Waikato & Coromandel Peninsula - New Zealand's North Island - page 373

Getting There & Away
Naked Bus ( 0900 625 33; www.nakedbus.com ) Runs once daily to Otorohanga ($20, 20 minutes),
Hamilton ($25, 1¼ hours) and New Plymouth ($30, three hours).
Waitomo Shuttle ( 0800 808 279, 07-873 8279; [e-mail] ; one-way adult/child $12/7) Heads to the
caves five times daily from Otorohanga (15 minutes away), coordinating with bus and
train arrivals.
Waitomo Wanderer ( 03-477 9083, 0800 000 4321; www.travelheadfirst.com ) Operates a daily return
services from Rotorua or Taupo, with optional caving, glowworm and tubing add-ons
(packages from $133). Shuttle-only services are $99 return.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Waitomo to Awakino
This obscure route, heading west of Waitomo on Te Anga Rd, is a slow but fascinating al-
ternative to SH3 if Taranaki's your goal. Only 12km of the 111km route remains unsealed,
but it's nearly all winding and narrow. Allow around two hours (not including stops) and
fill up with petrol.
Walks in the Tawarau Forest , 20km west of the Waitomo Caves, are outlined in DOC's
Waitomo & King Country Tracks booklet ($1, available from DOC in Hamilton or Te
Kuiti), including a one-hour track to the Tawarau Falls from the end of Appletree Rd.
The Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve , 26km west of Waitomo, is a 5.5-hectare re-
serve with a giant natural limestone arch. It's a five-minute walk to the arch on a
wheelchair-accessible pathway. On the far side, big rocks full of 35-million-year-old
oyster fossils jut up from the grass, and at night you'll see glowworms.
About 4km further west is Piripiri Caves Scenic Reserve , where a five-minute walk leads to a
large cave containing fossils of giant oysters. Bring a torch and be prepared to get muddy
after heavy rain. Steps wind down into the gloom…
The impressively tiered, 30m Marokopa Falls are 32km west of Waitomo. A short track
(15 minutes return) from the road leads to the bottom of the falls.
Just past Te Anga you can turn north to Kawhia, 59km away, or continue southwest to
Marokopa (population 1560), a small black-sand village on the coast with some scarily big
new mansions starting to appear. The whole Te Anga/Marokopa area is riddled with
caves.