Rawhiti Cave

The walk to this limestone cave was quite rough and steep but definitely worth it. The cave's entrance is one of the largest cave entrances in New Zealand with an opening of about 40 metres wide and up to 20 metres tall.

Rawhiti Cave features fascinating stalactites, which are influenced by the growth of moss. Many of the stalactites grow toward the entrance of the cave. The cave’s opening allows sunlight to access the cave enabling photosynthesis to occur. Moss grows on the sunlight-facing sides of the stalactites and become incorporated into the stalactites. This results in differential growth of the stalactites and, over time, the stalactites curve towards the light shining into the cave entrance.Read more