Rawhiti Cave

We went for one more dip in the river and after exchanging some tips of places to see, we said goodbye to Luc and Leonie.

We were going to Rawhiti cave. A 1km hike along a dry riverbed and then a 1km steep scramble up rocks and tree roots brought us to the entrance. It was a huge opening compared to the previous caves we had seen. But if it wasn't for the trail, you would never find it in the dense forest. The name Rawhiti, which we confused with "Rafiki" from the Lion King, means sunrise.

A wooden platform allowed you to walk into the large dome shaped cave. From here we got a great view of the depths below, and the almost artistic ceiling, with every possible area covered by stalagtites. Several towers (stalagmites) were forming where the water fell on the floor. We learned about two other cave features here. A gour (rimstone) is a dam that holds a puddle of water. As the water rises, a thin film slowly flows over the dam. As the water flows, more CO2 escapes, and more calcite is deposited on the dam, making it grow.

But even more unique is a phenomena called phytokarst. Because enough sunlight enters the cave, different types of plants can grow here. At the edge of the cave, flowering plants can live. But as you walk into the cave, less light is available and ferns dominate. Where the ferns end, only mosses covering the rocks are seen. But even deeper into the cave, where it's even too dark for moss, the rocks are coloured by different algae. These plants grow towards the light. But as they do, calcium is still deposited by water droplets. This causes the stalagtites to bend towards the light! It almost looks like the rocks are alive and trying to crawl out of the darkness. Awesome! Rawhiti cave is unique because of the large number of phytokarst that you can see.Read more