THE WAITOMO CAVES

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 104

THE WAITOMO CAVES

By Weary Willie.

A comparatively little known New Zealand wonder is the Waitomo and Ruakuri Caves, commonly called " the Waitomo Caves." By taking an extra day the journey can be made between Auckland and the Wanganui River, or between Auckland and Rotorua, or vice versa. We left Auckland by the 10 a.m. Taumarunui express and reached Hangatiki, 120 miles from Auckland, about 5 p.m. The mail coach meets the train, and we were driven about six miles through some interesting bush country to the Government accommodation hovee — Waitomo House. The Waitomo Caves are about 10 minutes' walk from the houee, and the Ruakuri Caves about one and a-half miles farther on, an exceedingly pleasant walk in the cool of the evening. The' accommodation at the house is at present rather limited, but the Government intends building a langer and more commodious place as the tourist traffic increases. A guide's fee of 2s is imposed for the Waitomo and 2s 6d for the Ruakuri. Our party mustered seven, and, after a council of war, and acting on the advice of our guide-manager (the night being a moonlight one), we decided to take the Ruakuri that evening, and leave the nearer caves until the morning. We started at 7.30, and, after walking for some two miles, we descended abruptly to the entrance, where each one was provided with a lantern. We noticed nothing remarkable on entering, but we had traversed only a short distance when we began to see the wonders that one sometimes imagines in the most fantastic dreams. Looking up one sees stalactites of a waxy whiteness, glistening whiteness, creams, yellows, pinks of all shades, all showing up in the light of the guide's magnesium-wire, for the caves are pitch dark. Almost as beautiful are the stalagmites, and certainly as fantastic. They are every size, from the tiny thread-like stalactite with its drop of Water to the massive column where stalactite and stalagmite, after centuries of patient endeavour, have joined together, a monumental tribute to what can be done by "little drops of water." The Ruakuri Caves are about 500 yards from the entrance to the far end. After winding about for some time, we were told that we were 300 ft below the summit of the hill, and some time after we were in another narrow passage 15ft lower still. One of the finest sights is King Edward's Chamber, where Nature has been most pordigal in her profusion of beauty. Here are "The Gems," long, thin stalactites which, as their name implies, glisten in the light Jike strings of diamonds. " Queen Alexandra's " is another beautiful chamber, and then there is tbe Bridal Chamber, with its " sofa " and its immense " wedding cake," three-tiered, and a mass of icing. In another place, crouching on a narrow rocky ledge, all lanterns out and with the Ruakuri Creek rushing and tumbling along many feet below us, we look up and think we have suddenly cot outside on a brilliant starry night. But no! we are in the presence of glow-worms, myriads of them, sticking about all over the dome and reflected in the creek below. A short time in this precarious position is enough for most of us, and we are glad to get back again to the stalactites, but a couple of houns are gone, and we are reluctantly compelled to begin the return journey, often looking backward and wishing we could see it all a second time. The Waitomos in their way are as marvellous as the Ruakuris. They are sometimes called " the Old Caves," having been known about 20 years, whilst the Ruakuris have been known to the pakeha only about four years. The Waitomo Caves were first entered by boat where the creek makes its escape ; then the natural opening in the rocky formation was found and dug out. This cave is low near the entrance, and one is required to stoop or ©tee bump ; but it ie not every day we have the cJiance to bump our heads on real limestone stalactites. Immediately within the entrance the beauty commpnees — plastered walls, immense halls, carved ceilings, stalactites and stalagmites. One gallery, well named "Waitomo Cathedral," 130 ft long and 80ft high, is more beautiful than any building ever made by man, with its domed ceiling, its marble pillars, its high gallery, and its — bulcher's shop. Nature made a mistake here, and the sides of beef and legs of mutton look decidedly out of place in the cathedral, whilst the organ is crushed out into another chamber. Here a number of stalagmites have formed side by side and joined together, forming a remarkable resemblance to the pipes of an organ, but, with their transparent pinkiness, are far more beautiful than du 1 ! metal. " The Blankets " hang gracefully, a perfect imitation, a creamy yellow with pink and dark red stripes, and the red buttonhole stitching down the edge. There is bacon, too, with alternate stripes of fat and lean, and there are poached eggs anywhere with the white around and the yolk still moist in the centre. There is an immense 6haft in this cave, quite 80ft deep and rising to a great height. Glowworms are here, too, and in the distance we can see a glimmer of daylight where the Waitomo Creek makes its exit. There is a perfect imitation on a small scale of the destroyed pink terraces of Rotomahana, and in another part is a reproduction of the white terraces. There are grotesque formations, where one can-imagine faces of famous men, a notable instance being a silhouette of the late W. E. Gladstone. Some of the stalactites in this cave are of perfect whiteness. The marvels of the caves seem the more extraordinary when we are told that a stalactite forms at the rate of one-thirtieth of an inch in 70 years. In one place where a stalactite and a stalagmite have met except for a hair's breadth, the guide told us that he i has not been able to detect any difference . in about two years. The drops fall on tbe |

stalagmites at the rate of four or five im 24 hours.

With many regrets we turn our backs on the Waitomo Cavee, glad that- we were co fortunate as to know that such things exist, and resolving that none- of our friends will pass them by for want of information that we can give.