Waitomo
Waitomo comes from the Maori words "Wai" (water) and "tomo" (hole or entrance) - "the water which flows into the hole in the ground."
Waitomo is one of New Zealand's original tourist destinations. For more than 100 years it has been attracting visitors to its famous limestone and glowworm caves.
Today the glow worm caves and Black Water Rafting are two of the famous attractions in and around Waitomo.
Black water rafting is cave exploration at its best - floating along underground streams in large inner tubes lit only by the light of your head lamps.
For an adrenalin rush abseil deep into a cave shaft, scramble around subterranean waterfalls, ride a quad bike or go big game fishing.
Enjoy horse riding, a "Kiwi Culture" show, Angora rabbit shearing, a wildlife park, the Waitomo Museum of Caves and New Zealand's original Kiwi House & Native Bird Park in nearby Otorohanga.
The King Country region and its major towns (Te Kuiti and Otorohanga) offer an excellent range of accommodation,shopping, restaurants, cafes and bars.
Caves in Waitomo
Cavers have been actively exploring around Waitomo since the 1940's. By the early 1950's caving had emerged as a significant recreational pursuit. By the late 1970's many of Waitomo's major caves had been discovered and explored, surveyed, mapped and documented. This "golden era" of Waitomo caving resulted in the discovery of many kilometres of new caves and scientific discoveries.
A number of these caves are now used for Blackwater Rafting, adventure caving and cave abseiling. They also provide valuable information about past climates, landscapes, flora, fauna and cultural history. The relatively stable climatic conditions have protected fossils, sub-fossil bones, silts, mud and traces of human usage.
Numerous caves in the Waitomo area are renowned for their Speleothems or "formations" and "decorations". The basic types are stalagtites, stalagmites and columns formed by water dripping from the cave roof or flowing over the exposed limestone walls. As water flows down through the earth it dissolves limestone which remains as a crystalline deposit within the cave.
These spectacular formations develop over thousands of years and must be treated with respect. It takes about a hundred years to form a cubic centimetre of stalactite. They are very delicate and can be severely damaged simply by the touch of a human hand.
Most speleothems are composed of calcite (calcium carbonate) formed from the limestone rock. As water slowly percolates through the limestone it is dissolved and re-deposited around the edge of a drop of water clinging to the roof. A tiny ring of calcium carbonate (calcite) the diameter of the drop is formed. As more calcite is deposited the stalactite grows.
The drop forms a near-transparent crystalline ring. As the ring grows it creates a delicate straw shape, the early stages of a stalactite. In time the hollow tube becomes blocked and water runs down outside the tube forming thicker tapering stalactites. Others remain straw-like and very delicate. Drips falling from stalactites hit the ground and form stalagmites. When a stalactite and stalagmite "grow" towards each other and eventually meet a pillar or column is formed. The Pipe Organ formation in the Glowworm Cave is a substantial column 2.5 meters high and 7 meters in circumference and is believed to be about 750,000 years old.
Speleothems such as "curtains" or "drapes" develop in a similar way with calcium carbonate solution running down the cave wall and depositing thin layers of calcite. Flowstones occur where super-saturated solutions flow over cave walls and rimstone or gour pools form with the deposition of calcite as dams. Other crystal forms are the result of evaporation and speleotherms such as "cave pearls" are concretions formed around small pebbles or gravel.
Many of the Waitomo caves also have stunning displays of glowworms.
The New Zealand Glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) is a two-winged insect (fungus gnat) at the "larva" stage of its life-cycle. It lives in dark damp places and emits light to attract flying insects for food.
The glowworm's whole life cycle takes about 11 months. Eggs are laid in clutches of 30-40 on walls and ceilings. Within 20 days the young larvae hatch from the eggs, emitting a bright light and crawling upward until they reach a suitable area to hang their feeding lines.
Sticky substances on the lines trap insects and these are drawn up and devoured. They remain in this larva stage for about nine months growing from 2mm to over 25mm in length.
They feed only in the larvae stage and store sufficient food or energy to survive the pupa and adult stages.
The adult resembles and is slightly larger than a mosquito.
The glowworm feeds mainly on midges and other airborne insects that see the lights of the glowworms and fly toward them. En masse the glowworms "mimic" the stars in the night sky. All flying insects have a strong instinct to fly towards an open space and try to keep away from walls or vegetation that might have a predator lurking. The glowworms "trick" the midges into "thinking" they're outside and then trap them.
To catch these flying insects, each glowworm lets down long sticky lines. One glowworm can have as many as 70 lines up to 20cm long. These lines are strong, elastic and beaded with very sticky glue. Once the insects get caught the glowworm senses the movement and pulls up the line and the struggling insect.
Glowworms can only survive in very damp dark places. They need a habitat with a horizontal ceiling or ledges, where they can hang their feeding lines, and sheltered places where wind does not dry them out or tangle their lines.
The glowworm light or bioluminescence
is the result of a chemical reaction involving ATP, adenosine triphosphate luciferin, luciferase and oxygen. The glowworm controls its light by reducing oxygen to the light organ.
Located in the centre of the Waitomo village is the award-winning Waitomo Museum of Caves. It has karst (limestone) displays, information on local history and culture, an impressive collection of moa and other fossils and a cave crawl challenge.
Waitomo is located:
1 hour from Hamilton
2 hours 45 mins. from Auckland
1 hour 45 mins. from Rotorua
2 hours 15 mins. from Taupo
2 hours 30 mins. from New Plymouth
The King Country
Known by Maori as Te Rohe Potae ("The Area of the Hat") the King Country region extends along the west coast of New Zealand's North Island from Mt. Pirongia in the north to the coastal town of Mokau in the south. It stretches inland to Pureora Forest Park and the Waikato River.
Two important rural towns, Otorohanga and Te Kuiti, provide a full range of shopping and services and the smaller settlements of Waitomo Village, Kawhia, Marokopa, PioPio and Mokau are welcome stops for travelers.
Waitomo is one part of the fabled King Country, a reference to the Maori King, Tawhiao, who sought refuge in the rugged countryside with his followers after the Maori Land Wars of the early 1860's.
Tradition tells how King Tawhiao threw his hat over a map of New Zealand and declared: "Round and round the brim of the hat, you can have all that, [inside]this is mine".
The area under the hat, the King Country region surrounding Waitomo, was effectively closed to white settlers until the mid 1880's when the region was "re-opened" following peace negotiations and the building of the Main Trunk (railway) Line.
The area is steeped in Maori culture and European pioneering history. Land forms range from the rugged black sands of the West Coast to the forests and farms of the karst (limestone) landscape and the world-famous caving wonderland of Waitomo.
Above ground horse treks take adventurers into more remote areas of the King Country and the numerous forest parks have well-signposted walking tracks and tramping huts for hikers. The National Walkway, Te Araroa, passes from Pirongia through Waitomo and is planned to continue south through Te Kuiti.
The region's numerous forest parks and scenic reserves are a haven for both rare and common native birds with great stands of native forest, cascading waterfalls, natural limestone bridges and water-sculpted outcrops.
Local short walks include the Waitomo Walkway, which includes farmland, karst landscapes, caves and magnificent night time glowworm displays.
Another is the Opapaka Pa Walk with the remains of a Maori "Pa" (fort) site and ancient "Papakainga" (village) and food gardens.
For those keen to take a "Caves to Coast" scenic drive it's just 3 to 4 hours return from Waitomo to Marokopa with great fishing, black iron sands, fossils and wild, ruggedly beautiful West Coast beaches. Enroute there are views of Mount Ruapehu, the magical Mangapohue Natural Bridge, the Piripiri Caves with their 30 million year old giant fossil oysters and a short forest walk to the magnificent Marokopa Falls.
A great back-country drive, or alternative scenic route to New Plymouth for the slightly more adventurous, is from Marokopa to Awakino via Waikawau. This route includes forest, river, wetland and coastal landscapes and leads to the historic Waikawau Beach Tunnel. Formed by three men using just a pick and shovel it was finished on 19th October, 1911 and opened a beach route for stock to reach the 4,000ha Nukuhakare Station. It was built wide enough for the largest horned beast and high enough to accommodate a tall horseman.
Otorohanga - The Kiwiana Capital
Otorohanga is New Zealand's self-styled and official Kiwiana Town, embracing and celebrating New Zealand's popular culture, Kiwiana icons, heroes and traditions.
Otorohanga also has year round displays of Kiwiana "mini exhibits" in main street shop windows, large corrugated iron Kiwis at the town's entrances and Kiwiana murals on a number of the main street buildings.
And nothing can be more Kiwi than the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park where visitors can see the iconic native Kiwi bird.
There are also many rare and unusual birds and reptiles, including the only surviving native owl (the morepork) the New Zealand falcon, tui, kaka, kea, and green and wood geckos.
The park carries out a successful breeding programme including kiwi, waterfowl, the tuatara and native reptiles.
At the town's northern entrance the Memorial Park features a sculpted bronze bowler hat on a greenstone (Pounamu) plinth, which commemorates and explains the origins of The King Country- "Te Rohe Potae".
A small museum complex on Kakamutu Road (on the Tourist Drive to the Kiwi House) is open Sundays 2-4pm.
Otorohanga, a vibrant rural town well known for its colourful hanging flower baskets, provides a full range of services, shopping and dining.
www.otorohanga.co.nz
www.kiwianatown.co.nz
Otorohanga is located:
45 minutes from Hamilton
2 hours 30 mins. from Auckland
1 hour 30 mins. from Rotorua
2 hours from Taupo
2 hours 45 mins. from New Plymouth
Te Kuiti
Te Kuiti is New Zealand's (and some say the world's) Shearing Capital.
A giant statue of a shearer at the southern end of Rora Street (the main street) proudly verifies this claim.
Each year the town hosts The New Zealand Shearing Championships from March 31- April 2.
Now in its 21st year, the event attracts the best New Zealand shearers, plus international entries. With champion shearers capable of shearing a sheep in just 21 seconds, spectators are assured fast, furious action as these top sportsmen vie for the coveted "New Zealand Shearer of the Year" title.
Another highlight of the championships is the "Running of the Sheep" where approximately 2000 sheep run the length of Te Kuiti's main street and shopping center.
There are also numerous carnival-style attractions and street entertainment - something for everyone!
Te Kuiti's main street, Rora Street, features The Trust Waikato Millennium Pavilion - Te Kuititanga o nga Whakaaro (translated as "the gathering of thoughts and ideas"). This small multi- cultural building shaped in the form of a cross is open at all times and celebrates the local people, their heritage and history.
Rora, a local Maori Chief of years gone by, is depicted holding in one hand the tail of an eel (food for all) and in the other, the rope of unity. Above him is a net holding Celtic, Chinese, French, Jewish and Indian symbols, representing all people.
The tukutuku panels in the ceiling represent the stars in the sky and the rainbow carvings the passing generations.
The handprints on the floor are of all five year olds in the Waitomo District in February 1999.
The north entrance depicts the Tainui waka (canoe) of the Maniapoto people, the east, the coming of the European. The south entrance the building of the towns and settlements and the west entrance, today's people.
The ceiling panels are made up of various New Zealand native timbers and the Maihi (entrance carvings) are of figures past, present and future and include many of New Zealand's native birds and creatures.
Te Kuiti is surrounded by beautiful private gardens and has the Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve for a spot of fishing or swimming. There are several pleasant walks, including the riverbank and Brook Park at the northern entrance to Te Kuiti.
There is also the beautifully carved Maori meeting house (Marae) Tokanganui-a-Noho, which can be visited by arrangement.
Te Kuiti offers a full range of services, shopping and dining.
Te Kuiti is located:
1 hour from Hamilton
2 hours 45 mins. from Auckland
1 hour 45 mins. from Rotorua
2 hours 15 mins. from Taupo
2 hours 30 mins. from New Plymouth
Kawhia
Kawhia is a quiet coastal township nestled beside a placid 6000-hectare West Coast harbour. An hour's drive from Hamilton, two hours from Auckland, and 45 minutes from Te Awamutu or Otorohanga, it's where SH31 reaches the sea.
For some travelers, the hill road is a formidable drive. Although it's sealed and well formed, it can't be hurried.
You'll have time to admire the view across Kawhia Moana, "the Sea of Kawhia", from the top of the hill.
Another popular route is the scenic back-road from Raglan - 45km of unsealed road with intriguing coastal and bush views as you skirt Mount Karioi and Aotea Harbour. Allow an hour between Raglan and Kawhia Harbour.
As the spiritual home of the Tainui tribe and resting place of the ancestral waka, Kawhia is a place to enjoy for the peaceful, nostalgic magnetism that draws visitors back year after year.
First-time visitors are usually amazed by its 1950s feel. It's an inexpensive place to holiday, where you can hire a cabin, a campsite or a motel for modest tariffs, buy a flounder for well below city prices and watch one of the harbour fishermen cleaning fish on strings of flax.
The Kawhia area offers harbour trips, bush walks, hot springs that bubble up through the sand at low tide, tame eels, horse treks, kayaking, yachting and fishing galore. Cruises roam the harbour and charter boats cross the bar for deep-water fishing. There are an all-tides launching ramp, a good-fishing wharf with boat-boarding pontoon attached, sand-flats which yield fat flounders, and estuaries with oysters for the picking.
When the tide's low, you can sit in a hot pool dug in the black sand of Ocean Beach. The springs are called Te Puia, which means hot springs in Maori. They are usually accessible for up to two hours before and after low tide. They can be reached by either walking or riding around the beach from the Karewa boat ramp on the south side of the township or by a short walk over the sand dunes from the car park at the end of the forestry road.
Watch for the warm water running gently out of the sand, sometimes accompanied by a sulphurous smell. Once you've found some, dig a hole and trap the warm water with walls of dug-out sand.
Take care in fine weather to wear shoes of some kind - the dry black sand becomes very hot on sunny days.
A highlight of each year is whaleboat racing, on January 1, when six unique five-oared racing whaleboats join in competition between the harbour communities.
One of Kawhia's biggest events is held over Waitangi weekend (Waitangi Day is February 6) when thousands of people turn out for the Kawhia Traditional Kai Festival. It offers a huge range of traditional Maori food, cultural performances, live music, waka (Maori canoe) parades, art exhibitions, history cruises and more.
But most of the time Kawhia is Kawhia. It has 650 permanent residents, a doctor, policeman, volunteer fire brigade and a St John ambulance. Kawhia has a small library, a museum which also becomes a visitor information centre for six months from Labour Weekend to Easter, and there are two stores, a cafe, fish and chip shop, service station and a range of accommodation places.
Kawhia is one of the few coastal resorts in New Zealand which has retained a nostalgic, "good-old-days" charm - and where visitors seem pleased to discover that the rat-race stops somewhere on the other side of the hill.
Kawhia is located:
1 hour from Hamilton
2 hours 45 mins. from Auckland
2 hours 30 mins. from Rotorua
3 hours from Taupo
3 hours 45 mins. from New Plymouth
Marokopa
Marokopa is a small settlement situated beside the Marokopa River just south of Kawhia. The area is well known for its black ironsand and fishing, especially whitebait and kahawai.
In the village is the anchor from the "Albatross" which sank while trying to cross the bar in 1916.
If you're driving on the Te Anga Road from Waitomo village enroute to Marokopa, the Marokopa Falls, 35 metres in height and surrounded by lush forest, are well worth a visit as they spill over a magnificent greywacke bluff.
Mokau
The quiet little town on the southern boundary of the King Country is situated on the west coast and the estuary of the beautiful winding Mokau River. The area is a favourite playground and relaxation place for locals during the "whitebait "(fish hatchling) season, which runs from August 15 to November 30.
Visitors can explore the natural coastal caves and islands, kayak or take a heritage boat cruise up the river, engage in a history tour, swim, surf, fish and gather mussels, or play a round of golf. There are several walkways through coastal and inland areas, some leading to scenic waterfalls. Horse trekking is another way to see the area.
Mokau is located:
2 hours from Hamilton
3 hours 45 mins. from Auckland
2 hours 45 mins. hours from Rotorua
3 hours 15 mins. from Taupo
1 hour from New Plymouth
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