Feb 072014
 
Waterfalls in Growling Swallet Cave

About the cave Growling Swallet is an extensive “dry” cave system in the Junee-Florentine karst area in southern Tasmania. The early parts of the cave are complex with multiple routes and leads off in different directions and at different levels. After some distance it straightens out into over a kilometre of mainline streamway passage. The cave temperature is around 8 degrees, a little colder than your average mainland cave. About the trip I was down in Tassie over the Australia Day long weekend two weeks ago with a group of cavers from across Australia. There were a few different missions underway, including some that resulted in an impressive new connection between caves. Our focus was Growling Swallet and the sump [read more…]

Aug 122013
 
Exploration in Constitution Hole

About the cave Something different this week – caving without dive gear! The cave in question is Constitution Hole, a newly discovered entrance at the bottom of a hill in the Junee Florentine area of Tasmania. After a short walk through the rainforest, the cave starts with a muddy pitch, a narrow meander, a short pitch and a nasty wet traverse before reaching the top of the Hang-glider Chamber seen above. About the trip On this particular weekend we discovered a much easier shortcut back to Hang-glider as well as two new pitches in the lower area. Stopped by a shortage of rope we didn’t complete the descent but headed back up. While waiting for the photographer (again!) to ascend [read more…]