30/07/2018 - More Glowworms!

The night in the middle of nowhere was calm and relaxing as expected. In the morning, we visited our hosts in the living room. We thanked and said goodbye to them, and set off with gifted grapefruits towards "Waitomo Caves". While passing by the three natural spectacles from yesterday again, we spontaneously decided to visit the "Marokopa Falls" for a second time. The waterfall left a lasting impression on us, so another visit was the only logical consequence. ;)
Afterward, we drove to the Waitomo Caves. We pondered for a long time whether we should take a guided cave tour or not!? In the end, we decided against it. Our time in New Zealand has made us even more humble, and in case we come back one day, we'll save the cave adventure for then.
Thus, nothing stood in the way of continuing our journey. With full force, we drove past "Te Kuiti" and turned into a new, unknown region for us. We followed State Highway 4 - the so-called "Adventure Highway"! However, this time, it wasn't the road surface or the unclear road layout that made the drive an adventure. Instead, heavy rain set in. Rain showers, like we had never experienced before, poured down on us. Despite the brand new windshield wipers, visibility was partially very limited. For many New Zealanders, still no reason to reduce driving speed despite aquaplaning.
We reached "Taumarunui" at noon and were relieved to see the wide rain front passing by us.

A mild night was followed by a breakfast outdoors. The hope that spring is coming soon was strengthened by the pleasant temperatures.
Today was rather calm. We visited the local library, worked on the blog, and prepared for tomorrow, when our journey will continue.
In the evening, the positive experiences motivated us to embark on another night hike. In pitch darkness, we followed an internet recommendation and drove to the 20 minutes away village called "Kakahi". Once you pass through the village, you reach a gravel road that takes you the final meters along an extremely narrow road, framed by high clay walls. There would be absolutely no possibility of passing oncoming traffic! At the end of the road was a turning circle, which we used as a parking lot. No one will come now ... We got out of the car and only heard the sound of a river. Once again, we armed ourselves with two flashlights and the photo equipment and hurried back to the clay walls we just passed. It was mystical and quite scary ... The only escape routes that remained for us were forward or backward. It somehow had a suffocating feeling. Anyway, after a few minutes, we reached the unlit, single-lane road and its approximately 7-meter high walls. Once again, the adventure was worth it! Countless glowworm nests enchanted the dark place. With long exposures, we tried to capture the small blue lights. We even managed to photograph individual mosquito larvae up close, where you can see their sticky threads. In these threads, their hoped-for prey gets caught, ideally.
We wandered around for a good half hour, admired the many glowworms, and tried to imagine what it would look like here during the day. But we won't find out anymore on our further journey.
Happy to have returned to Sam and arrived at the campsite a quarter of an hour later, we disappeared tired in bed.