How do you spend one day in the Beautiful Bay of Islands in New Zealand? I went on a tour to visit the Kawiti Glow Worm Cave, the town of Kawakawa and the Puketi Forest.
This was my first time to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and it was beautiful. The countryside reminded me a little of the UK, as it was very green with rolling hills, but with warmer weather! The day started off cool, then it warmed up (I was there in February).
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Kawiti Glow Worm Cave
Whilst I was in the Bay of Islands I needed to see the natural wonder, the Kawiti Glow Worm Cave. This was a magical cave with thousands of glow worms that lit the ceiling of the cave. Just tiny green/white lights the size of matchstick heads.
The limestone cave itself was spectacular with a formation of the stalactites and stalagmites. You had to watch your head when walking past as some of them came down quite low.
We were taken on a guided tour of the cave, as this is the only way to visit. There was a guide at the front and back with torches and some more torches were distributed through the group as the cave is completely dark to protect the glow worms, it was cold inside too.
How to Spend One Day in the Beautiful Bay of Islands
You could not use your camera while inside, so my photos are of the entrance of the cave (if you go on their website you can see a photo of what it looks like inside (http://www.kawiticaves.co.nz/).
The story of the of how the cave was found in the 17th century was funny (how true, who knows), a woman was living in it & was stealing sweet potatoes from the farm next to the cave.
The farmers were wondering where some of the potatoes were going, until one day they saw smoke coming from the entrance of the cave and that is how it was discovered.
While you wait for your guided tour you can have a walk around the small rain forest next to the cave. Wear comfortable shoes and bring a light jacket for inside the cave.
We then drove to Kawakawa, a small town for a quick stop and there they had an impressive toilet that was more of a work of art, very colourful with glass bottles. I didn’t take a selfie on the loo though!
Puketi Forest
Then we continued our drive to Puketi Forest, which was a lush rainforest with lots of old tall trees. It is easy to walk through as the broad walk was built for Queen Elizabeth II, that visited 25 years ago. We had a guide that told us about each tree! It was very nice to walk through.
Then back on the bus to take us back to the ship, we made one last stop to see the Oldest Stone House built in 1880. The drive was beautiful countryside, lots of dairy farms, so we saw a lot of cows, hills and trees.
The Bay of Islands had it all, beaches and countryside and nice small towns to walk around. I hope to return one day.
Essential Info
- Weather: Spring-Summer: 20 – 27*C
- Language: English and Maori
- Currency: New Zealand Dollars
- What to Wear: Shorts and a T-shirt, trainers or walking shoes and bring a sweater or light jacket for inside the glow worm cave as it is quiet inside compared to outside.
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Have you been to the Bay of Islands in New Zealand? What would you recommend doing?
Happy Travels
Love Lucy x
