Inside Waitomo's limestone labyrinth

The ramp leading down into the depths of Ruakuri Cave which is open to the public for the first time in 18 years. Picture / Amos Chapple

It reminded me of an arcade game I used to play where you put in a penny and watched it coil towards the bottom in the hope it would not fall through one of the many slots on its way. The challenge was to get your money back to play again.

On a man-made, spiral ramp I similarly found myself winding my way around 180m of walkway from the above-ground surface to the floor of the Ruakuri Cave.

As I went, the sound of water echoed in the stillness as it fell 15m to the bottom. It splashed like quicksilver on to a large limestone rock that caught the light as it spread.

Placed in the very centre to let you touch it, the rock was smooth and cold but connected me with the spiritual journey ahead.

In the cave's Drum Entrance, you get a feeling that is both ethereal and illusory, but gives you time to adapt to this ancient world.

The Ruakuri Cave (rua meaning den and kuri meaning dogs) is Waitomo's latest natural attraction, having just re-opened after extensive refurbishing.

The original entrance is a sacred burial site to local Maori, considered waahi tapu, and contains the remains of some of their ancestors. According to Maori legend, a young hunter spearing birds for food first discovered Ruakuri four or five centuries ago. A pack of wild dogs inhabited the entrance, hence its name.

These days you enter with a guide through a modern, high-tech door into a tunnel air lock, somewhat surreal in this ancient underworld. On exiting through a second door, you realise this is a very special place.

The tunnel helps protect the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration of the cave.

By now, my eyes had adjusted to the well-placed soft lighting that highlighted different features of the Speleothem. I made my way along the Drum Passage to the High Viewing Platform where I was able to spy on tube rafters, unconscious of my presence as they glided through the labyrinth of tunnels in blackness, passing the glow-worm-flecked underworld of the Ruakuri Cave.

Heavy wires held suspended aerial walkways over drop-offs as I weaved my way further in, met only by the distant rumbling sound of subterranean waterfalls.

Glow-worms never cease to amaze me and are themselves one of nature's special treats.

As a kid of 10 years old, I came here in the late 1950s on a school trip when the boardwalks were wooden and slippery, unlike the suspended walkways there are now.

It was an attraction operated by the former Tourist Hotel Corporation until 1988, when a legal and financial dispute forced its closure. For over 18 years, the cave has been closed to the public.

The Rockfall Chamber, with its beautiful stalactite and stalagmite straws, flowstone and majestic cave formations, looks like a scene from a fairytale. Secret passageways, sounds of unseen voices, atmospheric changes and even fossilised seashells make this experience exhilarating.

I was soon at another air lock door that led into Holden's Cavern, named after James Holden who first opened Ruakuri in 1904 to visitors. It was like a large cathedral where the air was crisp and cutting.

As I traversed along a narrow corridor called the Ghost Walk I could feel my shoulders rubbing the walls of this limestone labyrinth and had time to reflect on its spiritual power.

They say, "let the cave speak for itself", and on the final part of the journey before retracing my steps back across the suspended walkways to the Drum Passage and spiral opening, I think it did. I got a strong message that I'd like to visit the cave again, but next time on a rubber tube.