Ruakuri Cave is one of the longer caves in the

Waitomo Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in ...

area of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It was first discovered by local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

between 400 and 500 years ago. The name Te Ruakuri, or "The Den of Dogs" (as it is referred to by the local hapū) was given to the surrounding area when wild dogs were discovered living in the entrance of the cave. One of the cave entrances was used by Māori as an ''urupā'' or

burial site Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

. As a sacred area it is no longer used for tourism; however, it is now accessed by a spiral drum entrance built some distance away from the tapu (sacred) site where tours now run since 2005. Lit up stalactites and stalagmites in Ruakuri Cave

Lit up stalactites and stalagmites in Ruakuri Cave

Ruakuri is the only wheelchair-accessible cave in the Southern Hemisphere. It is well known for its spiritual links to Māori and its unusual

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formations and caverns. Major features of the Ruakuri Cave include Holdens Cavern (named after James Holden who first opened the cave to the public), The Drum Passage, The Pretties and The Ghost Passage. The cave was open to the public from 1904 until 1988, when it was closed due to a legal and financial dispute. It was reopened in 2005. Inside there is a dynamic natural environment, with

glowworm Glowworm or glow-worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They include the European common glow-worm and other members of the Lampyridae, but bioluminescence al ...

s, limestone formations, underground rivers, and hidden waterfalls.

Guided tours

Ramp down spiral into Ruakuri Cave with door open at the bottom

The

guided tour A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, and information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, rel ...

through the Ruakuri Cave starts down a long spiral ramp to the bottom of the cave. This leads to a room full of

stalactites A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is ca ...

, and rare limestone formations that have been created over millions of years. Some of them are covered with a kind of coral (known locally as "popcorn"). There are also underground rivers and waterfalls. The waterfall is only around one and a half metres tall, but it sounds much louder underground. Since 1987 there have been 3 adventure tours run through this cave, with 2 still operating most days. Also in the cave are

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s from the time when the area was beneath the sea. There are still living creatures in the cave such as the glowworms for which the

Waitomo Caves Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in ...

are famous. The glowworms cover the cave's walls with pinpricks of light, giving the effect of a starry night. The glowworms are the larvae of fungus gnats that spend most of their lives in the larval state. They feed on insects that fly into the cave; they also eat one another. The presence of life and light in a place that should be dark and dead is the reason Māori thought this place sacred.

References

External links

Caves Discovery Centre
{{authority control 1904 establishments in New Zealand Caves of Waikato Limestone caves Show caves in New Zealand Waitomo District Places with bioluminescence Tourist attractions in Waikato

Guided tours

See also

References

External links