2026 Tour Day 3: Waitomo Caves & Mitai Māori Village

Kia Ora, this is Evan giving updates about our day in Rotorua and Waitomo!

We started our day at 7:00am with a beautiful sunrise over the sulfur lake in Rotorua.

After that, we had a 2 hour bus ride to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, with lots of views of grassy fields and cows the whole time. Once we arrived at the caves, we got a tour of the limestone caves, sang happy birthday to our to our tour guide, and experienced a silent boat ride that was in the dark, with the only light source being the glowworms on the ceilings. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take pictures inside the caves, but here’s a picture right at the exit!

After a quick run through the gift shop, we had a half hour drive to a neighboring town, where we were able to get lunch at a wide selection of places, from ready-to-go fried chicken to open-faced sandwiches and lamb ribs.

Next, we drove all the way back to Rotorua, and had dinner and a show in Mitai Māori Village, where we learned about Māori culture and history and were even able to eat Māori food cooked in an underground oven!

It was such a packed day of sightseeing and learning about the Māori culture, but we all had so much fun, and can’t wait for the coming days!

New student blogs are posted every day! See what we’ve shared so far.

Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for live updates from our student social media team. We’ll also send several emails with special highlights during tour, so make sure you’re part of our mailing list!

Learn more about GTCYS’ 2026 tour to New Zealand and Australia.