I headed to Waitomo to see the Glow Worm caves. The largest glow worm cave company was very touristy and a little expensive. I wish I had done research before I bought my ticket. There were no pictures allowed, so that was also a bummer for me. You pay to go on a tour of an underground cave, with about 25 other people and end up on a boat where you look up at the ceiling of a cave and see thousands of aqua glowing little worms. It feels like being in outer space and is quite dreamy. One element I appreciated was that the tour guides request absolute silence while on the boat, which makes the experience more beautiful and reflective. My issue is that the actual boat ride is so short, that it’s hard to justify spending $50 even if it is a really beautiful sight.

After I left, I went to a restaurant and the waitress suggested a few hikes and spots to sightsee. The first stop was this beautiful waterfall, Marokopa Falls. The drive there is quintessentially New Zealand, but for some reason, I got it on a bright clear beautiful day where the sheep knew just what to do for my camera. The hike to the waterfall was a short lush green wonderland.

The next stop was a a suspension bridge called Mangopohue. It was really cool to walk over a stream on a suspension bridge. On the other side of the bridge is a walkway that led up and out to a field where you can hear cows mooing. On the way into the field I was smart enough to walk on the rocks to get to the path. The thing about these inviting fields that exist everywhere in New Zealand, is that you don’t realize how muddy it actually is to walk in them. On the way out, I felt so awesome, going off where there’s no path and no one around and I just walked right into a seriously deep puddle of mud. As I realized I was sinking, I nervously tried to rush out and run away. Unfortunately, I abandoned my boot that was stuck and had to dig it out and stick my muddy foot into my muddy boot and walk back. Even though I’m a Virgo and I hate dirt, I felt like a trooper and kind of a badass. A dumb badass but still.

I drove to my next airbnb, which I was so excited was on a legit New Zealand farm. The road there was as beautiful as everything else, and when I got there, two precious children were waiting for me. It was my first interaction with babies in so long. At first I was happy and they loved me and it was great. It didn’t take long for me to get that old familiar feeling, where the parents notice their children are in competent hands and decide its their one chance to do all the things that they aren’t able to do 75% of the time. There’s really only a few parents I know that do that and it doesn’t bother me. It made me miss my real babies, the ones who live in my heart, the ones who satisfied my need for love as a human for so long before any man was ever able to. I felt sad.

The farm itself was idyllic. I washed off my boots in the grass, showered and went to sleep.