ILLAWARRA SPELEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY Inc.
NEWSLETTER
June 2019 Volume: 25 No.2
Digital ISSN: 2207-7499
PO Box 94, Unanderra, NSW. 2526
https://iss.caves.org.au
‘Exploring and conserving caves in Australia’
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 2
Contents 2019 Club Executive ....................... 2 Membership Fees............................ 2 President’s Report ........................... 2 From the Librarian and Editor .......... 3 MEDIA ALERT ................................ 4
Explorers break record for Australia's deepest cave ................. 4
Historical Photographs .................... 5 Trip Reports .................................... 8
Jenolan Caves ................................ 8 Borenore ....................................... 11 Walli .............................................. 12
2019 Club Executive President - Gerrard Collins Vice President – Adrian Williams and Tim Knowles Secretary - Alison Scobie Treasurer – Jodi Sellick Membership Secretary(s) – Meagan Knowles, Adrian Williams Newsletter Editor, Website and Librarian - Bob Kershaw Safety Officer - Brian Evans Training Officer - Kerry Sanders The Library is held at Bob’s place. Membership Fees The fees are set at the AGM in April each year. For 2019-20 the fees are:
Single $90; Single parent family $112; Family $150; Retired family $125; Student /retired/ single pensioner
$70; Student 18 and over and part of a
family membership $40 ASF membership with another
club $22. Introductory membership is $30 for
a Single and $45 for a family.
Front Cover Photograph:
Adrian and Nic in Mammoth Cave, Jenolan. Photo by Jenny Whitby February 2019
President’s Report
Thanks to Dorothy for allowing Dave Dicker and Bob Kershaw to digitise the caving photographs from Lloyd’s photographic archives. The photos will form the basis of an ISS and ASF photographic archive in the future. Bob is reproducing some in the newsletter while Dave is going to use the Kimberly photographs as a basis for another Kimberly newsletter.
The year is off to a great start and we encourage the new members to find the time to enjoy our underground pursuit. It is a chance to go where few have trodden before and we need to lookout for the caves we use.
The time draws near for the annual expedition. Good luck with the surveying of new caves and we hope that you have a safe trip. I know it will be enjoyable!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pay your membership fees as soon as you can so that we can finalise our membership fees with ASF so that you guarantee your Caves Australia Magazine will be delivered to your email box and that you enjoy the benefits of being covered by insurance.
You can download the membership renewal form from our website at:
https://iss.caves.org.au/membership.html
I note that some members have started to plan their trip to the next ASF conference during Easter 2021 in South Australia.
Stay safe and see you underground, or at camp.
Gerrard
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 3
From the Librarian and Editor The photographs below by Lloyd Robinson, show the strain gauge location at Jenolan Caves, Possibly in J46.
And another in Easter Cave WA in February 1968
They are mentioned in the article on Illawarra Speleological Society Strain Gauges by David Dicker and Bob Kershaw in Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 21 No 2 June 2015 Page 3.
ASF does Facebook!
If you want to hang out on the ASF Facebook page the web address is:
https://www.facebook.com/asfcavers/
Who said our honorary life members did not go caving? Photos from the Lloyd Robinson Collection.
Figure 1 Wyanbene Dorothy Robinson Kathy Knabe, Frank Hendricks April 1976.
Dave Dicker and friend 1977
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 4
MEDIA ALERT Explorers break record for Australia's deepest cave Sunday 26 May 2019 Fraser Johnston - primary media contact
Over the weekend of 25th and 26th May a team of elite explorers set a new record for Australia’s deepest cave, taking the underground passage to a depth of 395m.
Cavers from the Hobart-based club Southern Tasmanian Caverneers (STC) spent four days camping underground in Mount Field National Park to connect the Niggly Cave and Growling Swallet cave systems – Australia’s deepest and fourth-deepest caves, respectively.
Expedition organiser and cave diver Stephen Fordyce, who was nominated to dive through more than 200 metres of unmapped, flooded cave passages to break the record, said explorers have spent decades searching for a link between the two cave systems.
“One of Australia’s most perplexing underground puzzles has been solved,” Mr Fordyce, 32, said.
“This discovery is the result of the combined work of generations of cavers in Tasmania, and wouldn’t have been possible without a huge team effort.”
The caves are part of the Junee-Florentine system, which is home to more than 600 caves and more than 50kilometres of explored underground passages to date.
STC Vice President and cave scientist Dr Stefan Eberhard said ongoing cave exploration was not only important for building scientific knowledge, but also for better environmental protection.
“The Junee-Florentine caves contain features of great cultural, scientific and conservation value, including archaeological heritage sites, unique species of cave-adapted fauna, bones of extinct megafauna and ancient sediments deposited during glacial periods,” Dr Eberhard said.
“Exploration of these caves is far from complete and much more of this complex and extraordinary puzzle remains to be discovered and mapped by speleologists and cave divers for years to come.”
Mr Fordyce said the local caving club played a significant role in building the training and skills needed for the challenging expedition.“ Caves are unpredictable, underground obstacle courses – you have little idea what’s coming
next and you need to have the skills to handle whatever they throw at you,” Mr Fordyce said.
“I encourage everyone who has an interest in caving to get in touch with the Southern Tasmanian Caverneers club or their local caving club if they are interested in getting involved."
The record-breaking expedition included team members Stephen Fordyce (push diver), Alan Jackson, Gabriel Kinzler, Stefan Eberhard, Serena Benjamin, Fraser Johnston, Petr Smejkal, Patrick Eberhard, Chris Sharples, Rolan Eberhard.
The years-long cave connection project, sponsored in part by Australian Geographic, has been the subject of a documentary, Tartarus: The Search for the Junee Master Cave, yet to be released. The trailer can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/336263516/5f1cbb6bc3
Figure 2 team members left to right. Stephen Fordyce, Serena Benjamin, Gabriel Kinzler, Alan Jackson, Stefan Eberhard and Fraser Johnston.
Left photo, Diver Stephen Fordyce (Photo ‐ Stewart Donn)
PHOTOS - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jifqa6mj5gy3v3i/AABOTQpJdmJndu4ylm4Xc9kga?dl=0
VIDEO - https://www.dropbox.com/s/sxy4olcgnbqc8rd/Video%20Materials%2
0for%20Australia%27s%20Deepest%20Cave%20Record.mp4?dl=0
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 5
Historical Photographs
From the Lloyd Robinson Collection
Figure 3 Lloyd caving in the Northern Territory June 1997
Figure 4 Cutta Cutta Cave 1976
Figure 5 Bob and Gerrard Surveying on the Nullarbor May 1999
Figure 6 Abrakurrie May 1999
Figure 7 Dave Dicker May 1999 Nullarbor
Figure 8 Descending a Nullarbor Cave May 1999
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 6
Figure 9 Alison Scobie in Madura Cave May 1999
Figure 10 Alison, Adam and Andrew in a jam session in Abrakurrie Cave - May 1999
Figure 11 Changing Tyres in the rain on the Nullarbor May 1999
Figure 12 Baxter Memorial Nullarbor 1963
Figure 13 ‘The Khan’ in Kubla Khan Dec 1971
Figure 14 Jenny Whitby caving in the Northern Territory July 2008
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 7
FOR SALE
NEW 50mm Flat tape
5m Lengths for $6.
Use for tying off and for handlines
NEW Dynamic Rope
$6m per metre
for use as Cowstail
You will need approx. 2-2.5m
Contact Bob to arrange the sales. $ can be EFT to the ISS account beforehand.
Hi-Tec Bryce II WP Women's Boot US 6.5 Graphite Cornflower Sprout walking boots
Size 6.5US or 37.5EU 4.5UK
Purchased on sale and just half a size too small
$85 – Contact Bob
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 8
Trip Reports
Jenolan Caves Date: 9th – 10th of February 2019
By Adrian Williams
Photography by Jenny Whitby
Trip Leaders: Jenny and Gary Whitby
Attendees: Bob Kershaw, Gerrard Collins, Saskia Collins, Gary Whitby, Jenny Whitby, Kate Whitby, Jesse Curnuck, Adrian Williams.
Saturday: Frenchman’s Cave
On Saturday morning, after the group had eaten breakfast and other members had arrived, the group made their way from the Cavers Cottage towards Frenchman’s Cave. Along the
way, Saskia and Kate posed for some photographs in front of a wildlife camera.
Upon arriving at the mouth of the cave, Gary and Gerrard began rigging a setup to descend into the first chamber of the cave. During this, Adrian went with Bob to a separate entrance to rig a ladder descent into the same chamber. Here Adrian learnt how to tie tape knots, and rig backup anchors for a ladder. Upon entering the cave, all members used SRT descending devices, rather than descending the ladder that had been rigged.
Once in the cave, after moving away from the entrance, Gary rigged a handline to assist the group with descending a small downclimb that led into a horizontal squeeze.
After the squeeze, Jenny spent time explaining different types of cave formations that were located around the cave, and the geological processes behind how each of them formed. Of particular interest were some splash cups that were prismoidal that could be seen while walking along the trail.
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 9
Figure 15 The prismoidal formations
After viewing some of the formations, the group made their way back to the entrance chamber of the cave. Here, the group split in two, with Bob and Adrian using the ladder to ascend to the surface, with the rest of the group practising ascending a rope with vertical gear. Bob explained to Adrian the techniques of belaying a caver on a ladder, and the different techniques that could be used. Saskia and Kate did an excellent job ascending the rope, making it to the surface in record time. On the surface, Gerrard also successfully practised a rescue technique for hauling a caver up to the surface if they became tired on the rope during ascension.
After everyone was safely on the surface, the cave was de-rigged and the walk back up the hill to the cottage began, where everyone could relax and enjoy their afternoons in good company.
Sunday: Mammoth Cave
On Sunday morning at about 8:30 Jesse arrived to join the group for the day. The group finished their breakfasts, jumped in their cars and made their way to the mouth of Mammoth Cave.
Once the group was into the cave, a small, grey rock gecko was found in the entrance chamber. As the gecko was quite cold, Gary quickly took it
back to the surface so that it could warm up in the early morning sun.
After this, the group made their way through to the Railway Tunnel, and spent some time looking at the signatures and formations that were in this section of the cave. After this, the group backtracked slightly before heading down and through the triangular squeeze. Saskia and Kate made short work of the squeeze, while some of the adult group members needed some manoeuvring before they could make it through.
Once through the squeeze, the group made their way north through several chambers where they attempted to stay out of some puddles (with varying degrees of success). Through one of these chambers, after crawling out of a duck under, Adrian stood up into a sharp rock with his back, knocking the wind out of him and giving him a good ache for the rest of the trip. Not even ten minutes later, Adrian decided to follow this up with testing the hardness of a low hanging rock with his face. Needless to say, he discovered the rock was still quite hard.
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 10
After this chain of events, Bob ensured that he would put his caretaker skills to good use, taking every opportunity to remind Adrian to duck and watch his head. With Bob’s valiant efforts and safety expertise, no more injuries were suffered by Adrian on the trip.
Throughout the rest of the cave, the group was able to practice small traverses with the aid of a handline. In addition to this, the group also had the chance to attempt a small downclimb with a handline, which gave Jesse a chance to learn some techniques to assist in downclimbing rock surfaces.
After a while, the group came to a stop in a small river section to have a rest and some water. (I remember Jenny said that this was roughly the stopping point before continuing on to the great North Cavern).
After having a short rest, the group decided to head back up and out of the cave, taking a slightly different path back towards and through the triangular squeeze and back into the Railway Tunnel. After a few hours of a good sporting cave trip, the group emerged into the warm midday sun, ready to head back to the cottage before they split up to make their journeys back home to Wollongong, Newcastle and Oberon.
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 11
Borenore 20th April 2019
Those who attended are in the photo (by Jodi) plus Meagan and Jodi.
We had the privilege of staying at the Cliefden Hut over Easter 2019 and received the permit for BN5, Cathedral Cave. We met Denis Marsh in the car park at 10am and Denis led us to the cave and through the cave for the next few hours.
Meagan and Jodi walked over to Tunnel cave and the Arch while the rest of us survived “the Denis torture trail” over the next three hours.
The photos below, from Jenny tell the story. A big THANK YOU to Denis!
Figure 16 Denis at the new OSS gate
Alision and worn rock. Caitlyn in photo to the far left and Tim upper left photo.
Illawarra Speleological Society Newsletter Vol. 25 No 2 June 2019 Page 12
Walli 21st April 2019
While using the Cliefden Hut over Easter we headed out to Walli Caves for the Sunday to explore Piano Cave in the morning and then the hill to the north in search of W 2,4,5,6 and we found a few more small tagged caves in the process.
The photos below, from Jenny, tell the story.
Figure 17 at W5
Figure 18 looking for entrances near W6
Caitlyn says “the next edition will include a special Ning Bing report.”
