Experience Waitomo Caves
Posted by Jacqui Thomas - Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:30
Looking for interesting things to do in the school holidays, I decided I was well overdue for a visit to the Waitomo Caves.
As a keen traveller myself, I love helping foreign visitors with suggestions of what to see in my home land. For about 15 years now I've been adding Waitomo Caves to visitors' "Must See" lists for New Zealand, and I'm embarrassed to admit I had never actually been there myself! It was time to rectify the situation.
The Waitomo Caves are actually several caves and there are many ways to experience them depending on what kind of trip you're after. If you want adventure and adrenalin there are several operators offering a range of "black water rafting" trips which essentially means tubing through the caves. Many of these combine abseiling, canyoning and jumping off waterfalls as a means of moving through the cave structures. Judging by the hoots and squeals we heard echoing through some of the tunnels, it sounded like a lot of fun!
I had my 7-year-old daughter in tow this trip, so we opted for a tamer, more child friendly experience. (There are age and size restrictions on the black water rafting trips.) There are three main caves that offer tours: The Waitomo Glowworm Cave, Ruakuri Cave & Aranui Cave. We chose a popular Combo package that included the Glowworm Caves & Ruakuri Cave.
Our day started at Ruakuri Cave with our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Snappy. (So known because this outdoor guru used to have a carabina as an earring!) According to Maori legend, Ruakuri Cave was first discovered by a young Maori hunter spearing birds for food. To this day, the cave is considered a special and sacred place, and at the end of the tour you have the opportunity to wash your hands to wash off any Maori spirits as is customary practice.
The limestone formations in this cave are simply awe-inspiring, with different formations on display throughout. You see an impressive range of stalactites (from the roof), and stalagmites (from the ground), as well as softly folding curtains of limestone and cave coral. It takes 100 years of rainwater slowly dripping through to form just 1 cubic cm of limestone, so these wondrous feats of Mother Nature have been slowly formed over hundreds of thousands of years. Fossilised seashells are also prolific, evidence that the limestone was once part of the seabed. The Ruakuri Cave tour is a really interesting two hours.
From there we headed to the infamous Glowworm Caves. I didn't realise that glowworms are only found in New Zealand and Australia – nowhere else in the world has them. I also wasn't aware that these gorgeous glowing creatures, are actually "maggot poo"! (A loose translation! The glowworm is the larvae to a type of fly that lives for a maximum of three days. The larvae's poo puts out chemicals that illuminate to enable it to attract prey for food.)
In the Glowworm Caves you see more magnificent limestone creations, although I must admit the "wow" factor was slightly diminished, having just spent two hours in the Ruakuri Cave (my personal favourite). There is a huge cavern in here, aptly named the Cathedral. Famous opera singers including Dame Kiri Te Kanewa have sung here, and if you happen to be visiting in December they have carol singing, and you may even get a visit from Santa.
The highlight of this tour is a ten minute boat trip at the end where you glide silently through the darkness, illuminated only by the thousands of glowworms over head. Thoughts of maggot poo aside, this is really something quite special. The Glowworm Caves trip takes approximately 45 minutes and can be done on its own or as part of a combo with other cave tours.
There are places to stay in Waitomo but you can easily do it as a day trip from Auckland (drive time 2.5 hours), Rotorua (2 hours), Taupo (2 hours) or Hamilton (1.5 hours).
For more information visit www.waitomo.com
© Jacqui Thomas, 2010.
Check out more of Jacqui's adventures at www.roundtheworldadventure.com
If there's a place, trip or experience you'd like Jacqui to cover please email Jacqui@jacquithomas.com
As a keen traveller myself, I love helping foreign visitors with suggestions of what to see in my home land. For about 15 years now I've been adding Waitomo Caves to visitors' "Must See" lists for New Zealand, and I'm embarrassed to admit I had never actually been there myself! It was time to rectify the situation.
The Waitomo Caves are actually several caves and there are many ways to experience them depending on what kind of trip you're after. If you want adventure and adrenalin there are several operators offering a range of "black water rafting" trips which essentially means tubing through the caves. Many of these combine abseiling, canyoning and jumping off waterfalls as a means of moving through the cave structures. Judging by the hoots and squeals we heard echoing through some of the tunnels, it sounded like a lot of fun!
I had my 7-year-old daughter in tow this trip, so we opted for a tamer, more child friendly experience. (There are age and size restrictions on the black water rafting trips.) There are three main caves that offer tours: The Waitomo Glowworm Cave, Ruakuri Cave & Aranui Cave. We chose a popular Combo package that included the Glowworm Caves & Ruakuri Cave.
Our day started at Ruakuri Cave with our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Snappy. (So known because this outdoor guru used to have a carabina as an earring!) According to Maori legend, Ruakuri Cave was first discovered by a young Maori hunter spearing birds for food. To this day, the cave is considered a special and sacred place, and at the end of the tour you have the opportunity to wash your hands to wash off any Maori spirits as is customary practice.
The limestone formations in this cave are simply awe-inspiring, with different formations on display throughout. You see an impressive range of stalactites (from the roof), and stalagmites (from the ground), as well as softly folding curtains of limestone and cave coral. It takes 100 years of rainwater slowly dripping through to form just 1 cubic cm of limestone, so these wondrous feats of Mother Nature have been slowly formed over hundreds of thousands of years. Fossilised seashells are also prolific, evidence that the limestone was once part of the seabed. The Ruakuri Cave tour is a really interesting two hours.
From there we headed to the infamous Glowworm Caves. I didn't realise that glowworms are only found in New Zealand and Australia – nowhere else in the world has them. I also wasn't aware that these gorgeous glowing creatures, are actually "maggot poo"! (A loose translation! The glowworm is the larvae to a type of fly that lives for a maximum of three days. The larvae's poo puts out chemicals that illuminate to enable it to attract prey for food.)
In the Glowworm Caves you see more magnificent limestone creations, although I must admit the "wow" factor was slightly diminished, having just spent two hours in the Ruakuri Cave (my personal favourite). There is a huge cavern in here, aptly named the Cathedral. Famous opera singers including Dame Kiri Te Kanewa have sung here, and if you happen to be visiting in December they have carol singing, and you may even get a visit from Santa.
The highlight of this tour is a ten minute boat trip at the end where you glide silently through the darkness, illuminated only by the thousands of glowworms over head. Thoughts of maggot poo aside, this is really something quite special. The Glowworm Caves trip takes approximately 45 minutes and can be done on its own or as part of a combo with other cave tours.
There are places to stay in Waitomo but you can easily do it as a day trip from Auckland (drive time 2.5 hours), Rotorua (2 hours), Taupo (2 hours) or Hamilton (1.5 hours).
For more information visit www.waitomo.com
© Jacqui Thomas, 2010.
Check out more of Jacqui's adventures at www.roundtheworldadventure.com
If there's a place, trip or experience you'd like Jacqui to cover please email Jacqui@jacquithomas.com
4 Comments
Dont stay at The Glow Worm Motel on cnr of Hywy3 & The road down to Waitomo caves as its Very Rundown & Dirty. The whole place needs a good clean up too. Better places to stay. Be the worsed one I have stayed in all my travels.
ReplyIrrelevant andrew !! thats travelling at a very relaxing pace
ReplyIt shouldn't take an hour and a half to get there from Hamilton
ReplyWhile i enjoyed the Waitomo caves, I also enjoyed the Waiomio caves just South of Kawakawa. Walking through the mountain and listening to the history of the cave and surrounding lands with great pathways. This is a great day out for those who have never been there.
Reply