"I wish i was a glow worm..."

"I wish i was a glow worm
A glow worm's never glum
Cause how can you be gloomy
When the sun shines out your bum?!"

The grotto is pitch black.....so dark that you couldn't see your hand if you held it to your face. You hear a waterfall in the distance but no one makes a sound for fear of scaring the creatures and causing their bright lights to dim....tiny pricks of light scattered over the ceiling and walls of the caves....lying in wait for their prey, sticky poisonous beads of death draping down from the hammock where the glow worm lies languidly, ready to catch unsuspecting bugs and moths as they happen past, fatally attracted to the light...

To get to the glow worm caves at Te Anau we are ferried across beautiful Te Anau lake....I feel as though, for the past month or so, all I have done is gaze at beautiful scenery....from the Canadian Rockies to the South Island of New Zealand I have lost count of the number of breathtaking lakes, snow capped mountains, rolling green hills and pretty little babbling brooks. But I am in no way complaining. How fortunate am I to be able to say I have seen and experienced some of the most beautiful places in the world!?

The name Te Anau is translated from the Maori to mean 'cave of swirling water' and it is the second largest lake in NZ. The water is deep and pure - so pure you can drink it straight out of the lake....the tiny township of Te Anau itself stands on its shores but in the main it is surrounded only by farms and wilderness....it feels untouched by time and civilization....

Today i took some time to be alone and drink it all in....I find that sometimes, when travelling this far and wide it is important to just stop and think about where I am, what i'm seeing, what i've seen...where i'm going....wandering to the lake I sat with hot sunshine beating down on my back and stared at the lake, the trees, the mountains, watching a cheeky dog chasing sticks thrown into the shallow water by her daddy just below me...I could not have been more relaxed....

tomorrow an (other!) early start takes us to milford sound where, I believe, awaits even more spectacular, breathtaking, indescribable scenery!

stay tuned! xx