DESCRIPTION: European exploration of the Waitomo Caves and their glow-worm attractions, dates from 1877 when a local government surveyor, Fred Mace, floated into the caves on a raft. Tourist interest grew steadily in the late 1800s but it wasn't until 1904 that an accommodation house, built by prominent local Maori Tane Tinorau and his wife, was established. That same year the Government nationalised the caves as a tourist feature. In 1905 the Tourist and Health Resorts Department bought Waitomo House, as it was known and its success persuaded them to improve accommodation. Timber for the 1908 structure was brought into the area on horse-drawn carts, and special facilities were provided for water and electricity since it was remote from town water and power supplies. Water was pumped from the Waitomo Stream and fed back up the slope to the hotel, and electricity was generated by a dynamo powered by a petrol driven motor engine. With the new portion completed in 1928 the Waitomo Hotel could provide accommodation for up to one hundred visitors. The hotel was promoted as a health resort as well as a tourist attraction, in keeping with the fashionable health movements popular here and overseas. The hotel continued to operate as a popular tourist venue until the Waitomo, Ruakuri and Aranui Caves were closed to the public in 1970s as a direct result of the harmful effects of air pollution on the fauna of the caves and the damage caused by the constantly lapping water eroding the limestone.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 2
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
4176
Date Entered
6th June 1990
Date of Effect
6th June 1990
City/District Council
Waitomo District
Region
Waikato Region
Legal description
Hauturu East 20 (RT 275384), Hauturu East 21 (RT 441791), South Auckland Land District