They lurk in the dark

The wind has calmed down. At least a little. Nevertheless, it is cold and a bit uncomfortable. The weather forecast promised sun today... Nevertheless, we make our way to the starting point of a small hike. After just a few minutes in the car, we find ourselves on the "Queen Charlotte Track", which runs along the Marlborough Sounds. Today, we only want to hike 12 kilometers, as the "Tongariro Alpine Crossing" is coming up in a few days.

Our path winds through the impressive rainforest. The enthusiasm for the vegetation, with the Queen Charlotte Sound in the background, often leads us to take photo breaks. Once we reach our destination, we take a little fruit break and enjoy the view. Strengthened, we make our way back to our camper.

We drive back to the Smith Farm. I use the afternoon for a few blog entries and Rebecca works her way through her eBooks. For the evening, we have planned a glow worm walk to the waterfall near the campsite. After an Indian-inspired vegetable noodle pan, we put on warm clothes, arm ourselves with our headlamps, and climb over the gate into the cow pasture. This is where the half-hour evening walk starts, which the owner of the farm highly recommended to us. Not only us, but also families from Holland and Germany want to see the "glow worms" (quote from a four-year-old Dutch boy;). After a short distance across the cow pasture, whose residents find us only mildly interesting and prefer to devote themselves to the grass, we reach a small stream. In some parts of the path, which now runs through the forest, it is already so dark due to the dense treetops that we have to use our headlamps. We are only making slow progress in the forest now, as we have to concentrate on every step due to the rocky and sometimes slippery ground. Once we reach the waterfall, the light is just enough for a few photos.

As time goes by, darkness engulfs the forest and the first glow worms become visible. Under roots, on plants, everywhere you look, the worms glow at us. When we quickly realize that the creatures cannot be captured with cameras, we simply enjoy the sight.

After the return journey across the moonlit paddock, we go straight to bed. Tomorrow we have to get up early. Our time on the South Island is over and we are looking forward to the North Island.