Who is Tane Tinorau?
Tane Tinorau was a Maori chieftain and explorer in New Zealand. Tinorau was born around 1827, and probably grew up in the Kawhia area of King Country, North Island, New Zealand. His parents were probably Maori royalty as well.
Who owns Ruakuri cave?
Ruakuri Cave was closed for over 18 years and was officially reopened for underground guided walking tours by the New Zealand Prime Minister in July 2005. This followed extensive redevelopment by Tourism Holdings Limited and an agreement with the Holden Family Trust of Waitomo.
Why are the Waitomo caves famous?
Famous for their abundance of glow worms, extensive underground river system and stunning stalactite and stalagmites formations, a trip to the Waitomo caves is a trip to another world.
What did Maori use caves for?
burial grounds
Māori used caves sometimes for shelter, but mainly as burial grounds. For this reason many were sacred sites. The earliest European explorer of limestone caves was probably Arthur S. Thomson.
Who runs Waitomo Caves?
In 1906 the administration of the cave was taken over by the government. In 1989, almost 100 years later, the land and the cave were returned to the descendants of the original owners. Many staff employed at the caves today are direct descendants of Chief Tane Tinorau and his wife Huti.
How old are the Waitomo Caves?
about 30 million years ago
Geological and volcanic activity has created around 300 known limestone caves in the Waitomo region over the last 30 million years. The limestone formation in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves occurred when the region was still under the ocean about 30 million years ago.
What creature makes Waitomo caves famous?
The Waitomo Glowworm Caves attraction is a cave at Waitomo on the North Island of New Zealand. It is known for its population of Arachnocampa luminosa, a glowworm species found exclusively in New Zealand.
When did Waitomo open?
Debris and logs littered the waterway, but by poling themselves toward the embankment they were able to leave the raft and explore the lower levels of the cave. Here they found themselves surrounded by the glorious cave decorations. By 1889 Tane Tinorau had opened the cave to tourists.
What creature makes New Zealand’s Waitomo caves famous?
The glowworm
The glowworm (Arachnocampa Luminosa) is unique to New Zealand, making the Waitomo Glowworm Caves an absolute must-do. See thousands of these tiny creatures as they radiate their unmistakable luminescent light in a subterranean world.
Who discovered the Waitomo caves?
Chief Tane Tinorau
The caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau accompanied by an English surveyor Fred Mace. Local Maori people knew of the caves existence, but the subterranean caverns had never been extensively explored until Fred and Tane went to investigate.
How did the Waitomo Glowworm caves form?
Over millions of years, these fossilized rocks have been layered upon each other and compressed to create limestone and within the Waitomo region the limestone can be over 200 m thick. The caves began to form when earth movement caused the hard limestone to bend and buckle under the ocean and rise above the sea floor.
What does waitomo mean in English?
Waitomo is a Maori word made up of two parts, ‘Wai’ which translates as water and ‘tomo’ which means entrance or hole. Waitomo can be translated as the ‘stream which flows into the hole in the ground’.