Ngarua Show Cave

This Small showcave has some Big attractions including many stalactites and wall formations, which include abundant ledges and wall pockets; the big Wedding Cathedral cavern; plus many moa bones, ( The now extinct Moa was a flightless bird of the family Dinornithidae, of New Zealand, related to the kiwis but resembling and usually larger than the ostrich) including one full skeleton of a little bush moa. The cave has two entrances: a wider eastern one, which acts as the main entrance, and a smaller western one which has been developed to allow one-way tours through the cave.

Ngarua Cave (or Hobson’s Cave as it used to be known by locals) was discovered in 1884 by bushmen working on a hillside after a burnoff. Within just a few years this dry “show cave” was attracting many passing settlers who seemed intent on removing stalactites and carving their names in the formations (both now forbidden). This became so rampant that the cave had to be locked up for several years. Many of the access paths through the cave today were developed by the Hickmott brothers around 1970.

The Touch Zone: As people tend to touch speleothems, no matter if the guide tells them not to do so, there is a so called touch zone. This is a small part of a limestone formations, where visitors are allowed to touch. We find thats a very good idea, for people obviously have to touch things to grasp them. This way the damage for the fragile speleothems is at least restricted to a single spot. And the stain of the place also tells what happens when people touch stalagmites.

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