Day 11: Road to Te Anau

Said goodbye to the Sutherlands and headed to Te Anau. Along with way we stopped at Curio Bay to see if we could see a small pod of Hector Dolphins. If they were in the bay, which is also known as Porposie Bay, we would have the choice of entering the very cold water to swim with them. I would have done this if they were present but since they weren't, I didn't have to freeze for the rest of the day. We stopped at the petried forest before we hit a town for lunch.

We finally arrived in Te Anau. I gave a brief talk on Crustal Plate tectonics before heading into the town to experience the Glowworm Caves. Lake Te Anau is the second largest lake in NZ. It is the deepest freshwater lake (200m). There is little primary productivity in the lake. The glowworms are the larvae stage of the midget and normally stay at this stage for 6 to 9 months. They hang from the rock by hammocks and produce fine lines called 'fishing lines' from a special gland in their throat. These lines are used to catch flies that come from the stream below. The larvae are very territorial and will eat other glowworms if they are annoyed are if there is little to no food. The light produced by the glowworm is from lucfierase and comes from the digestive system. This light helps to attract prey. After the larvae pupate, they become a fungus gnat that can't feed and will only live for a few days.  The caves were formed due to the dissolving action of acidic water on the strata. Streams are forced underground and re-emerge later. Higher, drier areas in the caves have constant dripping of water which lead to the formation of cave decorations. Since this area has very minimal changes in temperature and humidity, this evironment is very stable and the glowworms are able to thrive here.


We took a boat ride down the stream into the darkest part of the cave. Seeing scalloping features in the limestone, waterfalls, high catherdral ceilings and the 'starry night' produced by the tons of glowworms was a sight to behold.