nelson! The Shearing Shed was right near the road to Woodlyn Park, so we said “why not?”
The schedule seems sporadic, and we were just lucky to be there moments before a friendly woman clutching a white Andora rabbit seemed ready to get the party started. This is also when a busload of German uni students showed up.
That day’s shearer drew the drama out, explaining about the care and feeding and growth of the rabbits. Let me say, I am still amazed at the size of an Angora rabbit, and I’m certain the Kiwis are happy to read this. Anyway, these little creatures are pretty handy. They’re small for “livestock” but they grow enough fur to be utilitarian. The folks at the Shed sell their wool for other people to turn into useful items, and I believe they may produce a little of their own, too.
You can pick up all sorts [...]
Rating 7 Hotels in New Zealand
You’re not supposed to feed him, but he’s hard to resist. Woodlyn Park From nz2
Booking a hotel on the other side of the planet is a lot easier thanks to the Internet. But really, you still don’t know what you’re going to get until you step inside a room. And Lonely Planet guidebooks can only tell you so much.
These are the hotels I stayed at during my two weeks in New Zealand, so you’re getting the straight stuff. Each selection varies – if you must have a huge plasma screen in your room, some of these won’t make you happy. But at all points of the price spectrum, they were great deals, especially with the U.S. dollar stacking up so strong against the New Zealand dollar. In fact, I will say that you will not find hotels anywhere near this nice for an equivalent price in the U.S., not even in the bleakest depths of the off-seasons.
Parnell City Lodge
– I had originally booked a room at the Parnell Inn. Shortly before our trip, I got an e-mail from the Parnell Inn staff saying they’d overbooked. Rather than leaving us on our own, they arranged a similar room at the nearby Parnell City Lodge. Rather nice of them, really.
From nz3
Our flight from Los Angeles arrived at 6 a.m., which put us at the Parnell City Lodge way before check-in time. But the staff provided us a safe place to stash our bags while we wandered the city. The office [...]
Update from Wellington Airport
Well … it’s been some time the past few days. Waitomo has some awesome caving, and the glow worms inhabiting them are a pretty incredible sight. Waitomo itself … as my new friend Billy Black says, “it’s a two-horse town, and one horse has died.”
That adds up to a lot of quiet, fresh air and clothes that reek of musty caves. The drive to Wellington took us past our old friend, Tongariro National Park. It was good to get a final glimpse of Mt. Ngaurahoe again. Lots of cool little towns between there and Wellington. I have a boatload of photos to share, so stick with me.
