On Saturday 21 November 2015 a group of 7 students from Auckland Institute of Studies (5 from Korea, 1 from China and 1 from Japan) joined me on a tour to Otorohanga and Waitomo. The day was warm but rainy.
Waitomo Caves and Kiwi House – $180 per person, full day tour.
For info and bookings call: (64) 27 223 6655 email: [email protected] or book online:
Destination: Waitomo Caves and Otorohanga Kiwi House
We left AIS at 8.30am in an 8 seat SUV and headed south. After a 2-hour drive, we had a short coffee and snack stop at Pirongia and then arrived at our first attraction, the Kiwi House and Native Bird Park at Otorohanga, at about 11.15am. We had a walk around the bird park and hand-fed kakariki (a native NZ parakeet) between 11am and 11.30am.
We then had lunch in the picnic area and at 1.30pm we went to the Kiwi House to watch kiwi being fed by the keepers, a very entertaining experience. One in particular, Atu a 15 year old female kiwi, is very territorial so she attacks the keeper who is trying to feed her. She uses her strong legs to kick and her beak to peck the keeper.
Next we drove for only 15 minutes to Waitomo where we visited Glowworm Cave which includes a boat ride on an underground river where the ceiling of the cave is covered in glowworms.
We then went to Ruakuri Cave. In this cave we were part of a very small group of just our guide, ourselves and one other couple. We had a 2 hour walk in this cave where we saw cave formations and glowworms close-up. One student said this cave made her feel like Indiana Jones in the movies exploring remote places.
Our time in the caves took us to 6.15pm and we arrived at Huhu Cafe at 6.30. This is a great place to finish a day at Waitomo as the food is always exceptional.
We arrived back at AIS at about 10pm.
