Text by Richard Harris, Images by Richard
Harris and Neville Skinner.
The
southeastern region of South Australia
is famous for many things; beautiful
wines, lush farmlands, the rich abalone
and southern rock-lobster fisheries.
But it’s what lies beneath the
surface of this cool wet corner of Australia
that fascinates Adelaide based, amateur
cave photographers Richard Harris and
Neville Skinner…
Five
hours drive from Adelaide and about
the same from Melbourne, lies the expansive
limestone karst plain of the Mt. Gambier
region. The extinct volcanoes, Mt Gambier
and Mt Schank, give testament to the
violent forces that shaped this countryside
only 5000 years ago. Nowadays the tranquillity
of this landscape is interrupted only
by the occasional bellowing cow and
the hissing of high-pressure gas!!
For
beneath theses lush pastures lie a subterranean
world that non-cave divers can only
dream of. Vast sink-holes (cenotes)
and kilometres of phreatic joint maze
cave dot the landscape; there are four
hundred and twenty nine recorded cave
features in the region. The flat lying
Tertiary Gambier limestone extends down
to almost 300m below the land surface
and one site, The Shaft, has recently
been mapped by divers from the Australian
Speleological Federation-Cave Diving
Group down to 125m. For those trained
to dive in the caves, immeasurable beauty
awaits and it is here that Neville and
Richard try to document the subterrainean
world.
Donning
dry suit, twin tanks, extra lights and
the all important guide line reels which
will lead them to safety at the end
of the dive, the pair feel somewhat
displaced standing in a pine forest,
or a paddock full of dairy cattle. No
surf or current to contend with, the
odd cowpat is a more frequent hazard.
Access to the sites varies between a
comfortable stroll down purpose built
stairs in the middle of town at Engelbrechts
Cave, to a 40m rappel into Hell’s
Hole, the name must refer to the climb
back up a wire ladder!
Most
sites are regulated by the Cave Divers
Association Of Australia (CDAA) and
are rated in the degree of difficulty,
training and experience required. Cavern,
Sinkhole, Cave and Penetration describe
the thirty sites that are frequently
dived in the area. As with all cave
diving, appropriate tuition is mandatory
because of the potentially unforgiving
nature of water filled caves.
Seven
of the authors' favourite sites are
described in this article, all of which
lie within a thirty minute drive from
the town of Mt Gambier.
Piccaninnie Ponds (Sinkhole
rating)
"Pics"
is arguably the best known and most
picturesque freshwater dive in the southeast
Karst province. Easy entry is provided
from a purpose built pier and after
a short swim across a shallow pond section
divers descend into a vertical chasm
that is the stuff photographers die
for! Gin clear water and overhead sunlight
create a visual effect that is the subject
of countless posters and post-cards.
A 36.5m depth limit set by the government
department that manages the site.
2.
Beyond
this a narrow silty slot is rumoured
to continue down well past 70m. Sadly
a diver met his death at great depth
here in 1974, a reminder of the potential
risk of exceeding the prescribed limit.
As you swim further into the system,
past the "Slot", you enter
a beautiful cavern known as the Cathedral,
again famous for the iridescent shimmer
of filtered sunlight which illuminates
the limestone at the right time of day.
The
Shaft (Sinkhole rating)
A
truly gigantic cenote the tiny circular
entrance in the middle of a grassy paddock
belies the magnificent chamber below.
The site was first discovered when the
farmer's horse stumbled and put its
leg down the hole. Attempts were then
made to fill the sinkhole with stones
but to no avail. It was only after the
first dives were made here that the
futility of that gesture was realized;
with comparisons often being made to
the Melbourne Cricket Ground in terms
of its size underwater! The hundreds
of tons of rocks poured into the hole,
look like a tiny pimple on the rock
cone when seen from one side of the
site.
In summer, sunlight shining down the
1m wide entrance produces a collimated
beam of light ("The Shaft")
down onto the rockpile. The recent exploration
to a depth of 125m using open circuit
trimix has confirmed the awesome proportions.
The guest book tells of the many famous
visitors who have dived here including
David Doubilet and Sheck Exley. It was
also the site of Australia's worst cave
diving accident, with four people losing
their lives here in 1973. Since then
all dives are now done with an experienced
guide. Entry is via rope or wire ladder
from a tripod set up over the hole.
Kilsby'sSinkhole
(Sinkhole rating)
Named
after the farmer who owns the land the
clarity of this 60m+ sinkhole and the
patterns the sunlight make on the walls,
makes this yet another photographic
fantasy world. Used for weapons research
in the past, and now leased as a training
site by the South Australian Police
divers, a dive at Kilsby's is always
on the "must do" list when
in the area. The cave was closed for
a period when two divers perished there
in 1969.
Allendale
Cave (Cave rated)
The
tiny town of Allendale lies between
Mt Gambier and the coastal community
of Pt Macdonald. In the centre of town
the main road splits in half around
a small sinkhole that used to provide
a watering hole for the local bullock
teams. These days it provides an exhilarating
though brief dive down the forty-five
degree slope to around 27m. The sock
shaped sinkhole contains minor restrictions
and true dark zones, so is an excellent
training ground as you progress through
the cave diving qualifications.
Fossil
Cave and Pines Cave (Cave and Cave/Penetration
rated respectively)
These
sites are similar in their layout and
their genesis. Classical sinkholes originally
one side of the caves has become choked
leaving the impression of a single slope
running around the side of the rock
cone. In the shallower areas, sunlight
again plays its part in making the shutter
release on our cameras go into overdrive!
Further into the caves, rock collapses
form interesting passageways requiring
the use of guidelines and good silt
free finning technique.
Engelbrechts
East Cave (Cave rated)
"Excuse
me madam" you mutter as you lug
your countless tons of dive gear through
the middle of a tourist group taking
a gentle stroll along the nicely laid
out pathways of the large dry cave.
"There goes another temporary Australian"
she quips as you dip beneath the water
and your lights disappear into the apparently
impenetrable rockface! This cave is
dark, narrow and silty in areas but
surfacing in the 100m long dry cave
at the other end makes it all worthwhile!
More akin to the phreatic passages of
Tank Cave (the local Holy Grail for
penetration divers), Engelbrechts Cave
can certainly test diving skills when
taking photos at the same time.
This
brief look can barely do justice to
the myriad dive spots in the area. At
present (with occasional exceptions)
diving in the sites described is regulated
by the CDAA. This association was formed
in 1973 in response to public reaction
following the multiple diving fatalities
in the region. The CDAA boasts high
standards of training and safety, and
has successfully curbed this early spate
of accidents in the region. The essential
rules of cave diving were adopted from
the late Sheck Exley's Blueprint for
Survival that has become the bible for
cave divers worldwide. By following
these basic principles and with good
training, cave diving in Australia is
now considered a very safe adventure
sport. For Richard Harris and Neville
Skinner, adding a camera to the recipe
has made it a passion!
.....................................................................................................
Richard
Harris
Richard Harris is an Adelaide anaesthetist
and a physician in Diving and Hyperbaric
medicine. He started diving in the late
70’s, and took up underwater photography
soon after. Currently he uses a Nikon
D100 digital SLR in a Subal Housing,
with 2 Nikonos Sb-105 strobes. His underwater
images in this article were all taken
with a Nikkor 16mm Fisheye lens.
Neville
Skinner
Neville Skinner first started as a spear-fisher
in 1968, taking up SCUBA
diving in 1970, after obtaining his
dive qualification through the Nemrod
School of SCUBA Diving in Sydney, Australia.
He purchased his first underwater camera
in 1971, a Nikonos 1. Although he still
owns his original Nikonos 1 and strobe,
Neville currently uses both a Nikonos
IV and V, with 15mm & 35mm lenses
It is the effect of the light penetrating
the deep blue water that attracts him
to freshwater diving, along with the
100 metre visibility and the many underground
rooms and tunnels that are there to
be explored. It is Neville’s quest
to photograph as many of South Australia's
freshwater dive sites as possible.
.....................................................................................................
Mt Gambier
Mt
Gambier is a picturesque rural town
of 50000 people, close to the southern
border of South Australia and Victoria.
Information regarding accommodation
can be found on the Mt Gambier tourism
website. For groups of divers and individuals
alike, Blink Bonney Divers Lodge run
by local cave diver Phil Argy, offers
comfortable budget accommodation and
cheap air fills. The Blue Lake Caravan
Park has very smart self -contained
units for those with a family.
Overseas
and Non CDAA cave divers
For
suitably qualified divers, permission
to dive these sites can be organized
by contacting the CDAA well ahead of
your visit to South Australia. In many
cases, visiting divers will be allocated
an experienced “tour guide”
to show them around the sites.
Useful
links:
