Day 318 on the Road
Kayaking Under New Zealand Glow Worms!
Today we are doing a glow worm kayaking tour! If you like this video and want more NZ bucket list inspiration, head on over to our epic YouTube Channel & Subscribe!
Today we’re going to be kayaking in a canyon of glowworms.
This evening we are joining a kayak tour with Waimarino! Wai-marino!
It’s Waimarino Kayak Tours based at the Waimarino Adventure Park.
So that’s a kayak slide. That exists. I love it.
This evening we’re doing a glow worm kayak tour but before that because we arrived a little bit earlier we spend some time in the adventure park and first up, we are rock climbing.
She went off course for a very minute second but we got her up, we motivated her, and she’s back on track.
After Laura tires her hand at making it all the way to the top it’s my turn, and it’s really cool cos in the middle of this rock climbing wall there is a massive kayak that you have to pass over in order to make it all the way to the top.
But enough fun, it’s already time for us to hop in the van we are making our way back toward the McLaren Falls Park, if you guys remember check out our video yesterday when we visited the park, and we are going to be spending the evening there checking out the glowworms of the area is a kayak.
Our kayaking guides, tom and Calvin with impressive speed and the more food they’re putting on the table the more the ducks are gathering around.
This is more than just your standard lakeside picnic, this is full-on gourmet picnic with cheese, crackers, salami, nuts, dried kiwifruit, chips, dip and even wine.
No wonder the ducks are so excited that the Waimarino guys are here and this is an awesome way to start a tour. I wish all tours in New Zealand started like this.
It’s a super relaxing way to watch the sunset going over Lake McLaren and all the Hobbit-esque landscapes reflecting on the lake and even a few autumn coloured trees around there as well.
Once we’ve eaten up our picnic, it’s time for our guides to introduce us to our kayaking gear we’re gonna be using this evening.
Tom is taking the time to tell us everything we need to know about the gears that they are giving us he’s showing us how to put on the splash jacket, how to put on the skirt and he’s even giving us a quick refresher on how to use the paddle not that it’s going to be a strenuous paddle on this very placid lake.
For this tour we’re gonna be on double kayaks so Laura and I are going to have to work as a team on this lake but that basically means that I’m going to be kayaking while Laura is gonna be doing all the pictures taking. i think I got the short straw right here.
It’s a very slow paced tour and we take the time to see everything that there is to see around this lake to all its inhabitants to all the beautiful landscape. It’s actually really cool.
As the sun is going down the reflection on the lake is getting stronger it’s absolutely amazing how a few minutes makes an absolute difference in our pictures. Around the end of the evening it feels like we’re gliding over a mirror lake.
We’re having a really fun group with us today we’re actually seven people on this tour and two guides that’s one in the front and one in back for safety and we actually get a lot of time to play with each other which is quite cool. I’m actually racing a few people there is a couple from India which have brought their kids and they’re the ones that want to race us. We also take the time to talk about the different experiences that we had through New Zealand. It’s a really peaceful way to make our way across the lake toward those absolutely amazing glowworms.
It’s quite impressive how quickly the sun goes down in the middle of this lake but luckily we are actually making our way toward the glow worms quite slowly so our eyes have a lot of time to adjust to the darkness.
The guys at Waimarino Kayak Tours have attached a little red light to every single one of the kayaks just to make sure that we don’t kayak too far off course but we are following our guides there’s Tom at the front, Calvin at the back and they are guiding us toward the canyon where the glow worms are gonna be.
Toward the end of the lake though there’s a little bit of a power station so the guides are linking all the kayaks together and guiding us through safely pass the power station.
Our guides also tell us more about the glow worms we’re gonna be seeing tonight and also they lead a pretty hard life those glowworms. They tell us about the life cycle how a glow worm once it’s born has to compete with its brothers and sisters basically by eating them and once it is a lavae it dangles these sticky stricky strings which attracts flies to using the bioluminescence in its body. Once the lavae becomes a fly it stays alive for two days because it doesn’t have a mouth and it cannot eat so the only thing it has to do is mate until it dies.
Speaking of those glowworms after about 30 minutes kayaking across the lake we finally arrive at the amazing array of glowworms down a narrow canyon and we have this awesome display of blue shining lights above us we couldn’t really film it for you guys cos we’re not that skilled but we did take a few photos to show you what that’s like and it’s absolutely amazing.
Being able to slowly glide under this sea of glowworms was absolutely amazing it was definitely worth the drive from Tauranga the drive from Waimarino base toward the lake and the kayaking time which is about 30 minutes it’s so cool, we are leaving the tour with heads filled with cannibalistic shiny maggots. it was amazing! I feel that New Zealand lacks a few night activities and this is definitely one of the ones that we recommend to anyone travelling in the country.
Not comfortable.
