As Charlie sat at his window seat on his flight to New Zealand from Australia, a funny thought crossed his mind as he stared out at the marvelous, marshmallow-shaped clouds. ‘What was it that mom had said about three weeks back, something about the Internet being a godsend, but that it wasn’t her home….but what did she mean by that?’ he thought, contemplating this curious statement of his mom’s as he pictured a cat’s face in the enormous cloud out his window.

He, himself, at his school, was required, along with all of the other students, to learn how to use this thing called the Internet, and at times, he saw his friends being overly consumed by loud games. He also noticed his friends would search with rapid speed for the things they liked or wanted, like the latest toy or game, even, to his dismay, during recess. Charlie preferred to be active at recess: a good game of fierce tag or hide-n-go-seek was far more interesting than sitting at a computer, he thought.

‘Mom obviously thought the Internet was a godsend for her job, because she could find information so quickly, but about it “not being her home”, that’s the funny thing. Maybe she thinks it is taking up too much of her time at home?’ For the last leg of their flight, Charlie mulled over his mom’s words as they descended towards the airport that now looked like a set of dominos from a distance.

Once in New Zealand, and unpacked at their comfortable hotel, the Tuckers slowly joined a tourist group that would travel to the great caves of Waitomo to see the beautiful glowworms and enormous limestone caves, an outstanding natural wonder of our world.

The air was hot in New Zealand, but it was not too different from what Charlie was used to in Canada during the summertime months.

While on the bus ride to the caves, Charlie watched the rolling green hills pass him by. They went up and down for miles at a stretch.  Such a picture danced in front of his gleaming eyes, that he took his small, compact camera out of his banana-yellow backpack. He captured the varying greens and soft browns that formed the magnificent landscape he beheld.

He was even able to take several photos of a few lazy dairy cows with their marbled, black-and-white spots. He watched as they slowly meandered across a lush field.

While admiring the landscape, at times his vivid mind would drift back to ponder what his mom had meant about the Internet, and as he could not quite figure it out, he finally decided to ask his mom about her comment, saying, “Mom, why did you say the Internet was a godsend, but not your home?”

“Oh well…” Mrs. Tucker began, as she paused to push her long hair back from her face in order to look at her son directly, continuing with, “I appreciate the efficiency of the Internet, my dear, but people, including myself, are in my opinion spending too much time on the Web, and not enough time in their homes relaxing or out and about being social.  That’s what I meant by it not being my home.”

With a quick intake of air, his mom continued enthusiastically, more words tumbling out, “Not having the Internet, or being near a computer at the moment, has been such a lovely time-out, and I think I am able to think about things more in depth than just a week ago.” Alert yet relaxed, Mrs. Tucker smiled as her eye caught a dark blue waterfall that they were just swiftly passing by.

‘It must have come from some lake above those hills over there,’ she thought to herself, as she admired the white froth and dark blue of the water gushing down the hillside.

Just as Mrs. Tucker was going to point out the astonishing waterfall, Mr. Tucker started to speak.

For some time, he had been silently sitting across the bus aisle, casually watching as the older woman next to him played a computer jeopardy game, “Maybe you just needed a break from technology, and a time to refresh your mind and move around more with all that sitting you have to do at work,” he suggested to his wife.

He added, now looking over his wife at Charlie, “You know, the Internet, as much as it is a great device, can’t be as great and powerful as your imagination, Charlie–don’t ever forget that.  As adults, we spend far too much time surfing the Web and bouncing around from one place to another, and the best thing to do, probably, would just be to sit still in a quiet room and reflect, read a book, work on a craft, or go out and be active.”

“Is that why mom meditates?” Charlie asked, placing one hand on his mom’s arm tentatively, looking up at her for confirmation.

“I suppose it is one of the reasons why I take time out for myself, yes,” she replied, casting a glance at her husband.

“We have arrived at the glorious Waitomo caves. Please step out of the bus and go to the Visitor Centre, truly a beautiful centre for viewing, and the architecture?–oh, splendid. Your tour guide awaits you inside,” the old, cheery bus driver said, while carefully pulling his spotless bus up to the well-maintained bus stop.

“Thanks, Bob,” a local said, as he stepped off the bus into the bright natural light and sudden heat.

“No prob, Tom. Have a great day giving tours,” Bob, the old bus driver, replied with a salute.

“Mom ’n’ dad, I think he may be our tour guide,” Charlie said, gesturing excitedly at the big, blond-haired man who walked a few steps ahead of them all as they quickly approached the Visitor Centre.

Having overheard little Charlie, the man named Tom quickly turned his head around and asked, “What time you folks going on a tour?”

“The next one available,” Mr. Tucker replied with a shrug.

“Well, in that case, young man, you’re going to be riding up front with me in my boat, because I am the tour guide for the next cave tour!” Tom chuckled, looking down at Charlie whose eyes opened wide.

“Great, just a couple of days ago, I got to ride in the cabin with this captain who took us out to the Great Barrier Reefs, and you know what?” Charlie said, barely pausing for a response.

“What?” Tom interjected quickly, as Charlie moved up to join him. They walked through the Center’s front doors, and then stopped just before the large desk.

“When I was snorkeling, I saw a shark, a real reef shark, and it was right underneath my feet swimming around, just like this,” Charlie demonstrated first looking down as if he saw the shark and then pretending to be the shark.

“Wow, that must have been pretty scary,” Tom replied in amazement.

“My parents were scared, but I actually was in awe of the shark. It was so big and…” Charlie stopped to think of the word.

Mrs. Tucker jumped into the conversation, “Maybe, “impressive”, Charlie?”

“Yeah, it was impressive,” Charlie said, eyes rolling and arms outstretched as he looked up at Tom.

“We weren’t really scared, just a little concerned,” Mr. Tucker replied to Charlie’s earlier observation.

“Well, I can’t wait for you to see the glowworms. Although we don’t have any sharks, these worms are super impressive, young man.  I’m going to meet you all out at the dock near the cave’s entrance,” Tom said, as he slipped in behind the desk.

“Sounds great,” Mrs. Tucker and Charlie responded in unison as Mr. Tucker looked up at the bentwood beams covered with a glass ceiling.

Shortly after, spotting the large entrance to the cave, Charlie could hardly wait to be in the boat that would take him and his family along the Waitomo River’s underground passages.

“All aboard!” Tom called out, as he started to help people find their seats.

“Up here, Charlie, and bring your parents, too,” Tom motioned to them with a nod, as a welcoming smile creased his face.

“Thanks for these seats,” Mr. Tucker said, as he and his wife placed Charlie, life jacket on, in between the two of them.

“No worries.  Just so everyone will know, this great tour will take about 45 minutes. I will be speaking at times, but we ask that you remain silent. Cameras are strictly forbidden. Please save your questions ‘til after we are done.  From time to time, I will give you information about these luminescent glowworms and the caves historical and geological significance.” Tom advised, as he pushed the boat off and steered it into the darkness briefly, and then switched on his floodlight.

As they entered the cave, the temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees, and it felt a bit damp. A peaceful quietness overcame everyone as they adjusted their eyes and looked around, and then everyone started to see the glowworms!

“These glowworms are only found in New Zealand. The worms are very small, but radiate the luminescent light that you are seeing, which is very impressive, I am sure you will all agree. We call this a Glowworm Grotto,” Tom finished, as he pointed up to the ceiling.

As Charlie looked around and up to the ceiling of the cave where Tom was pointing, he thought to himself, ‘This is the most amazing thing I have seen! What beautiful little worms. It looks like a galaxy. How the lights of these worms reflect off the water!’

Just then, Charlie heard a young girl behind him whisper, “Wow,” to her mom, and he knew she must be thinking the same thing.

After a good while in the cave admiring the glowworms, the Tuckers and a few other tourists shielded their eyes from the bright daylight as the guided tour boat slowly neared the cave’s entrance once more.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Tom asked.

At that moment, the little girl behind Charlie put her hand straight up, “Have you ever touched a glowworm, and if you have, did you glow after?”

“Oh, and how long would you glow for?” Charlie added, smiling back at her.

“Those are great questions, you two,” Tom replied.

He continued, “Glowworms are spectacular, marvelous little creatures, but as much as we would like to touch them and hold them, we can’t.  You see, we can’t touch them because our hot body temperature is too high for them, and we’d end up burning them. Also, glowworms need a very humid environment, and our skin is too dry for them.  Now, as for your skin glowing, yep, it’d glow for some time!”

“Wow!” Charlie and the little girl behind said in unison.

And so it was, their trip to New Zealand was a success, and Charlie would always remember his cave visit to see the most impressive little glowworms, a galaxy unto themselves!

© 2011 Crystal Buchan

To Check out the Waitomo Caves Web-site, click here!