NZ Day 4: Waitomo

Waitomo is a small town on New Zealand's north island that is basically known for one thing: glowworms. We took a tour through Spellbound, where we were able to glide through a cave and experience Waitomo's largest glowworm colony. Thousands of glowworms were shining above us as we drifted downstream in a boat. It looked just like a bright starry sky, and was absolutely stunning. It was really difficult to get a good photo inside the caves, the photo above is from here.

Surprisingly Elodie did really great on this tour. We were worried that 1) she'd get carsick on the bumpy back road drive to the cave, and 2) she'd cry once we were on the tour because of the darkness - because let's be honest here, most people are NOT thrilled when they see a one year old headed on the expensive tour they prebooked. But she did awesome!

Other than seeing the glowworms, there really wasn't a whole lot to do in the area. It's definitely located in the country and pretty isolated - lots of farmland and animals. We actually stayed at a bed and breakfast that had a miniature animal petting farm. This was really great for Elodie!

We were the only ones staying here at the time, so the owner took us out and introduced us to all of the animals. Elodie was able to ride a couple horses and cows, and we were even able to feed the llamas. She had a blast! We have been so busy the last couple of days that it was nice to have a little down time and let her explore the farm.

Here we are standing next to the world's second smallest bull. The owner said he has an "attitude" and can be mean - but yet she encouraged us to take a photo next to him. She gave him a bowl of food to try and distract him from noticing us. I love this photo - we're all looking very nervous, haha!

We even had a fresh ostrich & emu egg omelet for breakfast. Joe loved it! ;)

Waitomo was our last stop on the north island. We really enjoyed our journey through this part of the country! With such unique culture, landscapes, and activities we feel that we got to experience so much in the past few days. We were sad to leave, but still excited to see what the south island had in store for us.