Friday 23rd March 2007. Queenstown to Te Anau. New Zealand.

Research and artefacts, adzes and chisels dating back around 400 years suggest that the Maori stayed in Te Anau for relatively short periods of time. They were either travelling between the southern coastal plains and Milford Sound on greenstone collecting expeditions or on summer food gathering trips (eeling and bird hunting).

Maori from the south coast are thought to have settled during the summer months on the banks of the Upukerora River just north of Te Anau to gather food.

Evidence has also been found of Maori occupation around Lake Orbell (known to the Maori as Te Wai O Pani - the Lake of the Friendless). Lake Orbell is located above the Te Anau Glowworm Caves and it is thought that a small group of Maori escaping hostilities may have retreated to this area.

The first Europeans to see Lake Te Anau were the explorers C.J.Nairn and W.H.Stephens in the 1850's. Led by two Maori guides their journey began on the south coast. Heading inland, they eventually followed the Waiau Valley. Nairn's sketch of Lake Te Anau was the first known pencil sketch of the lake.

Withing two years the first runholders arrived and pioneered farms, establishing the Te Anau Downs Station in 1860. The lake provided valuable access for supplies and freight before any tracks or roads were established.

The first residents settled near today's township in the early 1880's with the first hotel built in 1891.

The Southland Acclimatisation Society established a base at Te Anau in 1921 and built a hatchery that in 1923 produced fish stocks for the southern lakes.

By 1927 a metalled road to Te Anau was completed and some bridges built. The first holiday cottages were built in 1932, however Te Anau remained without electricity or shops until after 1945.

The completion of the Milford Road in 1953 saw tourism to the area significantly increase and today the town is a hub for sightseeing activities in the Fiordland National Park.



Today we head to Te Anau on the shores of New Zealand's second largest lake.

Lake Te Anau has three arms called South, Middle and North Fiords and it is 352sq kms in area and some 61 km long. At its deepest point it is 417m deep with an average temperature of 8 degrees celsius. Lake Te Anua feeds into the Waiau River that flows into Lake Manapouri the site of the Manapouri Underground Power Station and it also serves as a storage reservoir (controlled within its natural flow levels) for power generation.

After checking into the Edgewater we are off to Te Anau Glowworm Caves on the isolated western shores of Lake Te Anau.

That is after a quick stop at Miles Better Pies for lunch.

The caves are the lower section of the extensive Aurora Caves system that lie within the Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wahipounamu world heritage area.

Our journey begins with a 35 minute cruise across Lake Te Anau before we enter Cavern House for a presentation on the caves.

For many years the caves were lost in legend. Known to the Maori as Te Ana-au meaning 'caves with a current of swirling water' it was this very water that led to their rediscovery in 1948.

After many years of searching explorer Lawson Burrows discovered a stream emerging from under a rock buttress. Pushing himself underwater through the entrance he surfaced into a cavern of glowworms.

Today we will discover a world of sculpted rock and rushing waters before the climax of our trip...a silent drifting by boat beneath the luminous shimmer of thousands of glowworms. We will move underground by path and small boat.

These caves are relatively young in geological terms at around 12,000 years old and water action is steadily eroding the fractured limestone. Remember that when combined with Carbon Dioxide, water forms a weak acid that dissolves limestone rock
and so these caves are still being formed by the actions of the water.

At times, like today, the Tunnel Burn flows through the cave system with spectacular force. From the rock formations and fossils to the waterfalls and whirlpools this is a spectacular sight...but the highlight has to be the glowworms.

When they ask for a volunteer to eat like a glowworm, I naturally oblige; but trust me, the stone fly won't catch on as a delicacy in my house!

Into the glowworm grotto and the reason for being here.

New Zealand glowworms (titiwae) are a native to the country and quite distinct from glowworms elsewhere in the world. Their Latin name Arachnocampa Luminosa divides to Arachno meaning spider-like (these glowworms spin silk lines to catch flying insects); Campa meaning larva and Luminosa meaning light-producing.

Glowworms are members of the insect family, fungus gnat fly. They live by catching flying insects attracted by their light. The glowworms life cycle has four stages: egg, larva, pupa and fly with an entire life-cycle lasting 10-11 months.

While life cycle stages are present all year round there is an increase in hatching around December and the thinking is that this is related to the increased food available after the long winter (remember the seasons are the opposite way around in the Southern Hemisphere).

The glowworms in these caves feed on insects hatched from the waters of the Tunnel Burn. Their main predator is the harvestman which looks like a spider but is infact a separate though related species. The harvestman does not spin a web but actively moves around to hunt prey.

When food is scarce and if glowworms are living too closely together they are known to cannibalise each other. The environment has a major effect on glowworm populations, e.g. during flooding glowworms living close to the water are washed away. The humidity of the air is also a vital factor as glowworm survival is dependent on a level of humidity that is near saturation point; if the air is not moist enough the glowworms dry out and die.

Cave environments are simpler than the sunlit world with few changes in temperature or humidity throughout the year. These caves are home to all sorts of small and harmless insect life such as the cave weta, earthworms, isopods, amphipods, millipedes, spiders and some ground beetles.


Larvae build a hollow, tubular nest which is attached to the cave ceiling by fine threads. From this nest they suspend up to 70 strings, between 20mm and 150mm of thick sticky droplets of mucus known as the fishing lines. The larvae lie on their backs to enable vibration-sensing organs to quickly sense movement in the fishing lines. The larva glows brightly and insects attracted by the light fly into the sticky threads and are caught. The glowworm then moves quickly to the lines and hauls them up to its nest. It bites into the food with sharp powerful jaws discarding only the wings and other parts of the insect's carcass it cannot digest.
When bringing in a line the larva hooks the spare line on to bristles on its back. The larva continually grooms its fishing lines and slowly increases their length.

The light of the glowworm larvae is given off by small tubes finishing around the glowworm's tail end as a by-product of excretion. This process is caused through the chemical oxidation of a substance called luciferin by the enzyme luciferase. Part of the energy is liberated as a cold light due to no heat being associated with it. The light has been estimated to be equivalent to one thousandth of a millionth of a watt (one nanowatt) in intensity. The blue-green light shines from inside a layer of respiratory tissue that acts as a reflector. The hungrier the glowworm, the more brightly it glows.

There are two interesting types of cave dweller:

Troglophiles (or cave lovers) can survive their entire lifetime in caves, but they can also live exclusively on the surface where they select cool dark places reminiscent of the cave environment. The glowworm is a good example as they are equally at home in the cave or a suitable bush environment.

Troglobites are highly adapted to cave life and cannot survive outside caves. With no need for camouflage or protection from the sun, many have lost pigmentation and are white. Most have developed highly sensitive sensory organs to detect predators and prey, harvestmen are among this group.

Today I got again to see the long finned eel here inside the caves in the Tunnel Burn. Such Eels can grow up to 1.7 metres.

And to access all this we walk through rainforest...this is a natural history treat!!

In the late afternoon we had a group cocktail party on the patio before heading out to see Ata Whenua (Shadowland).

Ata Whenua was created by two men. Kim Hollows, a helicopter pilot in Fiordland for 25 years was the man behind the concept and also the films producer. Dave Comer (who was the cinematographer for The Lord of the Rings trilogy) was the director.

Kim decided to put the film together to show the beauty's of Fiordland that most people don't get to experience. From concept to completion the film took ten years to put together beginning in the mid-1990's with the film premiering in October 2004.

The three birds that feature prominently in the film are the Kea, the Kakapo and the Takahe. Both the Takahe and the Kakapo are endangered species with only 250 and 86 respectively left in the country. To help preserve these species a percentage of the films ticket sales go towards the endangered species program.

Why these birds are endangered has a lot to do with the introduction of deer in 1905 to New Zealand as the deer impacted on the birds food source in a major way.

The Fiordland Cinema in Te Anau was built by Kim and it is used exclusively to showcase the film. It is the only place in the world where you can experience Ata Whenua in 35mm on a big screen.

Back at the hotel and I dine with Patty, Joanne and Liz.

In putting together today's blog I acknowledge the information of Real Journey's and Fiordland Cinema.