These caves are the first in a series of Rotorua tourist traps. Always you enter through the souvenir shop. Always you exit through the souvenir shop. Always you buy a postcard to send to your loved ones. They could charge more for postcards. But then I might buy nothing. I saw one of three of the Waitomo caves: the Glowworm cave. The caves themselves were carved out by the Waitomo River (?) which has since changed course. They are roomy and warm, with the usual assortment of stalactites (hold tight to the ceiling) and stalagmites (growing mightily from the floor). The finale of the tour was a boat ride through a completely darkened glowworm cave. The guide steered us by pulling along on an overhead cable. The cave was silent and black, except for the glow-worms, like so many stars, glowing overhead. Their luminescence is of the same sort as the North American Firefly. An interesting tendency is for people to start "seeing things" where there are none, as evidenced by the "wedding scene." The guide pointed out a number of recognizable formations, but in their randomness, they would cause no echo. One other note: these caves were quite warm, I don't know why. No jacket or sweater was necessary.