Thousands of local and international guests visit New Zealand’s Waitomo Glowworm Caves each year. The iridescent caves, which have been around for centuries, are particularly striking due to many glowworm species that covers the ceilings and lights up the space like stars in the night sky.

In 1887, local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau and English surveyor Fred Mace first explored the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. To navigate the caves, they built a raft of flax stems and floated through, quickly becoming mesmerized by the glowing ceiling. It took many return trips for Tinorau and Mace to discover the cave’s land entrance on the second level.

In 1889, Tinorau started inviting tourist to visit the caves for a small fee. However, in less than 20 years, some government authorities assumed control over the caves. It wasn’t until nearly a century later that control of the caves was returned to the locals responsible for discovering them. Now, many of the tour guides and workers are descendants of Tinorau and his wife.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves themselves date back more than 30 million years ago. They consist of two main levels: the upper level, which is dry and allows for ground access, and the lower level, which contains the stream passage and the Cathedral, which is world-renowned for its superb acoustics (due to the rough surface and enclosed shape).

A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used to indicate amount or quantity:

The following quantifiers are used with countable nouns.

• many
• a few /few
• a number of
• several
• a large number of
• a great number of
• a majority of

Examples:

Oceania is formed by a large number of islands.

There are several and interesting natural attractions in New Zealand.

New Zealand has many volcanic islands.