Waitomo Caves
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The Waitomo Caves are located in the southern Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti. The town of Waitomo Caves itself has a population of less than 40, though there are many service workers (sometimes foreigners on student work permits) living temporarily in the area. Several companies, large and small, specialise in leading tourists through the caves, from easily accessible areas with hundreds of tourists per hour in the peak season, to extreme sports-like crawls into cave systems which are only seen by a few tourists each day.
The limestone caverns are a popular tourist destination, as the caves are easily accessible. The main caves in the area are Waitomo Cave, Ruakuri Cave, Aranui Cave and Gardner's Gut.
They are noted for their stalactite and stalagmite displays, and for the presence of glowworms (the fungus gnat Arachnocampa luminosa[1]). Glowworm grotto in Waitomo Cave is widely regarded as one of the country's most impressive caving spectacles.
The word Waitomo comes from the Maori language wai meaning water and tomo meaning doline or sinkhole; it can be translated to be water passing through a hole.
The caves featured in the computer game New Zealand Story.
[edit] References
- ^ The Glowworm page at www.waitomocaves.co.nz
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