Adventure Caving at Naracoorte: Ron Kandelaars visits the South East region of South Australia
The first tentative steps into Cathedral Cave at Naracoorte are a portent of things to come. The entrance is a reasonably tight squeeze but it leads to a grand opening like so many of the caves in South Australia's only World Heritage Listed area.
“We go down about eleven metres,” explained our guide, Steve Bourne. “Then we descend about another five metres or more into the chamber.
“This was all caused by the underground aquifer. There was water in this part of the cave for a very, very long time and when you get down here you will see evidence of water levels right throughout the cave.”
In the first opening to Cathedral Cave moss is proof that this area receives it's fair share of water but nothing like the amount thousand years ago when water, acid and time ate a massive hole in the surrounding limestone.
As we move further into the cave, a giant broken column is proof that the chamber has experienced ground-shaking disruptions.
It's a setting almost perfect for a scene in Lord of the Rings and as we shimmy through openings more suitable for hobbits than humans you can't help but wonder whether any more unexpected seismic movements are on the way. Soon we're into the first low chamber - one of many in the honeycombed limestone.
As we crawl through another tight-fitting tunnel I can’t help but wonder how someone suffering from claustrophobia would cope. “We prefer people to do a novice tour first,” explained Steve. “We want people to do a novice tour before they come and tackle this because when you're in here you're in a tunnel that's about sixty metres long before you can stand up again.”
Sixty metres is a long way when you're scrambling on your stomach or inching your way on your elbows and knees. It's said that we only know of between one and ten percent of all caves that exist. It really is a case of mind over matter as you spend a lot of your time in here convincing yourself that this is a very ancient cave and very stable cave system. And then occasionally you come across a collapsed boulder and you begin to wonder!
Soon enough we emerge from a labyrinth of compact tunnels into a large opening with what the speleologists or cavers call a show - stalactites and stalagmites created by the relentless force of gravity and an ever-present supply of water.
“Each drop of water will quite potentially carry a calcite crystal,” explained Steve. “Calcite crystals are the building blocks or stalactites or stalagmites and the other things that we see. Each drip by drip, crystal by crystal they build up over hundreds of thousands of years”
We move further into the catacomb and we hit what cavers like Steve consider the jackpot - in this case a fossil deposit that is four hundred thousand years old.
You can see bones that are yet to be extracted. Maybe they're from an extinct kangaroo that lived in the area thousands of years ago. Others may be the remains of the giant marsupial lion, which once roamed the Limestone Coast. The committed Green Corp members that accompanied us on our adventure are playing their part in the search for answers by extracting heavy bags of sediment for sifting in the daylight air.
After ninety minutes underground - that’s a prospect we found mighty appealing. Cathedral Cave Adventure starts at the Wonambi Fossil Centre.
Cathedral Cave Adventure Tours
Tours depart Wonambi Fossil Centre
Naracoorte Caves National Park
