Have you been looking for an activity that the whole family can enjoy, that also involves serial killer worms in a mock rainforest environment?
Maybe you really want to head into the mountains, but don’t want to spend all your time looking at fudge or ceramic teapots (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
In this post, I’ll give you a peek into the Glow Worm Caves at Tamborine Mountain, share some startling facts with you about the worms themselves, and have you heading up the mountain quicker than you can say “Does their poo glow too?”
You can find the Glow Worm Caves on top of Tamborine Mountain in Queensland Australia – only an hour drive from Brisbane. We were lucky enough to check out the worms as part of a recent long-weekend stay at Burleigh Heads, which cut the time between us and glowing worms down to a cool 40 minutes! Wormtastic!
The glow worms are located at the Cedar Creek Estate Winery, so you can do some wine tasting before or after your worm fix, if the mood takes you. Wine tasting at the Cellar Door is $10 per person for 5 tastings, with bookings available every 30 minutes.
Coincidentally, the glow worm tours run every 30 minutes as well. You’re encouraged to book online for your worm experience (and get a slightly cheaper ticket price), but if – like us – you get the urge to see a glowing bottom on the spur of the moment, you can turn up to the glow worm caves and take your chances on the day. We had just missed a tour when we arrived, but were able to book in for the next one. The 30 minute wait between tours, allows you to go and do other activities like ‘visit the toilet’ or ‘get a coffee’ of which we did both (at different times).
It was a glorious morning when we visited, and we sat under the dappled shade of the colourful trees with our coffee – a cool breeze blowing and worm excitement growing in our hearts as we waited for the tour to start.
When you book in for your tour, you are given some cool glow-in-the-dark necklaces to wear – either a moon or star. I had brief moment wondering if our choice of moon or star would divide us into teams in which we would need to battle the worms, but fear not. The necklaces are only so you can see each other in the cave as, funnily enough, it gets pretty dark in there.
Once you’ve booked your tickets, you can stock up on all your glow worm merch. Mugs, drink coolers, t-shirts and more – proceeds of which go to help maintain the purpose-built habitat and preserve the vulnerable South East Queensland glow worm species -Arachnocampa flava. Bless you.
If you get overly attached to your glow-in-the-dark necklace, you can also buy a similar treat from the little shop.
Now, before we get any further, I’ll let you know that you’re unable to take any photos in the actual cave itself – even without using the flash on your camera. So leave your zoom lens, spy cameras and disposable click-boxes in the car. Even the light from your smart-watch or jazzy sneakers that light up when you walk, is enough to frustrate the worms so they turn their bums off.
The tours are all facilitated by experienced guides, who know all there is to know about the worms you’re about to see. This means, that you can’t run ahead into the cave yourself, or put a worm in your pocket for later.
Your group is collected by the worm whisperer (probs not their real name) from the waiting area and lead down a boardwalk to the magical glow worm tunnel.
There’s a short documentary on glow worms that you get to watch, giving your eyes time to get accustomed to the reduced light in the cave. Full of cool new facts about worms, you’ll then head further into the wormatorium (or, “cave”). As it’s not a natural cave, there’s no climbing or hiking to worry about. Our group had a mix of age ranges and physical abilities, and everyone was able to enjoy the experience.
The cave itself is not a big area, but the group size fits comfortably. The guide will tell you all about the worms as you stare around the ceiling in amazement – including pointing out the worms glowing alone, that have eaten all their neighbours. Glow worms basically eat each other in every stage of their development – so don’t get too attached to your glow worm brother or sister.
You’ll get a chance to see the worms close up under red light (worms can’t see the red wavelength) and their “snares” (like a spider’s web) made from silk threads and sticky droplets that they use to capture and eat the insects attracted to their glow. The staff at the glow worm caves catch thousands of small insects every day and release them inside the cave for the worms to eat. Don’t worry though, they do this at night time, so you’re not worm-viewing in the midst of a cloud of mosquitos.
When you’ve gasped your last amazing gasp at the worms – making sure to cover your nose and mouth so that you don’t tangle their snares with your heavy breathing – you can head back out into the light and towards Frog Hollow.
Frog Hollow is a self-guided experience, and is home to more worms. Worms masquerading as frogs. Or, they might just be normal frogs – who can tell after all these worm facts.
There’s another mini boardwalk to mosey around, and some frog friends in tanks to try and spot. I only really saw one frog as the rest were hiding from my mouth breathing – so have captured his essence in the photo below.
The Glow Worm Caves are open every day, all year round and for a wide selection of times during the daytime – except for Good Friday and Christmas day, when we can only assume the worms are eating their turkey dinner. The tours run regardless of the weather, as the cave is undercover and protected.
Our group enjoyed the experience, and as a whole thought the 30 minute tour timeframe worked well. It gave you enough time to ooh and ahh (cover your mouth) at the worms, hear some facts, and then re-emerge into the light like the non-worm that you are.
When you’ve eaten your fill of worms (not recommended) you can put your head into a novelty board set up for photo purposes. I actually had my photo taken with a human friend, but have expertly replaced their face in the picture shown with a worm head. It’s the one on the right. Also, as the worms were in the dark, I’m not 100% sure that this head accurately represents the glow worms face – so take that with a sprinkle of bioluminescence.
To round off our Tamborine experience, we headed into the main shopping area and browsed the stores – making sure to pose awkwardly with a large koala in a wetsuit.
“I wish I were a glow worm,
A glow worm’s never glum.
‘Cause how can you be grumpy,
When the sun shines out your bum?!”
