WAITOMO WALKWAY - A PROPOSAL PRESENTED TO THE 6TH AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE, WAITOMO NZ - A REALITY PRESENTED TO THE 8TH AUSTRALASIAN CONFERENCE, PUNAKAIKI NZ
WHERE DOES THE PATH LEAD?
The Background:
Kevan Wilde presented a paper to the sixth Australasian conference on Cave Tourism and Management held at Waitomo during September 1985 relating to a proposal to develop a public walkway that would link the Waitomo village with the three main tourist caves operated in the area. It would utilise a number of land tenures, and featuring a variety of management regimes, natural and developed physical attractions and historical sites (Wilde, 1985).
This proposal first officially saw the light of day on the 11th of June 1985 when the South Auckland District Walkway committee inspected the proposed route.
This was followed by a formal proposal being prepared and presented to the NZ Walkway Commission during August 1985. This group carried out an on-site inspection of the proposal during March 1986.
On the 3rd of September 1986 the Honourable Mike Moore, Minister of Tourism, approved a Community and Public Sector Grant of $68,500 for development of this walkway.
On the 11th of February 1989, two and a half years later, the Waitomo Walkway was officially opened by Dr David Bellamy and Mrs Annette King, the Under-secretary for Tourism. In being achieved, the proposal survived major administrative reorganisation, personnel changes and, at one stage, the "temporary mislaying" of a third of the finance.
The Facility:
Although some reasonably substantial changes have subsequently been made to the original proposal, the finished project is generally as originally presented.
The tentatively proposed suspended boardwalk through the Ruakuri Natural Bridge was decided against. However, an alternative route through a forested gorge leading to the walkway has received considerable praise for its engineering. Its real achievement is the opportunity it provides to a wide cross section of the community to observe the wonders of nature from a perspective that would not only be inaccessible but, to many, quite hostile. We have imposed on the natural environment subtly and without sacrificing the inherent awesome power of nature.
The walkway is proving to be an extremely popular attraction. With its location in such a high profile tourist area general usage is undoubtedly going to be very high.
The Question?
The potential educational value of this facility is considerable. This has implications for a wide variety of differing natural values encountered along the walkway. Undoubtedly the most prominent feature, however, is the ever present and almost over-powering karst landscape. Whether you are aware of the geological significance of this feature is of little relevance; the visual explosion created by its form is spell-binding, The need to touch it, create with it, is an almost irresistible urge.
The 1987 Australasian Conference field trips showed us examples of freely accessible wild caves and the potential for environmental disaster through damage and defacing.
Protection of cave systems in the Waitomo area is very dependent on a number of factors. The general concern and protectiveness of the NZ Speleological Society plays a big part in this aspect. We cannot escape from the fact however, that many of our cave systems have almost natural protection. Private ownership provides protection through availability of access on developed land while the densely forested areas of our protected crown lands create natural hiding places for entrances to cave systems.
The Waitomo Walkway in itself is a prominent path leading to a veritable goldmine of sensitive cave systems.
Does this created fascination have the potential to lead us as managers onto a pathway from which there is no return?
References
Wilde, K.A. (1985). A Proposal for a Waitomo Caves Walk, Proceedings Sixth Conference on Cave Tourism and Management, Waitomo Caves, New Zealand. pp 34-27