Daytrip to Waitomo Caves

The glowworm cave is the main attraction which brings dozens of busloads of tourists to town each day. We felt it alone was worth the trip.

The Shearing shop was also a highlight as we got to see an Angora rabbit sheared along with some interesting information. This is also an area with black water (underground) rafting, abseiling, rock climbing, and cave tubing.

Quick Tips:

Other than the attractions that bring you there Waitomo does not have much to keep you there for much more than a day. Thus it appears most visitors travel there from either Rotorua or Hamilton. Both cities have bus tours traveling daily to Waitomo. It's about a one hour trip. It's recommended that you visit the caves early in the afternoon as most of the tour buses will be gone by then.

Best Way To Get Around:

Although most of the attractions are fairly close together you need a vehicle or to travel with a tour group as the caves and other attractions have no public transportation systems available.

The Aranui caves are a complex of caverns nearby the more famous Waitomo Glowworm caves. You buy your ticket at the ticket center - a two ticket package is available which also covers the glowworm caves for $30NZ ($16US).

You start by walking up a path through dense forest to the cave opening. The cave was apparently found and named after a native Maori who discovered the cave while chasing after his dog who followed a rabbit into the caves. These caves have artificial lights which are turned on in each section of the caves as you visit and then turned off when you leave that section. The caves have stalactites and stalagmites and offer several spectacular natural formations. Photography is allowed.

The guide leads you through each section and suggests photo ops and a few sites which you may otherwise overlook. The inside tour takes about 20 minutes to half an hour.

Tickets are purchased at the ticket center - $20 NZ for the Glowworm Cave or $30NZ for the Glowworm Cave and the Aranui cave (see separate review). When busy, you are given a time for your group, otherwise you would just go to the entrance and start when there are enough in your group to start. There are guides that take you through the caves and explain a lot about the formation and history of the caves and various facts about the glowworms.

The main glowworm cave has a large cathedral which has hosted many musical performances. After about a 15 minute walk through the cave with your guide you come to the section of the cave where the glowworms reside. This section of the cave is flooded and you ride through on a raft. You are warned to be very quiet as noise apparently disturbs the glowworms. The raft slowly passes through this section and as you round the first corner it suddenly seems as if you are outside on a perfectly clear star-filled night. Thousands of little glowworms are above you lighting your artificial sky. The raft carries on through this section and you arrive at the end of your journey.

As with all good tourist stops there is the obligatory gift shop and cafeteria-style restaurant. The gift shop does have a few unique items relating to the glowworms as well as a good stock of New Zealand tourist items.

The Shearing Shed is a very small building just a few hundred yards from the Waitomo Caves Ticket Center. We almost passed it by and then decided we may as well have a look. The store has two rooms, the first being a smaller room selling chocolates and tourist items. The main room sells high quality, hand woven sweaters and other items locally produced. The most expensive items are those which include the fur of the Angora Rabbit.

We were fortunate that on the day we were there they were shearing a rabbit. Before the shearing the owner was showing off the rabbit and allowing customers to pet it. The fur is incredibly thick yet very light. She explained the rabbits have to be sheared every four months or they will die from the heat caused by their coats. The shearing was very interesting. We had seen sheep sheared and that was very simple to do as the sheep really didn't seem to mind. The rabbit definitely wasn't happy about it. It fights so hard that in order to shear it without hurting it (or the shearer) they have to stretch it out and tie its front and back legs to something that looks like you would use to barbeque the rabbit. Then it is sheared while held stationery in that position. After the shearing the rabbit appeared to regain its good humor indicating the process really didn't hurt.

The Kiwi is the National bird of New Zealand, however, as it is endangered and nocturnal, you will almost never see one in its natural environment. Because of this there are several small Kiwi houses built primarily for tourists to come and see the Kiwis in an artificial environment made as natural as possible for the Kiwis.

This building has four outer walls and a roof. Inside is a circular structure with mostly glass walls. Inside two or three Kiwis roam around in their created environment of plants, earth, etc. Lighting is very low (like walking at night) as the Kiwis are nocturnal.

They are about the size of a chicken, but no other similarities. They have long, thin beaks, poor eyesight, and good hearing and smell. One Kiwi was apparently battling with another for territorial rights when we were there. You can't really go to New Zealand without seeing a Kiwi, but most of us will probably find that one visit is enough.