- Waitomo Caves
The Waitomo Caves are a village and cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the southern
Waikato region of theNorth Island ofNew Zealand , 12 kilometres northwest ofTe Kuiti . 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 theMāori language "wai" meaning water and "tomo" meaning a doline orsinkhole ; it can thus be translated to be "water passing through a hole". [cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/W/WaitomoCaves/WaitomoCaves/en|title=Waitomo Caves|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of New Zealand (1966) ] These Caves are believed to be over two million years old.Fact|date=June 2008Caving
;Early history
The
limestone landscape of theWaitomo District area has been the centre of increasingly popular commercialcaving tourism from as early as 1900. Initially mostly consisting of impromptu trips guided by localMāori , large sections of cave near Waitomo Caves were later taken over bythe Crown and managed as a (relatively genteel) tourism attraction from 1904 onwards. [http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/BushAndMountainRecreation/Caving/2/en Caving tourism] (fromTe Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand )];Modern days
Today, a number of companies, large and small, specialise in leading tourists through the
cave s of the area, from easily accessible areas with hundreds of tourists per hour in the peak season, toextreme sport 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 anAutomobile Association poll of over 20,000 motorists published 2007, [" [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10423289 Peaks, sounds, parks and islands tops in Kiwi eyes] " - "New Zealand Herald ", Saturday 10 February 2007] and in 2004, around 400,000 visitors entered caves in the area.;Main caves
The main caves in the area are Waitomo Cave,
Ruakuri Cave ,Aranui Cave andGardner's Gut . They are noted for theirstalactite andstalagmite displays, and for the presence of glowworms (the fungus gnat "Arachnocampa luminosa"). [ [http://www.waitomocaves.co.nz/glowworm-caves-boat-ride/343/The+Glowworm.aspx Glowworm Caves, Waitomo] (from the tourism operator website 'waitomocaves.co.nz')]See also
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Caving in New Zealand References
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