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One of the most beautiful cave I have been in. Not as big as Carlsbad, but in some cases more beautiful.
Taken from the balcony of our overnight stop.
Another early start to fit in hours of driving and then a five hour hike into the mountains of the Tongariro National Park. Still it allowed me to photograph the sun rise here at Waitomo.
It took a while to get used to the sun coming up in a different place in the sky. Living in the northern hemisphere I'm used to the sun being in the south in the winter and way up north in the summer.
OK it was spring time but it was heading south for the summer, it just wasn't right!
Under the green hills of Waitomo lies a labyrinth of caves, sinkholes and underground rivers. The area's name comes from the Maori words wai (water) and tomo (hole).
© Wendy Peña
Wendyuska0705@gmail.com
Light was quite unusual that day. Very light low clouds. From time to time sun was poking through creating bright spots.
60 metres below ground surface in Ruakuri Cave, part of the Waitomo Caves system on the north island of New Zealand.
Seen here are New Zealand glow worm larvae exhibiting bioluminescence. It was just amazing to see the visual effect of this phenomenon, deep within the caves.
Flash photography was not allowed and capturing any image of these intriguing life forms in almost complete darkness was a challenge with a hand held camera - I hope these images are of sufficient quality for others to enjoy.
Link to glowworm larva: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/46956597344
Link to glowworm silken lures: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/47746016231
© All rights reserved.
spectaculaire colonie de larves bioluminescentes
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitomo_Glowworm_Caves
Waitomo
New Zealand
"The Waitomo Caves are a village and cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the northern King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti. The community of Waitomo Caves itself is very small, though the village has many temporary service workers living there as well. The word Waitomo comes from the Māori language wai meaning water and tomo meaning a doline or sinkhole; it can thus be translated to be water passing through a hole.[1] These Caves are believed to be over two million years old"... more wikipedia
Under the green hills of Waitomo lies a labyrinth of caves, sinkholes and underground rivers. The area's name comes from the Maori words wai (water) and tomo (hole).
© Wendy Peña
Wendyuska0705@gmail.com
The guided tour through the Waitomo Glowworm Caves brings the visitor through three different levels and begins at the top level of the cave and the Catacombs. The levels are linked by the Tomo, which is a 16 m vertical shaft made of limestone. The second level is called the Banquet Chamber. This level is where early visitors stopped to eat and there is evidence of this in the smoke on the ceiling of the chamber. From here it may be possible to link back to the upper level to see the largest formation called the Pipe Organ but on busy days this area is closed to the public because the build-up of carbon monoxide may be hazardous.
The third and final level goes down into the Cathedral, demonstration platform, and the jetty. The Cathedral is an enclosed area with rough surfaces, now paved, and is about 18 m high, giving it good acoustics. A number of famous singers and choirs have performed here including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
Māori Concert Party performing in the Cathedral area of the Waitomo Caves, Auckland Province.
Photographer:
R. Anderson. November 1973.
Archives New Zealand reference: AAQT 6539 W3537 137 / B3904
collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search#/?q=R24808624
For more information use our “ask an archivist” link on our website: www.archives.govt.nz
Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga