| THE POTENTIAL FOR ADVENTURE CAVING IN
RUAKURI CAVE, WAITOMO
PETER CHANDLER AND JOHN ASH
Blackwater Rafting in New Zealand Abstract Adventure caving has now established itself as a integral part of what Waitomo has to offer tourists. Development of Ruakuri Float-Through as described would add an additional attraction while making for safe non-impactible use of this presently under utilised cave. Introduction For five hundred metres of stream passages, people are led through a tributary to join the Okohua stream and traverse the hidden waterfall of the tourist cave. For the last half, everyone floats along the naturally dammed stream, using the glowworms above for navigation, to emerge at the resurgence. Full Detail of Ruakuri Float-Through Even before the general use of wetsuits for caving, this trip had become popular with local cavers staying at the Hamilton Tomo Group (HTG) hut. The cave had been surveyed to its present state around 1970. More recently has been a popular extra trip to do over a weekend, maybe also to clean muddy equipment. After walking five minutes up hill from the Ruakuri & Aranui Caves carpark (finish) the cave is entered via the more accessible twin tomo entrance 50 metres from the Tumutuma/Upper Valley/Top Caves roads. A rough grazed paddock track leads down to the submergence beside a small tree fern, one climbs over a fallen log through a small pool and down a rock slab. The room is decorated with large, crusty white stalactites. Wetas, harvestmen and spiders abound. Everyone continues down 50 metres of two metre high stream passages with similar sturdy formations to join the larger stream from other tomo entrance (it has a more sporty waterfall to climb down). The combined stream continues through a succession of pools to prime wetsuits, the second pool presently home to a one metre long eel, the third containing a low section large enough to keep helmet and lamp dry. The delicate threads of some glowworms and their hammock structures can be viewed at close quarters in the passage before joining the main Okohua stream, the groups lamps swallowed up in the 5 by 15 metre cave. Some words of caution and technique are in order about the upcoming waterfall before continuing the easiest route over the limestone with its reefs and swirl pools. Without needing to be heroic, it is spectacular to jump off the top 1 1/2 metre holding onto both the inner tube and the helmet, everyone following the leaders good example before going with the flow 50 metres to the tourist section bridge. Some echinoid fossil cross-sections are seen, and lights are switched off to appreciate the glowworms. Leaving the short section of developed cave, knee deep water leads one to the bottom of a 70 metre tomo. On night trips, the green Nahoe leaves are the only indication it exits to the outside air. Downstream the narrow stream channel is traversed twice to avoid a potential foot-trapping swirl pool before the naturally dammed section. A sitting position in inner tubes is taken with hands for paddling. Lights are turned off with only the LED pilots being visible below a scattered display of glowworm lights. Navigation is by voice, body contact or intimate contact with the walls or eels. Water entering from above signals a lights on section past the brown stained tites, and around an S bend to continue again in the dark. All is calm, the walls are covered with a layer of fine silt essential for the glowworm’s ecology. Two especially bright clusters of glowworms are passed like distant galaxies before rounding a corner and seeing distant stalactites silhouetted against the exterior greenery, perhaps softened by a light fog. One is naturally drawn closer but there is a reluctance to leave the comfortable underworld. Some careful climbing over moss covered rocks leads everyone to the Ruakuri & Natural Bridge track, 2 minutes back to the carpark picnic area and old kiosk. Warm sunshine is appreciated at this stage, about 45 minutes after entering the cave. Adventure caving has continued to run on a casual basis for the last twenty months, under the control of John Ash with the help from resident cavers guides and students like Peter Chandler, Stuart McGowan, Kevin McKay, Glen Bailey and several others. No-one relies on this income for their livelihood. There has been an effort made to turn the business into a charitable trust to be in line with the museum’s philosophies, enabling guides to be employed on job training schemes, in the long term it is envisaged personnel could provide an active guide service focussed on the museum. Most recent Zweiholen-Gardners Gut trips have been done with pre-booked school-youth groups, some tourists have expressed interest at the museum though these tours are difficult to organise on a spontaneous basis for such itinerants. There has been talk of Adventure Caving trips through Ruakuri for several years, it was proposed to examine their feasibility over the summer, trips to compliment the well balanced Zweiholen trip with a shorter more attractive package, priced to subside the longer tours. Nothing was really done until the owner of the land under which the major portion of the Ruakuri Cave lies, expressed his desire to see other sections of this cave developed especially for in terms of how this would effect the long term viability of Waitomo Caves as a tourist centre. Following this initiative, eight full length wetsuits were purchased by Peter, independent of Adventure Caving and casual trips were organised from the HTG Hut (the resident warden). A small $10 donation was asked for equipment costs, small electric light units continue to be perfected featuring a LED pilot light mounted in the 4" Reflector. Over 20 trips have been done, people (mostly travellers) have been invited to write of their experiences in their native tongue to perhaps spread the good word. The tour offers a 45 minute unique cave experience without the mud and small places often associated with such pursuits. It is a safe cave to take people through with one leader-guide and three or four visitors easily handled with control & conservation. Safety Questions remain about emergency procedures: with instruction cards one of the visitors could exit the cave to initiate a rescue while the leader administered first aid in the event of an accident e.g., Entrance tributary stream Return out entrance;In each case the Top Caves Kiosk telephone or the leaders vehicle for transport would be used to summon assistance. Variations Daytime trips are easier to organise, would provide their own advertising
and give spectacular views of the 70 metre tomo
entrance and stalactites at the resurgence. Clear night
trips give juxtaposition of night sky and glowworm display.
Development questions a) Development in liaison with landowner Mr Jimmy Holden and Dept of Conservation Scenic Reserve end of cave and tracks. |