Workers carry in material by hand for manual glow-worm tunnel upgrade
August 9, 2024 10:48 PM Subscribe
Workers carry in 350 tonnes of material by hand for manual glow-worm tunnel upgrade. Tradies upgrading a glow-worm tunnel in New South Wales had to get creative to ensure the worms remained safe, but were treated to a daily light show as they worked.
Oh wow, added to my "want to visit in this lifetime somehow" list.
(How the heck do they keep people from disturbing the glowies with light from their phones?)
posted by away for regrooving at 11:50 PM on August 9
(How the heck do they keep people from disturbing the glowies with light from their phones?)
posted by away for regrooving at 11:50 PM on August 9
(How the heck do they keep people from disturbing the glowies with light from their phones?)
It is very unlikely that there is mobile phone signal in the national park - a lot of Australia has no mobile phone coverage, especially in valleys surrounded by hills/mountains, and in remote areas.
There are large areas of no mobile phone reception in the national park that is a 45 minute drive from Canberra - and Canberra is the seat of Australia's parliament and Federal government.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:22 AM on August 10 [3 favorites]
It is very unlikely that there is mobile phone signal in the national park - a lot of Australia has no mobile phone coverage, especially in valleys surrounded by hills/mountains, and in remote areas.
There are large areas of no mobile phone reception in the national park that is a 45 minute drive from Canberra - and Canberra is the seat of Australia's parliament and Federal government.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:22 AM on August 10 [3 favorites]
Ah, but cell phones still can power the screen with no signal. And they would do so to take a picture. Which everyone would want to do.
I’m curious of practicalities of how the tourist site works. You can’t have a bunch of tourists walking through the dark in a tunnel, nor can you let them bring their own light.
So do they illuminate the path with red light?
posted by teece303 at 3:46 AM on August 10
I’m curious of practicalities of how the tourist site works. You can’t have a bunch of tourists walking through the dark in a tunnel, nor can you let them bring their own light.
So do they illuminate the path with red light?
posted by teece303 at 3:46 AM on August 10
At the park site they tell folks to turn off their torches or point them to the ground so that everyone can see the glow worms in the dark:
Because the tunnel is long, it gets dark enough to see glow worms during the day. Upgrades to the walking track to even out the surface and install a handrail make navigating in the dark easier. To see the glow worms, switch off your torch, keep quiet, and wait for them to light up the tunnel.
The red light was just for the construction, I think. There's a behind-the-scenes video of the work they did here.
80 wet, uneven steps down with no handrail must have caused a bunch of sprained ankles and crushed glowies over the years, so the upgrade sounds pretty neat.
posted by mediareport at 5:11 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]
Because the tunnel is long, it gets dark enough to see glow worms during the day. Upgrades to the walking track to even out the surface and install a handrail make navigating in the dark easier. To see the glow worms, switch off your torch, keep quiet, and wait for them to light up the tunnel.
The red light was just for the construction, I think. There's a behind-the-scenes video of the work they did here.
80 wet, uneven steps down with no handrail must have caused a bunch of sprained ankles and crushed glowies over the years, so the upgrade sounds pretty neat.
posted by mediareport at 5:11 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]
If there was ever a story that should have had a huge image gallery this is it. Here is a video that while not showing much in the way of the glow worms does show the path. Interestingly right at the end there are a couple of narrow ditches that would never fly in such a facility here in BC.
This is one of the places I bet a person could get better pictures with film than a digital camera.
posted by Mitheral at 5:57 AM on August 10
This is one of the places I bet a person could get better pictures with film than a digital camera.
posted by Mitheral at 5:57 AM on August 10
This is a lovely and hopeful story about a subject I didn’t know anything about. Thank you for posting it!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:30 PM on August 10
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:30 PM on August 10
Ah, ahhhh - what a place to add to my bucket list! Thank you, chariot pulled by cassowaries!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 3:55 PM on August 10
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 3:55 PM on August 10
This is neat that they are taking care of both the worms and the visitors. Not a fan of caves, but I can imagine this is awe inspiring.
Good on the NatPark Service, however, if they had been anything like Llamedos vurms, it might have been better to let a few tourists die each year to help out vurm repopulation.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:10 PM on August 10
Good on the NatPark Service, however, if they had been anything like Llamedos vurms, it might have been better to let a few tourists die each year to help out vurm repopulation.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:10 PM on August 10
This is also on my todo list and it's almost in my backyard.
Just to be clear from the nearest town this is a 45 minute drive down a good condition but still unsealed road into the wilderness, and then a 15 minute bushwalk from the carpark to the tunnel.
posted by onya at 8:56 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]
Just to be clear from the nearest town this is a 45 minute drive down a good condition but still unsealed road into the wilderness, and then a 15 minute bushwalk from the carpark to the tunnel.
posted by onya at 8:56 PM on August 10 [1 favorite]
> (How the heck do they keep people from disturbing the glowies with light from their phones?)
I haven't been to this tunnel, but there's similar glow worm cave in Queensland and the sadly the answer is, they kinda don't/can't. It is endlessly frustrating, even on nights when a ranger is present repeatedly telling people to put their phone away, point your torch down, put your phone away, point your torch down, it seems people just can't help themselves. "It's just for a moment!". Okay, but now a bunch of worms went dark and you ruined your own night vision. I wonder how many tourists go home thinking the glow worms weren't all that because they sabotaged themselves and others. And I wasn't at all bitter about it. ;) But we went back once on a school night in the off season and had the place virtually to ourselves, and it was spectacular!
posted by adamt at 9:56 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]
I haven't been to this tunnel, but there's similar glow worm cave in Queensland and the sadly the answer is, they kinda don't/can't. It is endlessly frustrating, even on nights when a ranger is present repeatedly telling people to put their phone away, point your torch down, put your phone away, point your torch down, it seems people just can't help themselves. "It's just for a moment!". Okay, but now a bunch of worms went dark and you ruined your own night vision. I wonder how many tourists go home thinking the glow worms weren't all that because they sabotaged themselves and others. And I wasn't at all bitter about it. ;) But we went back once on a school night in the off season and had the place virtually to ourselves, and it was spectacular!
posted by adamt at 9:56 PM on August 10 [2 favorites]
Just today I visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the ranger-led tour was very successful in making us all put our phones away. We floated in a boat in darkness lit only by tiny dots of bioluminescence, every one of us, even the little kids, gazing up in silence. It was extraordinary.
posted by rdc at 2:40 AM on August 11 [7 favorites]
posted by rdc at 2:40 AM on August 11 [7 favorites]
So this post finally motivated me to go check this out yesterday afternoon and indeed it was awesome.
posted by onya at 12:52 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]
posted by onya at 12:52 AM on August 24 [2 favorites]
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