Caving

Waitomo

The region around Waitomo, extending southward to north Taranaki and to Te Anga near the coast, contains most of the North Island's best-known caves, including the longest, Gardner's Gut, which is 12 km long. Other major caves are the stream caves of Mangapu and Mangawhitikau, and the Waitomo Headwaters System

Pahiatua

Indecision

Kahurangi

Caves are found in both limestone and marble throughout north-west Nelson. The marble areas - Takaka Hill, Mt Arthur, and Mt Owen - are alpine in character, with caves found up to 1700 metres above sea level. These three marble mountains contain all of New Zealand's deepest caves, as well as the three longest - Bulmer Cavern (39 km) at Mt Owen, Ellis Basin System (28 km), and Nettlebed Cave (24 km), both at Mt Arthur.

There is an important limestone area with numerous caves, mainly easy and well-decorated, at Paturau, west of Collingwood, as well as significant areas of limestone in the Aorcre, Anatoki, Takaka, and Cobb Valleys. Moonsilver Cave in the Cobb is about five kilometres long.

Other places

In Northland, there is a small limestone block containing some popular caves at Waipu. Beneath Auckland City and environs are lava caves, formed as the lava cooled.

To the west of the Paparoa Range, a band of limestone stretches from Charleston to Punakaiki, containing caves such as The Metro near Charleston, with eight kilometres of mainly large passage, and Xanadu Cave near Punakaiki, which is five kilometres long.

Around Greymouth there are pockets of limestone with small caves, and one cave is recorded from Jackson Bay.

Along the east coast of the South Island there are only small cave areas; in Marlborough near Blenheim and Kaikoura; in Canterbury at Waiau, Broken River, and Pareora; and in North Otago near Palmerston.

In Southland there are minor caving areas at Clifden, Monowai, and in the Stuart Mountains, as well as a more extensive one on the west shore of LakeTe Anau. This contains the six kilometre long Aurora Cave.