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The road out to the west coast from Hamilton passes through rural countryside dominated by stark limestone formations that once were part of the sea floor. Beneath this dramatic landscape lies hundreds of kilometres of caves waiting to be explored on a range of adventure and tourist oriented guided trips.
The rugged area southwest of the Waikato, around Otorohanga, Waitomo and extending from Mt. Pirongia in the north to the coastal town of Mokau in the south, is known as the King Country. The Maori King Movement, which sought to unite the tribes on a national basis, developed in the Waikato in the 1850s. After the Waikato War of 1863-64, King Tawhiao, the second Maori king, and his people sought refuge in the rugged countryside to the south and the region became known as the King Country. Peace had been declared after the Waikato War between the Maori and the Europeans, but there were still conflicts flaring up along the river. Governor George Grey met with Tawhiao, the chief Rangatira of the Tainui waka, the Maori King, at Waahi (Huntly). Grey’s proposal was to cut the land in half to avoid further conflict. In reply Tawhiao asked for Grey’s hat and was about to cut it in half with a tomahawk when Grey protested. Tawhiao said, 'You were afraid that if we cut your hat in half it would be damaged. But would the land not be damaged if we cut it in half?' Grey agreed and then Tawhiao made a proposal, using his own hat as an example, that the Europeans should have the land around the brim of the hat and the Maori the central area under the hat, which became known as the Maori King Country. The agreed and from 1864 until 1883 access to the area was forbidden to Europeans until in 1908 when the arrival of the Main Trunk Railway line ended its isolation. Today the area is notable for its distinctive rock formations and complex cave systems formed over thousands of years in the limestone rock that is a feature of the region.
1te awamutu
From Hamilton travel 25.4 km south on SH3 to Te Awamutu.
For many years Te Awamutu was a small frontier town, located on the northern border of land that had been confiscated from Maori 'rebels'. The Otawhao mission had been established here much earlier in 1839 by the Rev. John Morgan. By 1860 there were a number of flour mills operating in the area along with permanent church buildings, most of them funded by their Maori parishioners, which had been built under the direction of John Morgan. These included St. Paul's Church (1856) at Hairini (Rangiaowhia) and St. John's Church (1854) in Arawata Street. Some of the grave stones around St. John's Church mark the final resting places of a number of soldiers who fell in the historic battle of Orakau. The Te Awamutu and District Museum on Roche Street houses a significant collection of Maori and European artifacts, including a large carved post known as the 'Uenuku' carving, said to have been brought to New Zealand on the Tainui ancestral canoe. This impressive yet controversial carving is clearly of Maori design but its style is markedly different from any other early Maori work. The first brick house in Te Awamutu, located on Tawhiao Street, dates back to 1908 and was built using bricks made by Te Awamutu’s pioneer brickmaker William North. You can also find a number of historic homes and commercial buildings on the towns heritage trail, including the Commercial Hotel, opened during the early 1870s and the Little Theatre which was the first school building and dates back to 1880. The Teasdale building was erected in 1911 and rebuilt in 1938, featuring the first cooling system for tap beer of it's kind in New Zealand. The Splinley building dates back to 1932 while the Empire theatre (1915) was purpose built for silent films which were often accompanied by a pianist or an orchestra. There were three tiers of seats and a fire proof projection box as well as dressing rooms used by performers when live shows were being staged. Today Te Awamutu is known as the 'Rose Town', and in early summer you can see magnificent displays in the Rose Gardens at the northern end of the town where over 2000 roses come into bloom each year. The Rose Gardens are located on part of the original Otawhao Mission Station farm which later became the army headquarters in the 1860s during the Waikato Land Wars. The gardens feature two prominent roses bred by the late Pat Stephens, Te Awamutu Centennial and Big Purple.
kihikihi
Drive 4.6 km southeast on SH3 to Kihikihi.
The centre of this town features a monument to Rewi Maniapoto, the venerated Maori warrior. Kihikihi was the venue of the final battles of the Waikato War. A few kilometers east of the town at Orakau, 300 Maori dug in behind hastily prepared earthworks to face over 1000 Imperial troops supported by artillery and armed with muskets and grenades. Rewi Maniapoto regarded the position as untenable, but the Waikati Maori had been joined by about 170 men from the Tuhoe tribe in the Urewera as well as Ngati Kahungunu from East Cape who said they had not carried their guns all that distance to go home without a fight. They stayed and fought a legendary defence against thousands of British troopes, repelling several major attacks before retreating to what was to become known as the King Country.
2otorohanga
Continue southwest 24.8 km on SH3 to Otorohanga.
Otorohanga is New Zealand's self-styled and official Kiwiana town, embracing and celebrating all aspects of New Zealand's popular culture. Kiwiana icons, heroes and traditions are represented in numerous "mini exhibits" on the Ed Hillary Walkway and in shop windows on the main street. There are large corrugated iron Kiwis at the town's entrances and Kiwiana murals on a number of the buildings. You can observe kiwi, New Zealand's national symbol, in captivity under simulated nocturnal conditions at the Kiwi House and Native Bird Centre on Alex Telfer Drive. The Otorohanga Zoological Society has an international reputation for successfully breeding the kiwi and you can also see over 300 species of native birds, including the saddleback, kakariki, bellbird, tui and morepork in a walk-through aviary at the centre. There are also a number of native reptiles including tuatara as well as green and wood geckos.
Stalactites in Aranui Cave, Waitomo
3waitomo caves
Drive 7.8 km south on SH3 and turn right onto the Waitomo Caves Road. Drive west 8 km on SH37 to the Waitomo Caves on the left.
Waitomo, comes from the Maori word for water (wai) and hole or entrance (tomo), literally meaning ‘the stream which flows into the hole in the ground’. Although local Maori people knew of the Waitomo cave’s existence, the underground labyrinths had not been fully explored until 1887 when Tane Tinorau, a local Maori Chief, and Fred Mace an English surveyor, floated into the cave on a simple raft, with candles as their only light. Following a stream that led underground, they also explored the lower cave levels, Tane returning later to discover the upper level of the cave and an easier access. He opened the cave to tourists in 1889. Cavers continued to explore the network of caves in the area and by the early 1950s, the sport of caving was well established with most of Waitomo's major caves having been explored, surveyed, mapped and documented by the 1970s. These Waitomo cave systems are a subterranean wonderland and the boat trip to the Waitomo Cave glow-worm grotto has delighted generations of tourists. Today the caves are also used for caving adventure trips that include black water rafting and cave abseiling. The main caves in the area are Gardiner’s Gut, the Ruakuri and Aranui Caves which feature impressive formations of stalagmites and stalactites. These caves are believed to be over two million years old, having formed in a limestone landscape that was originally created over 30 million years on the ocean floor. The caves have provided valuable information about past climate, landscapes, flora and fauna by preserving fossils, sub-fossil bones, silts, mud, and traces of human usage thanks to their relatively stable underground climate. There are numerous walks in the area including the Opapaka Pa track starts at the Ohaki Maori Village, a replica of a pre-European pa located 2 km from the caves. This is an easy 30 minute walk leading around this historic pa site with information panels that identify many of the features of the pa as well as describing traditional plant medicines used by the Maori that are found in the forest. Another interesting track is the Waitomo Walkway which starts near the Waitomo Museum of Caves in the Waitomo Village and follows the Waitomo River for an hour though native forest to the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve. This is classic sculptured limestone country where fluted rock outcrops, gorges, rock arches and tunnels are natural and fascinating parts of the landscape. Another short 30 minute loop track at the Ruakuri Scenic Reserve descends into the Ruakuri Natural tunnel, providing visitors with an inside view of the stream and tunnel entrance. Guided tours of the dry Aranui Cave with its beautiful collection of stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones, depart from here. The reserve can also be reached off Tumutumu Road 4 km west of the Waitomo village.
cave formations
Known as speleothems, the spectacular limestone formations that have developed in these caves are hundreds of thousands of years old. It has been estimated that it takes as long as 100 years to form 1 cubic cm of a stalactite formation. Most speleothems are composed of calcite (calcium carbonate) that is formed as water slowly percolates through limestone rock, dissolving and redepositing the limestone crystals around the edge of a drop of water clinging to the roof. A tiny ring of calcite, the diameter of the drop, is formed and as more calcite is deposited, the stalactite grows. Initially they take a delicate straw-like form, but over time the hollow tube becomes blocked and water runs down outside the tube forming the distinctive tapered shape of the stalactite. Drips falling from stalactites form stalagmites on the floor of the cave below them. When a stalactite and stalagmite eventually meet, they form a pillar or column. Speleothems such as 'curtains' or 'drapes' develop in a similar way as waterborne calcium carbonate runs down the cave wall depositing layer upon layer of calcite. Flowstones also occur where highly saturated solutions flow over cave walls while rimstones form when the calcite deposits create a dam.
glowworms
Many of the Waitomo caves feature stunning displays of glowworms. The New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) is the larval stage of a tiny two-winged insect (fungus gnat) that lives in dark damp places. The glowworm's life cycle takes about 11 months, beginning with eggs laid in clutches of 30 to 40 on the walls and ceilings of a cave. Within 20 days the larvae hatch from the eggs and begin to crawl upward until they reach a suitable area to hang their feeding lines. Each glowworm may produce as many as 70 lines up to 20cm long. The glowworm's strong bioluminescent light attracts flying insects which become trapped on the fishing lines which are remarkeably strong, elastic and are beaded with a very sticky substance. The insects trapped on the sticky threads are then pulled up and devoured by the glowworm larvae.
mangapohue natural bridge scenic reserve
Continue west 24.1 km on SH37 and the Te Anga Road to the Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve. A walking track starts from the car park on the right hand side of the road.
A short boardwalk leads the Mangapohue stream through a forest clad gorge to an impressive 17 m high natural rock arch carved out of soft limestone by the Mangapohue River. The arch is the only remnant of a collapsed cave system. From the farm adjacent to the Mangapohue arch you can also arrange to take a guided tour to the Marokopa Tunnel, a massive 270 m long natural rock tunnel that is up to 50 metres high.
piripiri caves
Continue west 4 km on SH37 and the Te Anga Road to the Piripiri caves track on the right.
The 5 minute walk along a short track leads through forest to the Piripiri Caves where you can see large oysters and other 30 million year old fossilized shellfish embedded in the cave walls, a reminder that the landscape was once submerged beneath the sea. You will need a torch if you want to explore deeper into the caves beyond the entrance.
Marokopa Falls
4marokopa falls
Continue 1.1 km west on SH37 to the Marokopa Falls.
Located right on the edge of the contact zone between limestone and volcanic rock formations, the Marokopa Falls are among the most beautiful in the North Island. These spectacular falls drop 37 m over a faultline into a deep valley cut by the Marokopa River. There is a viewing platform near the top of the falls not far from the road, while a short distance further down the hill on the left, a 10 minute track leads down from the road to the river below the falls.
te kuiti
Return to SH3, turn right and drive south 11.3 km along the lowland river valleys to Te Kuiti. This is the starting point of the hill country to the south.
The township of Te Kuiti, heralded as the 'Shearing Capital of the World', boasts a prominent statue of a shearer at the southern end of Rora Street. The 3 day New Zealand Shearing Championships are hosted by the town at the end of March each year, featuring shearers capable of shearing a sheep in as fast as 21 seconds. Another highlight is the 'Running of the Sheep', with around 2000 sheep running the length of Te Kuiti's main street. There is always the risk of breakaway sheep breaking shop windows and trampling gardens while spectators try to guess the exact number of sheep running for large a cash prize. Te Kuiti was the home of King Tawhiao from 1864 to 1881. In return for providing sanctuary for Te Kooti and his rebel followers, the Te Tokanganui-a-Noho meeting house was built in 1878 as a sign of their gratitude. This meeting house, at the southern end of the main street, probably possesses the best examples of Maori carving that can be found outside a museum anywhere in the country.
mokau
Continue south 5.3 km on SH3 along the coast to Mokau.
In the nineteenth century Mokau was a busy port, shipping coal and timber that had been hauled out from along the Mokau River. In the early days, cream was also brought out by boat from farms up the river established by soldier settlers. The Tainui Museum has a collection of photographs recording the history of the area and you can take a tour up the river on the MV Glen Royal.
Unusual rock stacks, known as the Three Sisters, on the Taranaki Coast
6the three sisters
Continue south 16 km on SH3 to Tongaporutu. Clifdon Road to the right on the southern side of the driftwood strewn inlet, leads west towards the coast and a small parking area.
From the carpark it is a 25 minute walk along the edge of the inlet out to the coast and the Three Sisters, a series of towering 25 m high coastal rock stacks. This is part of the White Cliffs (Paraninihi) Walkway which runs for nearly 10 km south along the coast to Pukearuhe. The beach between the Waipingau Stream and Pukearuhe should only be walked at low tide so if you are going to make a longer trip south along the coast you will need to allow about 3 hours making sure you start on an outgoing tide. Fishing at the rivermouth, both surfcasting and spinning, is very good and will produce fresh fish. The river is also a great spot to stop to let the kids get out and look for shells, crabs and fish. It is a beautiful walk to the Three Sisters and Elephant rock where you will find Moari rock carvings. The miocene fossil sequence embedded in the cliffs, attracts geologists from all around the world.
7urenui
From Tongaporutu continue 37.3 km south on SH3 to Urenui to Ahititi, continue inland on SH3 across the forest-clad slopes of Mt Messenger and back down to the coast 32 km south-west at Urenui, a popular beach in summer.
About 5 km before Urenui, near the turn-off to Pukearuhe, is a sign for ‘Real Ale – 1000 litres ahead.’ The White Cliffs Brewing Company offers sampling of their naturally brewed and certified organic beers. There are no added sugars or preservatives in these unique beers and there is no pasteurisation or filtering in the process with most of the beer being bottled and labeled by hand. Mike’s Mild Ale won the Silver Medal in the ‘Dark Beer’ category at the 2004 Brew NZ Awards.
From Urenui continue south 28.8 km on SH3 to New Plymouth.