Te Anau Caves
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Te Anau Caves Te Ana-au Caves
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 The mouth of the Burn Tunnel in front of the entrance to Te Ana-au Cave |
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| Location: | west of Lake Te Anau , Southland region | |
| Height : | 250 m | |
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Geographic location: |
45 ° 17 '43.5 " S , 167 ° 43' 38.1" O | |
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| Geology: | Limestone surrounded by granite | |
| Type: | Karst cave | |
| Discovery: | by Māori , rediscovery in April 1947 by Lawson Burrows | |
| Show cave since: | Yes | |
| Lighting: | Yes | |
| Overall length: | 250 m | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
250 m | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | 55,000 (as of July 2006) | |
| Particularities: | Glowworms , part of the Aurora Cave cave system | |
The Te Anau Caves , known among tourists as " Te Anau Glowworm Caves " and called " Te Ana-au " by Māori , consist of the 250 m long lower part of the Aurora Cave karst cave system , which is in the Southland District of the Southland region on the South Island of New Zealand is located.
discovery
The Māori already knew about the cave and called it " Te Ana-au " , which translated means "cave with swirling water" . Lake Te Anau , which is called " Te Ana-au " in the Māori language, was named after her . The cave remained a legend for many decades until Lawson Burrows , who worked in tourism, began searching for the cave in the 1940s . In April 1947, Burrows finally found what he was looking for, had the cave made accessible to tourists, but a flood in 1948 initially destroyed his project. Burrows did not give up and made the lower part of the cave system accessible to tourists.
geography
The Te Anau Caves are located approximately eight miles north of the small town of Te Anau on the eastern flank of the Murchison Mountains and are accessible from the west bank of Lake Te Anau . About 3.5 km to the west is Lake Orbell , the water of which feeds the Burn Tunnel and flows through the cave system of the Aurora Cave .
Cave system
The entire cave system located in the 30–35 million year old limestone, which was formed around 230 thousand years ago, extends over a length of around 8 km (other sources give 6.7 km), of which only the lower part of the public per Guided tour is accessible. The caves experienced seven ice age periods during which the cave entrances were covered by glaciers and filled with glacier water. Sediments from these periods can be detected in various parts of the cave.
The area in which the glowworms can be viewed belongs to the younger part of the caves, around 12,000 years old, and is more frequently flooded. Because of the small age of the cave and the high flow speed of the water, stalactites and stalagmites are hardly present. Due to the slightly acidic water, the limestone is attacked and loosened, causing the caves to constantly expand.
fauna
In addition to the Arachnocampa luminosa , known in New Zealand under the name Glowworm , which can be assigned to the longhorn mosquito family , the Cave Weta , known to the Māori under the name Tokoriro , can also be found in the cave system . Also, a special type of harvestmen that in New Zealand Harvestman are called, are native to the caves. In the waters of the lower part of the cave system, the long-finned eel can be found, an eel that can grow up to 1.5 meters long and weigh up to 25 kilograms. The age of the species known to the Māori as Tuna can exceed 100 years.
The critically endangered South Island Takahe live in the vicinity of the caves . Also birds like the Tui , the Maori pigeon ( kereru ), the New Zealand Fantail ( Piwakawaka ), the Maori Glockenhonigfresser ( Makomako ), the New Zealand morepork ( Ruru ) and the Gray Warbler ( Riroriro ) can be found in the woods.
tourism
The Te Anau Caves are marketed by the company Real Journeys under the name " Te Anau Glowworm Caves " and made accessible to tourists. You can get there from Te Anau by boat, which has a jetty on the shore near the caves. After a few hundred meters, visitors will reach the entrance to the caves. From the entrance, visitors walk along a footpath to the part of the cave called the Cathedral. This is followed by the waterfall, the whirlpool and the dam, where the footpath ends and the upper dammed part can be navigated to the Glowworm Grotto by boat on a rope. The adjoining part of the cave can only be reached after diving through a siphon and is not accessible to tourists.
As of July 2006, the Te Anau Caves were visited by around 55,000 tourists a year.
literature
- Paul W. Williams : A 230 ka record of glacial and interglacial events from Aurora Cave, Fiordland, New Zealand . In: Royal Society Of New Zealand (Ed.): New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . Vol. 39, 1996, ISSN 0028-8306 , pp. 225–241 , doi : 10.1080 / 00288306.1996.9514707 (English, online [PDF; 2.5 MB ; accessed on March 31, 2018]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Robin Adair : The Caves of Te Anau . In: The Australian Women's Weekly . Wellington June 30, 1965, p. 15 (English, online [accessed March 31, 2018]).
- ↑ Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Williams : A 230 ka record of glacial ... . In: New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 1996, p. 228 .
- ↑ a b c d e Insider’s Guide to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves . (PDF 6.04 MB) Real Journeys , accessed on March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Williams : A 230 ka record of glacial ... . In: New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics . 1996, p. 225 .
- ^ Department of Conservations (ed.): Regional Economic Impacts of Fiordland National Park . July 2006, p. 14 (English, online [PDF; 80 kB ; accessed on March 31, 2018]).