Waitomo Caves

100 years ago or so, the town of Waitomo had one general store that supplied everything for everyone within a 50 mile radius (maybe less.. I am not sure). Business was good but as agriculture became more efficient people moved out of the area. Around that time, farmers started to discover there were large caves on their property. At first, farmers would lead tourists to the farms but private companies then came in, built paths through the caves, and leased them from the farmers. Now, the town of Waitomo is primarily supported by tourists who come to see the caves.

We chose a tour that was advertised as less adventurous than most. Many tours offer rides through rapids and caves leaving everyone soaked. So, our tour had mostly older people and then us with the two kids.

While our guide drove up about 20 minutes to the cave, he told us about the area. Our guide definitely missed his calling as an undertaker. His voice was so slow and melancholy that I started to get sleepy. The farms make most of their money from the caves on their property. They also make money from growing trees. The area used to be 80% trees and now look, hardly any trees.

We walked into the very dark cave and onto a wood pathway. The guide turned on the light and the cave was HUGE and covered in stalagtites and stalagmites.  We saw lots of bones from animals that had fallen into sink holes while on the farm. The land is covered in sink holes. It's amazing that under these farms are extensive networks of caves. After walking through the first cave and hearing about how New Zealand has 5 or 6 earthquakes a day, and the guide was even in the cave during an earthquake, we went to a second cave. We traveled through the second cave in a raft. The ride was completely dark so we could see all the glowworms on the walls. Like the earlier cave we saw, the glowworms make the ceiling look like the night sky.

leaving the first cave

getting ready for the second cave