Little Planet Lodge and the Glow worm caves

Today I woke up nice and late at Whangarei falls and spent the day down in Whangarei waiting for Stefanie to return from her dive adventure for the day. I walked around the small town that I had gotten to know at least a bit, and was amazed how many familiar faces I saw. When Stefanie was done, we moved to the Little Planet Lodge, also known as the best hostel I've stayed at. By far. Not even close. You must go there. We arrived in the late afternoon and went for a walk in their backyard which has 3 large glow worm caves in it. We walked through nice fields filled with large foreign trees until we found the small entrances to the caves filled with streams. Immediately inside we began to appreciate the amazing nature of the worms. They lit up the ceilings and the walls of the caves everywhere. We walked in for a while and found a place in the first cave with a 100 foot ceiling and a tiny hole at the top that reached the surface. A minuscule bit of light was peeking through as the sun outside set. We sat in that cavern until that light went away, and the starlight we were entertained by came not from the sky but beneath the earth. The worms were everywhere, like a galaxy on the ceiling. \The sound in the caves was incredible with the river running through. We sat there for what felt like hours before returning to little planet and enjoying the company of our hostel mates in the kitchen and heading to bed. It was a small adventure with great rewards. It's amazing to think I didn't know Stefanie before yesterday, and today we went on a great caving adventure. Travelling is awesome, and sometimes the smallest holes in the ground have entire worlds in them to explore.