Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1979 (Part 2)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  2 Responses »
Oct 252012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1979 (Part 2)

Without delay, here’s the other half of the photos from the 1979 Cocklebiddy expedition. These were taken by my dad, Peter Rogers, with a Nikonos II and 35mm lens bought the previous year, a toshiba underwater strobe and a land strobe in a home made perspex box used as it had a remote trigger sensor in – advanced technology! Captions below each photo. Alan Grundy and Peter Rogers on the surface of the entrance lake, pre-dive. Orange fenzies and orange tanks…a cave photographer’s dream. Alan Grundy poses next to the stage tank. Given the length of the first sump, this steel tank was left on the line some way along. Given it was a (very negative) steel, and there wasn’t [read more…]

Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1979 (Part 1)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  2 Responses »
Oct 182012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1979 (Part 1)

In addition to my usual Monday photo posting schedule, over the coming weeks I’m going to share some more historical cave diving photography with you. With my cave diving photography I’m following in the steps of my Dad. With a Nikonos II and later a Nikonos V, Dad documented the exploration cave diving out on the Nullarbor through the 80s.  He was part of the 1982 and 1983 push dive teams in Cocklebiddy, the trips on which Toad Hall was discovered and the third sump dived for the first time. Cocklebiddy held the world record for the longest cave dive at the time, and the expeditions out there were using cutting edge techniques and technologies. As trip photographer, Dad captured [read more…]

Video in Murra-El-Elevyn

 Cave diving, Nullarbor, Other  2 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

About the site I dived in Murra-el-Elevyn cave in Easter this year, and wrote up one of my favourite shots from our dive here. Compared to the other Nullarbor caves, Murra has smaller, shallower passages with red, orange and pink walls. The limestone scalloping and shapes in the rock make for stunning pictures. The remote location means its rarely dived and when we arrived the water was crystal clear. About the dive In total we had four dives over three diving days in Murra. Of these, I spent two taking still photos, one exploring small nooks and crannies (camera free!) and one taking video footage. The aim of the video dive was to find the end of a side tunnel [read more…]

Through the window in Murra-el-elevyn

 Cave diving, Nullarbor  1 Response »
Jun 252012
 
Through the window in Murra-el-elevyn

About the cave Murra-el-elevyn begins as a large doline, or hole in the middle of the desert. Once you’ve lowered yourself 10m below the ground level, scrambled down a scree slope of tumbling rubble and picked your way through the boulders, the water is so clear it’s easy to miss. Stepping down from one rock to what looked like a good place to put the dive gear together gave me a wet foot, and even once I knew where the water line was it was hard to see. Despite my wet foot, it seemed like a good omen. From the entrance pool seen in the photo below, tunnels extend in multiple directions. Several come back up to air chambers with [read more…]

Return to the Roe Plains

 Cave diving, Nullarbor, Roe Plains  1 Response »
Mar 262012
 
Return to the Roe Plains

At the end of this week I’m heading out west, driving from Melbourne to the desert plains over the West Australian border. I was last out that way at the end of 2010, when I had the privilege of diving both the Roe Plains caves of Olwolgin and Burnabbie, as well as assisting with some research in Warbla Cave and with time for a quick dip in Tommy Grahams. This time I have a slightly shorter trip planned, and the first half is focussed exclusively on the latest discovery in the Roe Plains. In October last year, Paul Hosie from CEGWA did the first dive in a small, unpromising puddle. Two dives and two reels of line later the cave [read more…]

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Bathtub in Warbla Cave

 Cave diving, Nullarbor  No Responses »
Jun 202011
 
Bathtub in Warbla Cave

About the dive Warbla Cave is a scientific reference cave located on the Nullarbor in Western Australia which is closed to general access. With pure white walls and interesting formations, not to mention the colonies of bacteria found in protected areas, it was a dream cave for photography. A scientific permit is required for entry, along with excellent fitness to transport our dive gear through the cavernous dry cave area. Ducking under a low ledge towards the end of this huge space, we negotiated a steep slope of dried bat guano to get to the water. This scientific trip was set up to replicate and measure some of the variables that had been studied in 2000. Our goals included setting [read more…]

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