Waitomo Caves, New Zealand

Serenity is a word that can best describe the Waitomo Caves of New Zealand. Located at the Northern King Country region of the North Island, the Caves have become of the most popular tourist destinations in the area.

One of the reasons is that the area was the location of the Shire, the hobbits’ village of the movies Lord of the Rings and Hobbits. However, tourists flock to the area mainly because of the beauty of the cave systems.

History

About 30 million years ago, the Waitomo region was submerged in water. No one knows exactly how or when the region resurfaced, but one thing is for certain; when it did, it became a testament of the beauty of New Zealand. Today, millions of people from around the world have visited the Waitomo caves either by going there on their own or by joining tour groups organized by several different tour operators in the area.

There are 4 main caves of Waitomo; Gardner’s Gut, Ruakuri Cave, Aranui Cave, and the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. There are also other smaller caves and a number of other sites in the area that are worth visiting. Although tourism is one of the region’s main sources of income, farming, forestry, and mining are also present in the area.

Where to Go

Before visiting any of the caves, the first place you should visit is the new Waitomo Glowworm Caves Visitor Centre. It is dubbed as “new” since the first one was destroyed by a fire in 2005. The new visitor centre is famous for its architecture. In fact, it won the Architecture Commercial Engineering Excellence and Clever Solutions Award during the Timber Design Awards held in 2010.

After touring the centre, you can start visiting the caves. A good place to start would be the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, made famous by the glow worm that is unique to New Zealand. Practically the whole cave system is lighted up by millions of glow worms that cling to the cave’s ceiling.

Your next destination can be the Ruakuri Cave where you can hear the distant roar of subterranean waterfalls. The ceiling is low at some areas where you can see the glow worms up close. You will likely be joining one of the tour groups because this is the New Zealand’s longest underground walking tour.

After your tour at Ruakuri, you can visit the other caves or go on some of the popular tours like the Lord of the Rings tour, which takes you to the set of the movie that took the world by storm.

How to Get There

A place as tranquil as Waitomo would seem as if it were difficult to reach. However, New Zealand is known to be a country with scenic locations that are a stone’s throw from the main cities and Waitomo is one of them.

The Waitomo Caves are only an hour drive from Hamilton and a 2.5 hrs drive from Auckland, the two nearest main cities. Although there are a number of tour operators that offer trips to Waitomo on a daily basis, you can also take your own vehicle or rent one.