Introduction
For more than 100 years the Glowworm Cave
of Waitomo has attracted millions of people from all over the world. The glowworm, a small glowing insect no bigger than an average
mosquito, has fascinated and intrigued people from all walks of life. The walk-through guided tours of the Glowworm and
Aranui caves may seem tame in comparison to the adventure caving trips, but are still well
worth doing to see the exceptional beauty of these caves.
This cave has 3 levels and is linked to the
Waitomo River 13 metres below by a shaft which was the last formed feature. Long, narrow
passageways carved out by a river lead down to the second level, referred to as the
Banquet Chamber. Early tourists would stop there for meals
and evidence of smoke on the ceiling confirms this. This links back to the upper level
where the Pipe Organ is situated. The third level leads down to the Cathedral, with its
demonstration platform and the jetty. The enclosed shape, with its rough surfaces and
height (14 metres), provides excellent acoustics.
The Aranui Cave has a host of varied,
interesting and beautiful limestone formations. The cave is named after a young Maori man,
Ruruka Aranui, who discovered it in 1910 as he pursued a wild pig. This majestic cave
displays ranges of limestone and coral formations, straw stalactites and chambers of
formations higher and loftier than any in the Glowworm Cave. Its Cathedral is 20 metres
high, stalactites are up to 6 metres, stalagmites as tall as 3 metres and beautiful
walkways leading into caverns named for their likeness to similar scenes - the Fairy Walk,
Temple of Peace, Aladdin's Cave and Eastern Scene, to name a few.
This is a magnificent cave system which is
accessed by a 100m vertical tomo. The opening is wide enough at ground level to allow
sunlight to reach down to the cave floor. The resulting eerie light, strange plant life
and hanging mists make this a truly magical place. Vincent Ward used the cave in his much
acclaimed film "The Navigator". The cave is used for the Lost World adventure.
Mason's Caves are one of the finest
limestone cave systems in New Zealand, rivalling the better known Waitomo caves. The caves
feature outstanding limestone formations and a glowworm
grotto. This cave is used by Mason's Limestone Valley
Tours.
The Ruakuri Cave is an active cave, with
large dripping caverns where stalactites and stalagmites are still being formed. There are
many other interesting formations including straws, cave coral, flowstone, rimstone and
columns. There are also glowworms, though not as many as in
the Glowworm Cave, and large scallop fossils. There is a river running though and the cave
is used by Black Water Rafting. |
The Glowworm Cave