use your imagination

This post is going to be picture free as an ode to the two cool things I saw in New Zealand but wasn't allowed to take pictures of. The first was a glow-worm cave at Owlcatraz. It was a man made cave that they filled with glow-worms. Before going in, we had to sit in a really dark room letting our eyes adjust for about 12 minutes while our chatty guide talked about The Wiggles. Once our eyes adjusted, we buckled a harness thing around our waist that had a loop at the back. We got into a line, and everyone held onto the loop of the person in front of them, and we entered the cave that had no lights except for the glow-worms and some green lights on the hand-rails, and where we weren't allowed to speak because the sound waves kill the worms. It was creepy and eery and cool.
The second thing I couldn't take pictures of were the kiwi birds at the aquarium in Christchurch. They're nocturnal, and they keep the kiwi room dark during the actual day, and light at night so that the birds' rhythms are switched around and they're awake when people are visiting. Again, we had to wait outside for our eyes to adjust before going in. The birds had just been fed, so they were in a spot where they were really easy to see. Their bodies seem really squat and tubby, but they can stretch up pretty far. They reminded me a bit of those booba kids toys.

It's good to be back in Melbourne. Flying in Friday morning was such a better experience than when I arrived in July. Having a friend waiting to pick me up, having only traveled for a few hours rather than 36, and having a nice home with nice people in it to come back to made all the difference in the world.