Caves that make you say 'WWWOOOOWWW!!' by Megan

Today we went to Waitomo caves. There are hundreds of different caves under the ground there, and we went to 3 of the bigger ones; Ruakuri cave, Aranui cave and the glow worm cave. First we went to Aranui cave. On the way to the cave, our tour guide showed us some plants such as the native fern (the silver fern), and a plant traditionally used by Maori peolpe to help with illnesses such as headaches, toothache, and stomache aches. When we reached the cave, we saw loads of rock formations known as stalactites and stalagmites.

They look like icicles, but made of rock. They are formed by calcium in a drop of water coming through the cave roof. When the water falls, the calcium is left behind hanging from the top, or it begins to grow on the floor. This happens loads of times until a stalactite or stalagmite is formed. An easy way to remember which is which, is that stalactites hang on to the roof tightand stalagmites mightmake it to the top one day. It takes 100 years for a cubic cm of the stalactite or stalagmite to grow. Sometimes stalactites and stalagmites reach each other in the middle, and form a pillar as they grow together. We carried on walking until we got to the highest part of the cave known as the cathedral, where the acoustics are really good. Our guide sang a traditional Maori song, and her voice became really loud. She had a beautiful voice. When we came to the end of the cave, our guide showed us what looked like a small village that was made out of rock. If you used your imagination, you could see anything.

The next cave we went to was the Ruakuri cave. This was similar to the first cave, except it had some glow worms in it, as the river running through it attracted bugs, so it was perfect for them. When we entered, we had to walk down a massive spiral.

This entrance had had to be built, as the original entrance was blocked off. This was because it was the burial place of some Maori chiefs. At the bottom of the spiral there was a small waterall. When they placed the rock under the water fall eight years ago it was flat, but now the water has carved some channels in it.

We carried on walking, then the guide spotted some glow worms up close. They looked just like slugs, but on a diet. They let down small threads to catch their pray.

If they had had enough, they would leave it dangling until the next day. My Dad managed to take some photos of the glow worms up close, when they were further away, the camera didn't pick them up.

The last cave was the glow worm cave. We had a little walk around, and then our tour guide took us to a boat. When we set off, there wasn't many glow worms, but then suddenly.......BAM!! Thousands of glow worms were everywhere. We weren't allowed to take pictures in this cave, but we could have just taken pictures of the night sky as that's what it looked like; it was beautiful. We were all amazed when we saw thousands of magical glow worms above us, as we glided silently along the river. It was so peaceful.

It is amazing to think that something so beautiful exists naturally.