The Waitomo Caves, which are located about 2 ½ hours south of Auckland, is one of New Zealand’s most famous attractions. On this tour we travel via New Zealand’s famous Thermal Explorer Highway touring route, taking in the special region of Hamilton through the beautiful countryside of the Waikato and King Country. As we drive southward, we show you sacred Taupiri Mountain as well as Ngaruawahia, the site of the famous Turangawaewae Marae (Maori meeting place) and seat of New Zealand’s Maori King. At Waitomo you will experience one of their amazing tours to explore the underground wonderland that is Waitomo Caves. The most popular option is the world-famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves on a 45 minute tour, which includes a boat ride on an underground stream to view the magically dazzling glowworms. There are other caving options too, such as Cave Tubing / Black Water Rafting. Here you can float, walk and swim along underground waterways on a big, inflated tube. This is for the more adventurous and is great fun! On our private luxury tours, we offer the various Waitomo caving options separately to our private tour since we have found our guests like to be able to book the caving option they prefer – whether that is a gentle tour or an adventurous tour to explore the caves. However, we can certainly incorporate these into your booking with us. An option is also to visit the nearby Kiwi House in Otorohanga, where you can see the Kiwi, our national bird and emblem, as well as many of our flora and fauna. Please let us know if you would like us to incorporate this option. Return to Auckland at the end of a magnificent day exploring this world-famous part of New Zealand.