Ngarua Cave continues to enchant passers-by
Ngarua Cave. Photo: Gerard Hindmarsh.
A typical reaction from Golden Bay residents driving over the Takaka Hill as they pass the turnoff to Ngarua Cave might be something like “Must pop in there sometime”. But if you take the 300m driveway down to the entrance, especially on a weekend, you’ll realise from the crowded car park that the one kilometre-long cave gets no shortage of takers.
Its latest owner is Janet Morgan of Riwaka, who two years ago bought the lease to the guided cave business from previous owners Lorraine and Mike Andres. The surrounding land is owned by farmer David Hobson. Janet says that her family’s association with the cave goes back a long time.
“Even my grandfather’s name is in there, scratched into the wall. I like to point it out when I take people around. The previous owners did a lot of work with paths and lighting, so apart from general maintenance and upkeep of the lighting, there isn’t a lot of improvements that are needed. I can just concentrate on showing people through.”
Big attractions here are the copious stalactites and wall formations, which include many ledges and wall pockets; the big Wedding Cathedral cavern; plus the moa bones, including one full skeleton of a little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis). 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. Near the middle of the cave, a tomo descends from the surface, now blocked by falling rocks.
Ngarua Cave (or Hobson’s Cave as it used to be known) was discovered in 1884 by bushmen clearing the hillside after a burnoff. Within just a few years the dry “show cave” was attracting coachloads of 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.
Ngarua Cave is currently open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm. The 45-minute tours leave on the hour, adults $15, children $5, preschoolers free. Off peak season runs from May to early September, during which the cave is only open on weekends, school holidays or by arrangement with groups.
Gerard Hindmarsh
