Long exposure in the Shaft

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  4 Responses »
Sep 192011
 
Long exposure in the Shaft

About the site The Shaft is a massive sinkhole in the Mt Gambier region, and the deepest cave in Australia. It’s noted in the history books for the four divers that died there in 1973, an event which contributed to the decision to form the Cave Diver’s Associate of Australia and allow Australian cave divers to self-regulate to prevent further deaths. From a manhole sized hole in a sheep paddock, there’s an 8m freehanging drop to the water’s surface. The cave is about 20m in diameter at this point, and the walls continue to widen out as you drop into the depths. Directly below the entrance hole is a feature known as the Rockpile. While this would originally have been [read more…]

Snell’s window in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  4 Responses »
Sep 122011
 
Snell's window in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the site I’ve previously talked about diving in Piccaninnie Ponds, and I’m about to again. Unlike other caves where I’ve had to work to find different angles on photos, the Ponds seem to be photogenic from every angle. The stunning blue, green and white colours, the clarity of the water, and the chance to contrast sunlight with the darkness inside the Cathedral create photographic opportunities everywhere you look. About the dive On this particular day, we’d booked permits to get in early in the morning for the best water clarity, and closer to midday for the best sunshine. The Chasm in the Ponds runs roughly North-South, so early and late in the day the angled sunlight tends to get [read more…]

Clay blocks in Iddlebiddy Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Sep 052011
 
Clay blocks in Iddlebiddy Cave

  About the site Iddlebiddy Cave is an Advanced Cave rated site located near Mt Gambier, South Australia. Initially discovered in the 1970s by locals Peter Blackmore and Phillip Earl, they were reluctant to report it to the newly formed Cave Diver’s Association of Australia (CDAA) because their lack of formal training under the new system would see them lose their right to dive here. The site was named Iddlebiddy as it follows a straight tunnel formation for a few hundred metres, and is reminiscent of the massive railway tunnel type cave formations found on the Nullarbor Plain such as Cocklebiddy Cave. While Advanced Cave sites are usually rated for their narrow single-file restrictions, Iddlebiddy is rated to protect the [read more…]

Bathtub in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Aug 082011
 
Bathtub in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the dive The eagle eyed may have noted an extra diver in the background of the last Piccaninnie Ponds shot I talked about here. The little white speck in the distance is actually a diver heading into the usually-forbidden depths of the cave. The photo was taken on a weekend reserved for research into some of the more unusual aspects of this unique wetlands and cave site. In particular, the team was checking on salinity monitors that had been installed in the cave on a previous project weekend. Piccaninnie Ponds is just over the sand dunes from the ocean, and a reduction in ground water flows following the recent drought may lead to salt water incursion from the ocean [read more…]

F tunnel in Tank Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  5 Responses »
Jul 182011
 
F tunnel in Tank Cave

About the dive Tank Cave is a labyrinthian maze of intersecting passages, located in the Mt Gambier region of South Australia. First dived in the 60s, the challenging narrow and silty entrance meant exploration didn’t truly begin until the 1980s. Today, the cave has approximately 11km of mapped passage. The main tunnels run on an approximate NW-SE trend, and the cave develops a distinct character in the different areas. The tunnels are named by letter and number, and tags are placed in the cave on the permanent lines at key points to aid navigation. Tank Cave is generally shallow, with most tunnels being between 10m and 20m deep, allowing for long dives. This photo was taken in F tunnel, which is [read more…]

Cathedral in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  2 Responses »
Jun 062011
 
Cathedral in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the dive Piccaninnie Ponds is one of my favourite sites for cave photography. As well as the crystal clear water and very white rock, there’s the novel aspect of being able to get natural light in the shot. The main drawback is that, once inside the Cathedral, you don’t have very long to experiment before silt starts to drift down off the roof. Naturally, taking advantage of the opportunities is also dependent on the sun coming out to play. I previously talked about a photo taken in the Chasm of Pics, looking up through the scalloped limestone walls. Swimming forward from here divers move under a limestone ceiling, and enter the Cathedral. Large rocks sit across the path between [read more…]

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