Elk River trip report

 Cave diving, Caving, Victoria  2 Responses »
Oct 142013
 

I’m going to have to interrupt my recounting of our Indonesia adventures (Part 1 and Part 2 so far) to bring you up to date on this weekend in Elk River. We had an epic 17 hour trip underground to achieve the stated mission of extending the line in sump 9. My last trip into Elk was back in June, when I extended invitations to a couple of interstate visitors only to be rained out by over 200mm of water the week before. The rising waters through the early parts of the cave caused us the rethink the trip at sump 1. Not wanting to repeat that disappointment I suggested postponing future push trips until the worst of winter was over. In July [read more…]

Exploration through mud

 Cave diving, Overseas  2 Responses »
Oct 072013
 
Exploration through mud

After a very nice, if slightly short dive through Kristal Cave on the first day, we were looking forward to getting into the caves and potential caves. The information we had from 1998 suggested there was about 500m of passage with two air chambers, all through crystal clear water following an entrance restriction. However, when Donovan returned 2 years ago to dive the cave he found the entrance pool full of mud and aborted the dive. On closer inspection it was still full of mud. The upside of this is that the local people have stopped drawing their drinking water from the cave and as such had no objections to us muddying it up even further. There was also no [read more…]

Check out dive in Kristal Cave

 Cave diving, Caving, Overseas  1 Response »
Sep 302013
 
Check out dive in Kristal Cave

I’ve been in Indonesia for the past two weeks doing lots of diving and I have more than a few photos and dives to catch you up on. I’m going to do it backwards and start with the second week first, which was the cave diving and exploration. Then I’ll skip backwards with a few thoughts about the fabulous rEvo course from the week before. Stay tuned, and here’s the first instalment. Kristal Cave is, as the name suggests, full of crystal clear water. The local dive operation Dive Alor Dive brings groups here for a break from diving the corals and swarming fish out in the tropical ocean. We flew in mid-morning and after a quick gear sort and [read more…]

Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 3)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  2 Responses »
Nov 292012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 3)

After a successful push into new territory in the third sump, the team still had to get themselves and their gear home again…back to and over Toad Hall, empty tanks into the three sleds and back 2.5kms to the first rockpile, over the first rockpile, and four sleds of empty tanks home to the surface lake. From there it was a quick march up the doline and more than a few loads of gear up the line to the desert above. Ron Allum sitting on his sleeping mat in Toad Hall, with his home made cave radio. This device provided underground to surface voice communication and allowed the Toad Hall team to report on the successful extension of the line [read more…]

Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 2)

 Back in the Day, Cave diving, Nullarbor  3 Responses »
Nov 222012
 
Cave diving through history: Cocklebiddy Cave, 1983 (Part 2)

In 1983, twelve divers reached the first rockpile, carrying tanks over to the second sump. Six divers then swam the second sump to camp in the darkness in Toad Hall. And three divers pushed on, into the third sump. Rest stop in the second sump, sleds against the roof. Ron Allum on the left and Phil Prust on the right. The line dangling from the spare reg on the left is a neck strap. Welcome to Toad Hall. It’s a long way to the top, but less gear to be carried over for the third sump push with only three divers going ahead. The camping gear was taken to the flat section at the top of the chamber. Phil Prust [read more…]

Exploring Great Nowranie Cave, Camooweal

 Cave diving, Queensland  2 Responses »
Sep 102012
 
Exploring Great Nowranie Cave, Camooweal

About the cave Great Nowranie Cave sits within Camooweal Caves National Park in far north Queensland. Only a short distance from the Northern Territory border, the dirt is red, the flies are plentiful and it’s stinking hot. At this time of year the desert surroundings remind me of the flat Nullarbor plains, but dry creek beds across the landscape are a reminder of the huge rainfall this area sees every wet season. The limestone is much older and harder than down south, forcing the rain to run across the landscape until it can find a fissure. Concentrated force sees fissures open up and widen, funnelling the water underground and creating the caves below. About the dive This was our first [read more…]

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