Cathedral Caves
Cave
Inside the Cathedral Cave
Inside the Cathedral Cave
Cathedral Caves is located in New Zealand
Cathedral Caves
Cathedral Caves
Coordinates: 46°36′30.40″S 169°22′52.56″E / 46.6084444°S 169.3812667°E / -46.6084444; 169.3812667
Age160 mya
GeologySandstone
OperatorKāi Tahu
Websitehttps://www.cathedralcaves.co.nz/

The Cathedral Caves are two connected limestone sea caves located on Waipati Beach, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Papatowai, on the Catlins Coast in the southeast corner of New Zealand's South Island.[1] The two main cave systems join together within the cliff and one has a 30 metres (98 ft) high ceiling.[2] Often blue penguins and fur seals will emerge from the gloom at the far end of the cave.

The 199m-long cave is formed in Jurassic sandstone (about 160 million years old) of the Murihiku Terrane, though the cave itself is much younger, ten to hundreds of thousands of years old. They were named by Thomas Hocken who noted how the caves reverberated noise[3] and their resemblance to European cathedrals.[4] The caves are only accessible for an hour either side of low tide. They are managed by Kāi Tahu descendants.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Welcome to Cathedral Caves Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Tautuku Block X Section 3c Trust. Accessed 2008-01-20.
  2. ↑ "Cathedral Caves". www.cathedralcaves.co.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "The Caves". www.cathedralcaves.co.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "Cathedral Caves". Catlins, New Zealand. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "Cathedral Caves". Department Of Conservation. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cathedral Caves.
  • Official website - Information about the caves, including tide charts and pictures


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.