The weather was quite grey in Queenstown, I wasn’t up for a lake tour, so I decided to take the scenic drive along Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy.

Glenorchy is supposed to be a cute town at the end of the lake, basically at the end of all paved roads there. Actually, the road only exists since the 1960s. Before that, the boat was the only way to get there.

The drive was great indeed, and even the grey, low hanging clouds gave the scenery something special. But I guess it must be really breathtaking in sunshine with blue skies.

 

It only took an hour to drive – numerous stops to take pictures included. Then I had a little walk through the ‘town’, actually just a few houses, cafés and a boathouse. Honestly, nothing worth the drive as such, if it wasn’t for its location.

I walked a bit along the lake, greeted and followed by the local dog, who immediately came to me with a stick. Who can say no to those eyes…?

At midday I decided to drive back to Queenstown, and immediately on to Te Anau, no further stops. Like this I could maybe have a lake cruise there. Along the road, I came to the southernmost point of my RTW trips.

I arrived in Te Anau, and booked a cruise throughout Milford Sound for the next day, to make sure I did not drive all this just to find out all cruises are sold out.

Then, I opted for a late tour of the Glowworm caves that included a quick cruise on Lake Te Anau. Glowworms, right. It sounded weird. I had already missed them on the North Island, so this time I was up for it.

 

Our guide took us through the entry of a large cave system on the other side of Lake Te Anau, basically crawling into the caves as the entry is just about one meter high. Inside, we were led through washed out tunnels and domes, up and down winding paths, with the water dropping down on us and rushing through the caves under our feet.

We reached a boat on a lake and were seated. Then the lights went out and we were in complete darkness, in a cave somewhere in the mountain, on a small little boat. Our guide pulled us along a chain and into the glowworm caves.

On the ceiling, often in groups, we saw numerous green-blueish lights, tiny, immobile dots… The glowworms. Life. Inside a mountain, practically buried alive, there it was, glowing from the ceiling down on us. Surreal, almost alien experience…

Later on, we learned about the glowworms themselves, they are basically the maggot stage of a very short-lived fly. They spin some fine threads, similar to spiders, with an immobilizing poison, luring any insects in the caves to fly to their light, and into the threats, to be eaten.

They do this basically for nearly 11 months, until they pupate. Once they come out of their cocoon, they have no more mouths or digestive system. No need for that: they live only for about three days, their only goal: make out and procreate. It’s so surreal… Evolution. Must be. No one could come up with an idea like that.

Back over the lake with the catamaran, the cave air made me hungry. Pizza for the night and then to bed early, tomorrow I’ll drive up to Milford Sound.