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The Waitomo Caves are a village and cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the southern Waikato
Waikato

Waikato is the name of a region in the North Island of New Zealand. Exact boundaries of the region depend largely on the use of the name, but in all cases it refers to an area around the city of Hamilton, New Zealand and extending along the banks of the Waikato River....
 region of the North Island
North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. The island is 113,729 square km in area, making it the List of islands by area....
 of New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti

Te Kuiti is a small town in the south of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway network and on the North Island Main Trunk Railway, 70 km south of Hamilton, New Zealand....
. The community of Waitomo Caves itself is very small, though the village has many temporary service workers living there as well.






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Waitomo Cave Entrance N
The Waitomo Caves are a village and cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the southern Waikato
Waikato

Waikato is the name of a region in the North Island of New Zealand. Exact boundaries of the region depend largely on the use of the name, but in all cases it refers to an area around the city of Hamilton, New Zealand and extending along the banks of the Waikato River....
 region of the North Island
North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, the other being the South Island. The island is 113,729 square km in area, making it the List of islands by area....
 of New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti

Te Kuiti is a small town in the south of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway network and on the North Island Main Trunk Railway, 70 km south of Hamilton, New Zealand....
. The community of Waitomo Caves itself is very small, though the village has many temporary service workers living there as well. The word Waitomo comes from the Maori language
Maori language

Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
 wai meaning water and tomo meaning a doline or sinkhole
Sinkhole

A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by the removal of soil or bedrock, often both, by water....
; it can thus be translated to be water passing through a hole. These Caves are believed to be over two million years old.

Caving


Early history

The limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 landscape of the Waitomo District
Waitomo District

Waitomo is a Territorial Authorities of New Zealand municipality in the north of the King Country region in the North Island of New Zealand....
 area has been the centre of increasingly popular commercial caving
Caving

Caving ? also known as spelunking ? is the recreational sport of exploring caves. In contrast, speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment....
 tourism from as early as 1900. Initially mostly consisting of impromptu trips guided by local Maori
Maori

The Maori are the indigenous people Polynesian people of Aotearoa . The group probably arrived in south-western Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300....
, large sections of cave near Waitomo Caves were later taken over by the Crown
The Crown

Throughout the Commonwealth realms, the Crown is an abstract metonymy concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government....
 and managed as a (relatively genteel) tourism attraction from 1904 onwards.

Modern days

Today, a number of companies, large and small, specialise in leading tourists through the cave
Cave

A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter. Some people suggest that the term cave should only apply to cavities that have some part that does not receive daylight; however, in popular usage, the term includes smaller spaces like sea caves, rock shelters, and grottos....
s of the area, from easily accessible areas with hundreds of tourists per hour in the peak season, to extreme sport
Extreme sport

Extreme Sports is a media term for certain activity perceived as having a high level of inherent risk. These activities often involve speed, height, high level of physical exertion, highly specialized gear, or spectacular stunts....
s-like crawls into cave systems which are only seen by a few tourists each day. A visit to Waitomo Caves made Number 14 amongst a list of 101 "Kiwi must-do's" in an Automobile Association
Automobile Association

Automobile Association may refer to:*Australian Automobile Association in Australia.*Automobile Association of South Africa*Canadian Automobile Association in Canada....
 poll of over 20,000 motorists published 2007, and in 2004, around 400,000 visitors entered caves in the area.

Main caves

The main caves in the area are Waitomo Cave
Waitomo Glowworm Cave

The Waitomo Glowworm Cave is a cave on the North Island of New Zealand, known for its population of glowworms, Arachnocampa luminosa. These glowworms are found exclusively in New Zealand and around the size of an average mosquito....
, Ruakuri Cave, Aranui Cave and Gardner's Gut
Gardner's Gut

Gardner's Gut is an extensive cave system in the Waitomo area of New Zealand. It is located in the Ruakuri Caves & Bush Scenic Reserve, an area that also contains a number of other natural features of note....
. They are noted for their stalactite
Stalactite

A stalactite is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling or wall of limestone caves. It is sometimes referred to as dripstone....
 and stalagmite
Stalagmite

A stalagmite is a type of speleothem that rises from the floor of a limestone cave due to the dripping of mineralized solutions and the deposition of calcium carbonate....
 displays, and for the presence of glowworms (the fungus gnat Arachnocampa luminosa
Arachnocampa

Arachnocampa is a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage, glowworms. They are found mostly in New Zealand and Australia in caves and grottos, or sheltered places in forests....
).

See also

  • Caving in New Zealand
    Caving in New Zealand

    Caving in New Zealand is an established hobby as well as being a part commercial tourism.Recreational caving is practised by several hundred members of caving associations all over New Zealand, who take advantage of the widespread limestone karst cave systems present in the country, especially in the Waitomo District of the North Island an...