Waitomo caves, Otorohanga, North Island

We were able to have a later start as we didn't have too much driving to do today. We were heading to Rotorua with a stop at Waitomo Caves complex near Otoranga. It was not made really clear as to where we should go so we headed to the first cave on the list which was the Glow Worm Caves and showed our booking - no one said that we needed to book times for all three before we started!
So off we went to the first one, The Glow Worm Caves. As there was a boat trip in a small boat through a low, pitch black cave at the end Trev decided to give this one a miss! We had a great Maori guide, the grand daughter of the chief who first discovered them (Chief Tane Tinorau and his wife took tours around from 1889) who told us the history of the cave linked to her family and about how the caves were formed. The cave system was amazing (but we were unable to take pictures), we saw and learnt how Glow worms trapped their prey in one of the caverns and near the end of the tour we had come down quite a way to the river that comes out into the gorge below. At this point our guide explained that we had to now be silent and the area where we boarded the boat would be dark to accustom our eyes to the surroundings. We were carefully helped into a wide but shallowish boat and punted SILENTLY through the pitch black cave, the boatman using ropes and his hands to push / pull us through.. As our eyes became accustomed to the dark we saw a 'Milky Way' of little lights surrounding us - pin prick LED's - these were the glow worms! It was stunning and quite eerie. We came out through the original entrance to the caves - where the explorers found them, then back to the cafe via a stepped walkway through the bush.
We had an early lunch at the cafe and then headed to the third cave - deciding that the second cave Ruakuri with a 2 hr walk was a little long when we still had a drive to do after. So, heading up to Aranui Cave, we sat at the meeting place to wait for the guide. He was not expecting us and explained that we should have gone to the i-site visitors centre to be booked into all three caves at the beginning - so back to the booking office, to get things sorted and a quick return drive to the third cave to get on the 2 o'clock tour, arriving just in time to go! This cave although not the most popular or biggest is said by most of the guides to be the most beautiful. After a walk up through the bush, with a number of stops as it got quite steep, but it is worth the climb and our guide did take it slow and stopped for people to catch their breath! Again he was one of the ancestors of Ruruku Aranui, who first found the beautiful cave back in 1910. The entrance is quite narrow but not as narrow as the original entrance that Aranui followed his dog through, which is pointed out once you get into the cave. Although this is the smallest of the three caves it is the most decorative. Pale pink, white and brown stalactites hang from almost every surface and delicate formations of cave coral and flowerstone adorn the walls. We did have to watch our heads in places and there were sensors in some places to warn you if you got too close to some of the fragile formations.It was stunning and well worth the climb!
Once back at the car we drove back down the Waitomo hills back towards Hamilton - passing through Otorohanga,a town which proudly celebrates and displays everything Kiwi. No fewer than 24 Kiwiana displays grace the main road through the town,ranging from buzzy bees and pavlovas to Jandals (flip-flops) and the All Blacks, plus there is a very large Kiwi statue in the centre of the town. We then cut across to Rotorua, the town you really need to have smell-a-vision for to know what it means when we say it has a permanent aroma! we had a lovely meal at the hotel, a buffet meal where we paid one amount and could choose what we ate. The chef cooked any meats wanted in front of us! We had some venison which was locally sourced from farmed deer - a lovely flavour!Read more