Caving with glowworms

Don't we look cute in our wetsuits?
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We stayed at a hostel in Waitomo where there was no one there when we arrived, no one there when we left (we left a note and money on the front desk), and no central heating.   The latter was the biggest problem since the temperature dropped below freezing in the night.

We woke up early and decided to do what any sane people would do when there's frost on the ground- we put on wetsuits and went swimming.

Seriously, I think Haven was seriously regretting her vacation decision when at 9am we were outside in about 40 degree weather putting on wet wetsuits.  She kept shivering and muttering "I'm from Florida, I'm from Florida."

Shelly starting the day off with a splash
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Lucky for us, putting on the wetsuits was the worst part of the day.  After that, we headed out with our new friend Jackie from Ireland and our guide Logan for a little cave tubing.

The cave was very pretty and very peaceful, espeicially when we turned off our lights and just floated.  We also got to launch ourselves from a few small waterfalls, but the real star attraction of these caves are the glowworms.  Really they are maggots with glowing shit but we prefer to think of them in the more appealing term "glowworm."  There are hundreds of them in the cave and you feel as though you are looking up at a starry sky.  Pretty cool stuff.  So cool we temporarily forgot we were cold, although I'll admit that the hot shower was a highlight of the day, as well.