Sump one in Junee Cave

 Cave diving, Tasmania  1 Response »
Mar 182014
 
Sump one in Junee Cave

  About the cave I talked about Junee Cave last week, after our long weekend trip two weekends ago. The weekend was photographically focussed and I was keen to capture the straws and decorations in the dry cave between sumps one and two. Since we had to go through the water to get there it seemed silly to miss the opportunity for underwater photography, although I didn’t have high hopes for great images. About the dive While the defining feature of For Your Eyes Only may be the straws that line the ceiling, the defining feature of sump one is being cold. And dark. And often very silty. When I last visited in 2009 we had a large group of [read more…]

Straws in Junee Cave

 Cave diving, Tasmania  2 Responses »
Mar 112014
 
Straws in Junee Cave

About the cave Junee is the master drain and resurgence for a wide swath of the Junee-Florentine karst area. Many of the large, deep caves in the vicinity have had their waters dye traced to arrive back on the surface in the river flowing out of Junee. The tourist walking track through the State Park leads to a viewing platform in the forest. A quick clamber over the edge lands you knee deep in the chilly river, and three trips upstream into the dark zone put our dive gear at the edge of sump 1. About the dive Sump 1 is dark and silty, with greenish water and black walls. We had relatively good vis on the way through and [read more…]

For Your Eyes Only in Junee Cave

 Cave diving, Tasmania  3 Responses »
May 302011
 
For Your Eyes Only in Junee Cave

About the cave Junee Cave is located just out of Maydena, Tasmania, about a 90 minute drive from Hobart. Unlike the caves in South Australia and Western Australia, Junee is a river cave system, with rushing water flowing out of a dark hole in the ground. A ten minute walk along a beaten track beside the stream, where an interpretive sign by the cave entrance is just the beginning of getting to where this shot was taken. Having climbed over the tourist viewing platform and clambered down to the water, the would-be cave diver needs to lump the gear about 300m upstream inside the cave. Unseen under rushing water, a rocky floor that gets unexpectedly deep in places makes this more [read more…]