Hangatiki
Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in the village to serve visiting tourists. The word ''Waitomo'' comes from the Māori language: ''wai'' meaning water and ''tomo'' meaning a doline or sinkhole; it can thus be translated to be "water passing through a hole". The caves are formed in Oligocene limestone. The historic Waitomo Caves Hotel is located in Waitomo Caves village. History The village Waitomo Caves is named for the hundreds of caves present in the spectacular karst landscape. The limestone landscape of the Waitomo District area has been the centre of increasingly popular commercial caving tourism since before 1900. Initially mostly consisting of impromptu trips guided by local Māori, a large cave system near Waitomo Caves were nationalised by the Crown and manage ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Waitomo Stream
Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in the village to serve visiting tourists. The word ''Waitomo'' comes from the Māori language: ''wai'' meaning water and ''tomo'' meaning a doline or sinkhole; it can thus be translated to be "water passing through a hole". The caves are formed in Oligocene limestone. The historic Waitomo Caves Hotel is located in Waitomo Caves village. History The village Waitomo Caves is named for the hundreds of caves present in the spectacular karst landscape. The limestone landscape of the Waitomo District area has been the centre of increasingly popular commercial caving tourism since before 1900. Initially mostly consisting of impromptu trips guided by local Māori, a large cave system near Waitomo Caves were nationalised by the Crown and manage ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Hangatiki Railway Station
Hangatiki railway station was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. In 1915 Hangatiki was described as a small township with a post and telegraph office, where passengers for "the famous Waitomo and Ruakuri caves alight". The guidebook said Waitomo was away, "by good metalled road, a conveyance meeting the express trains and conveying passengers to the excellent Government Accommodation House at Waitomo." The fare was 2/6 each way (about $18 in 2015 money). History Coates & Metcalfe were the contractors for the extension of this section of the NIMT, from Ōtorohanga to Te Kuiti. The station area had been levelled by May 1886. Until August 1887, the contractors provided goods trains. By October 1887 goods trains ran on Mondays and Fridays. New Zealand Railways Department took over from the contractors, adding a passenger service was added on those days from 2 December 1887. By 1896 there was a shelter shed, platform, cart approach, by goods shed a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Waitomo Caves Hotel
Waitomo Caves Hotel (originally called ''Waitomo House'' and later ''Government Hostel at Waitomo'') is a historic hotel built in 1908 that is located in Waitomo District, King Country above Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. The hotel initially had only six bedrooms, and was later expanded in 1927–1928 with the addition of 24 more rooms, along with a new kitchen and dining room. The building is famous for its unique style of New Zealand Victorian. Some claim that the hotel is haunted. History Background In response to the increasing numbers of tourists that began visiting the Waitomo Caves in the late nineteenth century early cave explorer and tour guide Tane Tinorau Opataia together with his wife constructed a house in 1901 when they converted to provide tourist accommodation in 1904 calling it Waitomo House. In that same year the Government nationalised the caves using the Public Works Act. In 1905 the Tourist and Health Resorts Department purchased Waitomo House and its su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stalagmite
A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling") is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically composed of calcium carbonate, but may consist of lava, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). The corresponding formation hanging down from the ceiling of a cave is a stalactite. Mnemonics have been developed for which word refers to which type of formation; one is that ''stalactite'' has a C for "ceiling", and ''stalagmite'' has a G for "ground", another is that, as with ants in the pants, the mites go up and the tights (tites) come down. Formation and type Limestone stalagmites The most common stalagmites are speleothems, which usually form in limestone caves. Stalagmite formation occurs only under certain pH conditions within the cavern. They form through deposition of calcium carbonate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stalactite
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension, or is capable of being melted, may form a stalactite. Stalactites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter, and amberat (crystallized urine of pack rats). A stalactite is not necessarily a speleothem, though speleothems are the most common form of stalactite because of the abundance of limestone caves. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite. Mnemonics have been developed for which word refers to which type of formation; one is that ''stalactite'' has a C for "ceiling", and ''stalagmite'' has a G for "ground". Another example is that ''stalactites'' "hang on ''T''ight" and ''stalagmites'' "''M''ight grow up" ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Extreme Sports
Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overlaps with extreme sport. The two share the same main attraction, " adrenaline rush" caused by an element of risk, and differ mostly in the degree of engagement and professionalism. Definition The definition of extreme sports is not exact and the origin of the terms is unclear, but it gained popularity in the 1990s when it was picked up by marketing companies to promote the X Games and when the Extreme Sports Channel and Extreme International launched. More recently, the commonly used definition from research is "a competitive (comparison or self-evaluative) activity within which the participant is subjected to natural or unusual physical and mental challenges such as speed, height, depth or natural forces and where fast and accurate cogniti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Waitomo Caves Museum
The Waitomo Caves Discovery Centre is a museum located in the town of Waitomo in the North Island of New Zealand. The museum is also referred to as the Waitomo Caves Discovery Centre, the Waitomo Museum of Caves and the Waitomo Education Centre. Establishment The museum is run by a charitable trust, and was established in 1973 by the local community. The museum was originally located in two rooms of the historic Waitomo Caves Hotel. During its first five years of operation, the community raised money for a purpose-built location in the Waitomo Caves township and the building was opened on 17 October 1981 by Jim Bolger, MP for the King Country and Minister of Labour. The land upon which the museum now stands belongs to the Tanetinorau Opataia Whānau Trust, to whom it was returned in 1988. The tupuna, Tane Tinorau, lived on the land known as Taware prior to its being compulsorily acquired under Acts of Parliament. In 1989, the museum buildings were doubled in size to increase ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The New Zealand Herald
''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers in New Zealand, peaking at over 200,000 copies in 2006, although circulation of the daily ''Herald'' had declined to 100,073 copies on average by September 2019. Its main circulation area is the Auckland region. It is also delivered to much of the upper North Island including Northland, Waikato and King Country. History ''The New Zealand Herald'' was founded by William Chisholm Wilson, and first published on 13 November 1863. Wilson had been a partner with John Williamson in the ''New Zealander'', but left to start a rival daily newspaper as he saw a business opportunity with Auckland's rapidly growing population. He had also split with Williamson because Wilson supported the war against the Māori (which the ''Herald'' termed "the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
New Zealand Automobile Association
The New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA or AA) is an incorporated society that provides a range of services to its members including free motoring advice, breakdown services, vehicle repairs, driver licensing, driver training, travel maps, accommodation guides and bookings, insurance and finance. The AA has more than 1.7 million members throughout New Zealand (). The AA is an advocate for creating a better and safer driving environment for New Zealanders. It has been supporting New Zealand drivers since 1903 making it the largest and oldest motoring club in New Zealand. History In May 1903, Dr George Thomas Humphrey de Clive-Lowe invited about 20 new motoring enthusiasts to consider his idea to start an automobile club. First in Auckland, followed by Canterbury a few months later, motoring clubs began to dot the country with at least 15 different automobile associations registered by 1930. During the 1980s, 17 district automobile associations began to merge to form the New ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Encyclopedia Of New Zealand
''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first sections were published in 2005, and the last in 2014 marking its completion. ''Te Ara'' means "the pathway" in the Māori language, and contains over three million words in articles from over 450 authors. Over 30,000 images and video clips are included from thousands of contributors. History New Zealand's first recognisable encyclopedia was ''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand'', a commercial venture compiled and published between 1897 and 1908 in which businesses or people usually paid to be covered. In 1966 the New Zealand Government published '' An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', its first official encyclopedia, in three volumes. Although now superseded by ''Te Ara'', its historical importance led to its inclusion as a separate digital res ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different meanings depending on context. It is used to designate the monarch in either a personal capacity, as Head of the Commonwealth, or as the king or queen of their realms (whereas the monarchy of the United Kingdom and the monarchy of Canada, for example, are distinct although they are in personal union). It can also refer to the rule of law; however, in common parlance 'The Crown' refers to the functions of government and the civil service. Thus, in the United Kingdom (one of the Commonwealth realms), the government of the United Kingdom can be distinguished from the Crown and the state, in precise usage, although the distinction is not always relevant in broad or casual usage. A corporation sole, the Crown is the legal embodiment of execut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |