This trip was put forward at the August meeting. The aims for the trip were to continue the plotting of the homestead area, carry out a 5.5 survey of Water Cave, and find some of the caves up the valley from Water Cave (Snake Cave). However, as only Ben and I attended we decided to plot the Homestead area only.

Report

I picked Ben up at 6:00am Saturday 20th August and we had a good run to Moruya. The weather was cool and drizzly until Ulladulla, then fine and sunny. We fuelled up and headed into Bendethera.

We drove to the homestead area and had lunch, then surveyed from the stockyard to the "gravesite". We then located the ovens and surveyed back to the "gravesite". We then closed the survey by surveying from the stockyard to the ovens along the road. As there was a group of vehicles camped on the creek and we decided that it would be a waste of time doing any plotting in this area.

We then crossed Con Creek and continued down the valley, setting up camp on the Deua opposite the second pit toilets.

After a mild night with a short shower, the sun rose to a misty morning. Ben and I did a brief photographic tour of the flat, then had breakfast and packed up. We got away around 9:00 and headed home via Araluen, Braidwood and Goulburn.

Conclusions

1 Much of the homestead site has been plotted, however, we need someone along who remembers the house area.

2 For external surveying, a 100m tape would be useful

Return to Bendethera Contents above

BENDETHERA 7TH - 9TH OCTOBER 1994

OF MIST AND MEMORY.

by Josephine Batty

Wake at 12.30, 3.30 and 4.30am. Up and shower, sleep-walking. Pack the car, coffee and toast, leave at 6.20. Stop for breakfast and look at maps. I get my first drive of the Range Rover (and he thinks he's going to get it back!!!).

Side trip to the rainforest creek, how much has changed. It does not agree with the maps, is it Deua River or a tributary? Have they renamed it? There's a tree down on the track, walk the last 300 metres to the creek. Did we really used to get a vehicle down this?

The robin greets me,

old friend.

Not much water in the creek. How do you take water reflection photos when there's no water? The climb back up the hill to the car was worth it!

It seemed smaller than before.

Is this the distortion of memory?

We come down the mountain. For the first time there's no clouds or mist and it's daylight. I see the clearing through the trees. It's a long way down. The road is now so well graded that its actually possible to stop, hanging on the side of the mountain and take photos of the clearing below.

Descend to the valley. We drive around looking at things; do a little "sploring" of places noted before. More consultation of maps. Trickett's has lots of caves. Is the new "find" actually Pipe cave, relocated by memory? Lunch is late after 40 photos, including the deep crossing area.

We ponder which site and unfold the tent just as the others arrive. Return to the preferred choice and scare away intruders. A "you beaut" tent and one that is unpitchable. Six people and two hours later it is up, now we wait for payment and a critique by the owner.

Coffee at the water-hole and then search for firewood past the ford. We disturb the Roos for the second time. Sausages for tea, too tired at 5.30 to do any more.

The noisy ones start to arrive. We put them in the other site. Is it far enough removed for the children? We'll see. How interesting that it's a special place for the original ISS too, and watch their reactions to the changes. Fran establishes the Bendethera Bistro and gives away home made bread. Uncle Ron discovers how to drive a three

wheeled cruiser.

Sun setting,

mountain line.

Etched in memory.

Impregnable.

No ravages of time,

the translation of distance.

I'm left without transport. I want to be off by myself like this. Time enough for company later. I saw Ms Wombat this morning (5.40 am).

I'm a rock, I'm a rock.

No you're not, No you're not.

I'm a rock,.I'm a rock.

No you're not, No you're not.

The cormorant that we saw yesterday is fishing in the pool this morning and again later. Was it him that I saw later or was it a platypus? I can't say. Ms goanna up a tree and lots of birds visit.

Ghost brumbies come to the ford and drink.

There's no morning mist.

I'm lying in the grass at the old homestead site. How many hours and days did she spend alone here whilst her man was away? Tending the animals, administering to sick kids, working. They were tough women.

How did it feel to raise twelve children (plus stock) in this place? What did she think when she watched the sun rise and set over the hills? Did she watch a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter over a crescent moon like we did last night? There were no satellites for her to count.

He'd have to be a good man. She buried a child and marked the grave. Now it seems it's only us who are interested in locating it.

Did she grow flowers?

I lie here and wait. In my mind's eye little Tenar comes walking down the track, looking for me. Will it be like this in 20yrs? Will I visit and remember lying here writing this journal? I hope Ms Black Snake is far away. I should go up the hill and draw the homestead.

Where would I bury my child?

I doze and then race the storm back to camp. I meet two women walking with 5 or 6 small children. Abandoned by their menfolk, they resolve to take their own weekend away and leave the men with the kids.

After the shower, I read the synopsis of Mary George's life. Does she have any living descendants I wonder? At least the midwife came and stayed with her. With up to eight hands on the farm and all those children, perhaps she was not as alone as you might think. Should we name a cave for her?

They arrive back at camp. Its unbelievable the person-hours of work that have been achieved. Surveys, caves re-located (Just move it over nearer the track, will you?) and tagged. And someone knows where they are all the time. Two owls disturbed in BD4. A rain averter is constructed (it worked) and we debrief. Our mighty leader had to sell his grandmother to get a replacement tyre. Some people will go to amazing lengths to avoid a surface trog! The evening settles into wine, women and song, not to mention Monty Python and tall caving tales (Low tales?). I spend quality time with my new son.

Currawongs calling.

Mist not standing,

flows downriver.

Frosted grass.

The mist at the ford

flows up river.

I sit and watch.

Not static,

breeze dancing.

Flows up from downriver,

down from upriver,

spirals up,

forms a mist figure.

I think of ghosts.

Sun slants through the trees,

stripes the mist,

paints shadows

on the far range.

Breakfast and back to the caves. We meander up the creek and search. More GPS and tags. Bendethera wattle has not changed. Several separate conversations wish for a fire that is wattle specific. Sit at the last crossing and draw the ferns.

We pack up and have lunch. The goanna is visiting, wants his share, poses (smile for the camera!). We leave it stunned and stuffed with eggs. (You roll the egg to it Fran, not smash its brains out.) Egg on face.

Say goodbyes.

Leaving memories and mist behind,

we take the long journey home.

Return to Bendethera Contents above

BENDETHERA CAVES

7th, 8th & 9th October 1994

by Dave Dicker

Present

RKP, FLP Bob Kershaw, Lynn Poulton, Dave Dicker, Josephine Batty,

Adam Peters, Lawrence Blackert and Kelly Blackert, Anthea ?, (Kell's girlfriend),

Lyn and Harley Atkins, Fab and Leslie Bertolla, Gerard ?,

John and Ann Poulton and Kids, Mal and Anne McCrae and kids,

Graham Cook and Leanne Harvey, Gary and family (surveyor).

My aims for the weekend were:

1 To carry out a 5 grade survey of BD4 (Water Cave), BD5, & BD7.

2 To locate BD9 (Snake Cave) & BD10

Friday 7th October

I picked up Josephine at 6.00am Friday morning and we had an uneventful run to Moruya, after stopping for breakfast just South of Tomerong. On the way in to Bendethera, we investigated the "Pinkwood Trail" which descends to a rainforest gully which is a tributary of the Deua River.

We arrived at the Bendethera Flats around 12.30pm. The weather was windy with intermittent showers. After a general look around the area in case any members had arrived before us, we returned to the bus stop & had lunch. Around 3.00pm, Harley and Linda arrived, closely followed by Fran and Bob. It was decided to set up camp near the Deua just North of the homestead site. The rest of the group arrived at various times during the night, the surveyor, having driven his Falcon in! The weather continued windy with a good shower during the night.

Saturday 8th October

The group got away from camp around 8.00am. Ron gained two flat tyres on his way in, so he loaded up my Range Rover with them and headed in to Moruya for repairs/replacement.

Harley, Lyn Poulton and I headed up to BD4 and started the survey. We surveyed the main part of the cave to grade 5, positioned the small entrance to the west of BD4, and the small doline to the south of BD4. Around 12.00, Bob arrived on his way to the BD1 area.

We all walked up the gully next to BD4 to see if we could find BD9 and BD10. I had previously been to BD9 (Snake Cave) some 15 years ago but had approached it from above.

We followed the gully, investigating various outcrops as we went. The wattle scrub is incredibly dense, especially where the creeper has intertwined with it. We followed the gully for some 300 metres, at which stage we reached the edge of the limestone, then returned to BD4 and had lunch.

After lunch, Lyn went with Bob to the BD1 area, while Harley and I had a look at BD5 which we surveyed and described. We then had a look at BD7 which has a very small unnegotiable entrance. We did a grade 1 survey of this cave.

Around 2.00pm, Harley and I decided to return to camp. We arrived back at 3.00pm, after getting a lift from Kell and his group. The rest of the expedition arrived back an hour later.

The afternoon turned cold and showery, so a large system of awnings was erected. The weather cleared just on dusk, so the fire was lit and the evening was spent in comfort and good company.

Sunday 9th October

After a cold clear night, we got up to a frosty morning. We were away from camp by 9.15. The group headed up the gully near BD4 and we carried out a more thorough search for BD9 and BD10. We spent about 1 1/2 hours pushing through the scrub but to no avail. Ron and Fran put a temporary tag on BD8. We started back to camp around 11.30am. On the way, Ron GPS located the stockyard and gravesite. We had lunch, packed up and were away by 2.00pm and had an uneventful run home.

CONCLUSIONS

1 BD6: will need warmer weather before a survey can be made.

2 BD7: One medium size rock will need careful removal before entry can be gained. The cave seems significant by Bendethera standards, but the political implications may need investigating.

3 BD9 & BD10: It would be a help to have someone who is more familiar with the area on the trip to find these caves.

Return to Bendethera Contents above

BENDETHERA CAVES

7th, 8th & 9th October 1994

Report by Ron Poulton

Objectives

1. start GPS survey of cave entrances

2. start tagging caves and checking tagged caves

3. Commence surveying B/D‑1

4. General exploration

Friday October 7, 1994

Advanced party of Fran and Bob left about 10:00 Friday 7/10/94 in the Subaru to set up campsite and tents.

Lynn and I left Kiama at 17:15 in Dad's car. Dinner from the Greasy Joe's in Moruya where I took over the driving. About three miles before the Hanging Rock Mt turn off we had the left rear tyre blow out. Certain fun and games as we searched for a light, there was one but I didn't find it so I used Bob K's caving light and then had to read the manual to find out where to jack the damn car from. Finally, changed the tyre and proceeded. Arrived at Bendethera and followed the reflective signs Fran had put out to the campsite beyond the old homestead flat. Arrived about 23:00. Everyone already in bed (can you blame them ‑ ed). Woken about 24:00 by Kel etc arriving in the Land Rover. 03:00 it rained, wetting all the chairs and stuff as we hadn't bothered to put up fly.

Saturday October 8, 1994

Got up about 06:00 Saturday morning to find that the left tyre was again flat. General laughter and panic ensued with some very unkind remarks about Toyotas. Conferred with Bob and Fran and decided Fran and I would take two wheels to Moruya for fixing whilst Bob supervised the ongoing program. I needed to borrow Harley's jack to get enough height to get wheel off. Gave a quick lesson to Bob and Dave Dicker on how to use the GPS and then passed it and all the paper work over to Bob. Found tyre place (near bank on river) and dropped off tyres.

Eventually the one with the hole in the wall had to go, but number two might be salvageable. Got model number off the tyre and rang Bateman's Bay Tyrepower (local Dunlop agent) after the guy stopped laughing because he had a pile of identical stuffed tyres. He told me no chance of a replacement. Wandered around for a while as we had to wait 1 hour before going back to the tyre place. Had a long and interesting discussion with fireman about rescue and vertical techniques. Returned to the tyre place after a walk through the local Saturday markets (mostly junk) to find one tyre repaired (hole covered with a large sleeve) might/might not hold. Tyre man remarked he had an appropriate sized Michelin somewhere, did we want it? Said yes and nearly died when he told me it was $350.00. Loaded tyres, filled Dave's car and bought 4 litres of oil for Gary's falcon. Stopped at Moruya Historical Society to get copies of "booklet" with Bendethera information. Didn't get what Bob got on Friday which was a copy of their newsletter but got a booklet "Then and Now" which had a section on Bendethera. Compared info on return and decided to produce both sets for members. Arrived back at camp about 14:30 and immediately put wheel back on car. Thank heavens that's over. Took Dave's Range Rover across the river to get some more firewood. Chopped wood with chainsaw (Fran operated) and took back to camp. Sort of fiddled for a while. Fran cleaned fireplace out and laid small timber and fortunately covered it with black plastic garbage bag. Were just discussing what to do including heading for trackhead to await people when they mostly returned in the back of Kel's Land Rover. Bob had screwed his tricky knee while out searching for BD 9. They had got quite a bit done. GPS'd BD 1,2,3,5,6,7, searched for 8,9,10. Started survey of BD 1 with Garry and his gear. Kel and company had gone up the Krawaree F.T and found and tagged 3 pots. (probably low 20's series pots). John and Ann and later Graham Cook had found a pot to left of BD1 and tagged and GPS'd it. Others had helped them.

Dave Dicker, Harley and Lynn had finished the survey of BD 4 and helped at other locations. Usual pile up trying to sort everyone out but did finally get each group to indicate on map the rough search area and findings. Wonder of wonders they all filled out report forms. Of course it started to rain about now (17:00) so we panicked and put up the flys. My old blue one had developed a number of unpleasant leaks. Much to-ing and fro-ing and adding tarps until we had a large covered area. Did the rounds of everyone to check on today's work and thanked them. When I returned to camp Bob and I checked over the information for the day and discussed Sunday's program. Fran provided Sat. night dinner, Curried this and that, very nice to the accompaniment of Coopers and Botobolar Red wine (nice Bob). Campfire cared for by Fran. Enjoyed myself!

Sunday October 9, 1994

Slower start today but had already decided on light work only so that most people could be away from Bendethera by 13:00. Bob Stayed in camp distrusting his knee. Fran and I left for trackhead carpark about 09:15 in Dave's Range Rover. Sort of divided into groups of quick and slow walkers. Dave took quick walkers up to BD 4 region to search for BD 9/10. Fran and I stopped at bottom of Krawaree FT to affix tag B to tree and to GPS same. Note to let Fran write up log so that other people can read it. Walked on up to BD 4 passed on the track by Kel , Lawrence, Adam, Anthea, joined by Graham and Leanne. Had decided in concert with Bob that hole west of BD 4 was BD 8 and even if it wasn't, was now. Tagged it with an orange tag engraved last night. Used my cordless-drill to drill a 3mm hole about 1 1/2" deep. Fairly easy to drill, then 3.2mm concrete nail to fix. Graham and Leanne did a grade 1 survey of BD 8. Is just a hole about 4 m deep with side passages etc. GPS'd entrance.

Moved to BD 4 where I checked the GPS taken from yesterday and Graham looked on left hand side for possible extensions. None found although Graham was fairly certain there was a wombat in residence. Met up with Dave for morning tea. No joy in finding BD9/10 although could be under thick scrub. Now about 11:30 returned to cars. Stopped at old homestead site and GPS'd stockyards and gravesite. ID now positive from information in Moruya district Historical Society Pamphlet (stones in x‑shape).

Broke camp and lunched. Dave agreed to follow Fran and I out in case of trouble. No trouble developed. We did load all the heavy stuff in Dad's car which helped the Subaru's ground clearance. Arrived Kiama 17:30‑18:00. Spoke to Dad and sent Lynn home.

Postscript: the falcon made it out of Bendethera with no problems.

Return to Bendethera Contents above

21st - 25th April 1995

by Ron Poulton

Members Present:

Ron and Fran Poulton, Ted Poulton (Ron's Dad), Dave Dicker, Bob Kershaw, Gerrard Collins

Aims:

To Find and GPS Gin Cave BD-35

To Find and GPS BD-3

To Find and GPS BD-9 or 10

Dave, Gerard, Fran and Bob left during the day whilst Dad and I left Friday evening arriving with 4WD caravan in tow about midnight.

The campsite had been erected by the early birds and with ample firewood.

Saturday 22nd April

Discussed the days program and Dave and Bob referred to the ISS journal to determine the route to BD-35. We arrived at the car park at 10 am and headed up the main track to Little Con Creek and turned left staying to the left of the creek heading for a junction at GR 447186. It was easy going on this southern side. At the junction we crossed the creek and headed up the very steep spur (mountain goats would have had difficulty!!) with the intention of walking along the ridge and descending on the Gin outcrop. (In retrospect this was a bad choice). Dave's ankle began to play up as a result of an old injury. So he decided to return to the cars whilst the rest ploughed on around the spur following the contours in the hope of finding Gin Cave. We struggled around to what the GPS said was above Gin cave. Dad and Fran were getting a bit wobbly until we reached the definite bank that indicated the end of Little Con Creek, GR 435178.

On the way Fran may have reached the base of the Gin Outcrop of limestone. We headed back about 1430 with a brief sweep of the lower areas. We could have passed the approximate area but are not certain that the mark on the map is where the cave is to be found. We crossed the creek at about GR 439179 and came to the junction of the twin creeks which is a prospective campsite for a light weight assault on the area in future. It was much easier walking on this southern side of the creek.

On returning to camp Terry O'Leary and Elly McFaden were there and after a brief discussion we decided to chance Terry's memory and search for BD-3 on Sunday as Terry had been there about 8 years ago.

Sunday 23rd April

After breakfast and an examination of aerial photos we arrived at the car park about 9.45 am. The party consisted of Terry, Elly, Gerrard, Bob and Myself. At Flagpole Flat we stopped to allow about 20 horses and riders pass on their way to BD-1. We reached the clearing at the caves sign about 11.15am. We turned left up the spur and bushed bashed through the dammed wattle with Terry leading and saying this feels right. We reached a series of limestone benches and almost found a couple of potential leads, tagged BDX-4 and BDX-5. Whilst we tagged these Terry and Elly continued upwards to the top of the benches and low and behold had found BD-3. While Terry was waiting for us to catch up he wandered over to locate BD-13.

At the top, Terry and Elly bade us farewell (they had to work tomorrow), and there is a great view towards the BD-4 limestone knoll. We built a cairn with white rocks and a burnt branch and blue popper container so that it can be visible from the bottom near the cave sign.

BD-13 has a triangular entrance. After some discussion and comparing maps we decided to go in search of BD-12. We viewed re-entry into the wattle with loathing and disgust but noticed a fairly obvious "line" of gum trees leading in about the right direction. Found the sighting from gum to gum (gee I think about dentistry a lot!) was possible through the wattle. We came across another limestone outcrop about 70 m from BD-13. Bob K found a small roofed type cave that we tagged BDX-6. Probably not worth any further investigation. While I was doing BDX-6 Gerrard and Bob ventured to explore to the W or NW of BDX-6 and found and extensive doline system that we tagged it BD-12. It is an extended series of potholes entrances around a central doline. The total area is probably 100m in diameter with the Central doline being 3m deep and 5 m across. This definitely requires further investigation. We also discovered a large area of fossils around the central doline. This doline is not in the central area of wattle. You break out of the wattle and into a watercourse/depression in a sclerophyll forest.

On the return trip we fixed an orange ISS arrow to the base of a bench below BD-3 to direct future walkers upwards. Near the cave sign is a slightly blackened three trunked tree with an ISS arrow pointing to the BD-3 Bluff. This is a line of sight and this tree can be found by walking 36m on a bearing of 195N from the "caves" sign, or the corner of the track as it heads downhill to cross the creek to go BD-1.

The baked dinner was exquisite and enough to feed all of us.

Monday 24th April

Today Bob, Gerrard and I will search the BD-4 knoll and Fran and Dad will follow the directions to get to BD-3.

We went up the west face of the knoll towards the rock outcrop that could be viewed from BD-3. The walking through the wattle was easier and we reached the outcrop which also proved to be the top of the knoll. We fixed Blue Tag D to the outcrop. We had lunch on top in a clear area where Bob had constructed a cairn and left a note in a plastic clip lock bag. We searched systematically around the top of the knoll then decided to sweep around towards the east towards BD-4. Casuarinas began appearing in cleared areas around the knoll. As we moved south along the face we entered a region of very dense wattle which was very hard to get through.

Bob found a clearing around a very prominent limestone outcrop and called for me to GPS it. While I was doing the GPS'ing Bob left his pack and went for a wander. Cries of joy - he literally stumbled across BD-9. Gerrard and I fought our way through the wattle to Bob, with Gerrard carrying Bob's pack. We entered the information into the GPS and the tag is an ISS tag with the BD-9 punched with a centre punch. This explains why we have a spare BD-9 tag. This will be a difficult cave to find again so we took bearings of 100N and 137N to high points on the outcrop to the east of us.

The face below BD-9 is very steep, so we decided to swing around the spur to BD-10, but with no success. But we did find a couple of large limestone outcrops. We eventually finished at BD-4.

Tuesday 25th April

Started with an ANZAC parade at 9am. Fran played "Flowers of the Forest" on the bagpipes and I delivered a short speech. Dad Delivered the ode and some joined in a ragged version of the recessional. It was a meaningful act on our part especially surrounded by the beauty of the area.

After breakfast we reviewed the weekends activities and the maps that Dave had already drawn. We broke camp about midday and had an uneventful trip home.

PS. There is more information in my personal log if you can decipher the writing.

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30/9/95 and 1-2/10/95

by Bob Kershaw

Never Again..on a Long Weekend!

Present: Ron Poulton, Gerrard Collins and myself

Aims: to relocate, survey and photograph if possible, BD-9 - Snake Cave.

to photograph the wattle if any was still in flower.

We set out Saturday morning from Kiama about 9.00am and arrived at Moruya about 11.35 to enjoy a hearty hamburger at the Aft Cabin, just 50m to the east of the BP service station. There was a great deal of 4WD activity in Moruya which were headed for Bendethera.

Woe is us!

The trip along the dirt road was uneventful, except that the Bungarraberee 4WD club held us up with inexperience and forgetfulness.

Never Again!

We arrived at our normal campsite to see it totally occupied.

Never again!

We then moved to over the road where the horses were in April. This promised to be warm in the morning as the sunlight should hit us about 6.00am. We set up camp and organised ourselves for an early start on Sunday for the trek to BD-9. We even went to bed about 8.30pm.

Never Again!

That night we were invaded by the sound of Idiot 4WD'ers attempting the hill near the toilet about 1030pm and driving through our campsite about 1130pm. So much for the good night sleep.

Never Again!

Sunday began bright and early and we were away about 8.00am. At the car park we met Newcaves from Newcastle Hunter Valley Caving Society. Ron recognised a couple of familiar Scout Leaders and so we chatted for about 45 minutes. I was informed that they had emailed me 3 weeks ago of their intentions to visit the area but I'm still getting used to the concept and did not have their mail. (Late on Monday evening I solved the problem and found their email). We swapped information about the location of BD-3, their expedition for the day, and for another group to search an area for us.

We sauntered off about 9.00am and arrived at BD-4 about 9.30 and headed up the dry creek bed until I saw the gully we found on the previous trip, we then headed up through the wattle to end up, spot on, the cave entrance.

Brilliant Navigation! Ron expected us to spend hours looking for the cave.

We rigged the pitch and I descended the first pitch and told the others to follow. We continued down a smaller pitch, a handline sufficing, to carry on our survey and said that it doesn't look like it goes any further. But keen observation and the desire to find something found a way through. We continued down under the top passage through a third pitch, a tight squeeze for Ron, using a handline. A small piece of active formation is under this pitch - Take care!

The floor dipped away steeply and the walls were covered in shawls, although inactive. The sump was quite small and there were no further leads. Back at the base of the third pitch was a hole that lead off a right angles to this main rift. I being the smallest went for a look dragging the tape measure behind me. At the 17m mark I could go no further because I would have damaged the very beautiful and active formation - shawls, columns and lots of straws - and the air was choking because of the small colony of bats. The guano was several cms thick and 10cms in some places.

I returned gasping for air, not only because of the bats but the thermal top made me hot. After a drink, I told the others and I set off again with camera and Gerrard to have another look.

At one place a hole descends several metres but it is too small for me.

We exited the cave very happy and excited cavers saying that there must be more under this hill. We packed up and spent 30 minutes combing an area above the entrance in the hope of finding something else - maybe a hole to the pretties chamber!

A cave description is at an appendix to this report.

When we returned to the car park, one group of Newcaves told us that they found more holes to the west of BD-8 that look like they go places. The other party had not yet returned.

A rather warm evening foretold of a change in the weather that arrived with a thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning.

We set off Monday morning, about 9.45 to see what the other Newcaves group had found! They walked to BD-1 and then across the 2 valleys towards BD-3 and found nothing. They were not impressed with the wattle in their search.

They found BD-13 and did a quick survey for us and we have to add moonmilk to the end of our survey.

They laddered and abseiled and climbed BD-3 and found the Windlass on several pitches below, and told us of a few things to add to the survey of Vasey, Warrild and Moore from 1975. At least we don't have to carry gear up and survey this cave.

We started to drive out ahead of many 4WDs and on the last creek crossing hit a rock that caused a flat tyre. After we changed the tyre we noticed that the spare needed some air. So we waited for Newcaves who had a pump that we could use.

Never Again!

We continued up the hill with them and noticed that the clock in the car was not working. As we continued up the hill the temperature gauge rose and the radiator boiled. The electric fan and clock use the same fuse and it had blown! Newcaves to the rescue again with spare water to top up the radiator.

Never Again!

We told the Newcavers of a great food place in Moruya and so they joined us for lunch before their long drive home. We washed the car to remove the radiator coolant and had a remarkably good trip home, arriving at Kiama about 4.30pm.

We now have a very good relationship with Newcaves and will undoubtedly meet them on other trips around the state and country.

Never Again on a long weekend!

The future: a trip in early September to see the blooming wattle!

Appendix - BD-9 cave description

Equipment needed: SRT with a 10m rope for the first pitch (or a 10m ladder and belay rope), a 3m handline for a second pitch and a 3m handline or ladder for the final pitch.

Photography: excellent in the east-west rift towards the end of the cave.

The entrance is via a narrow opening descending 5 m to a ledge. The cave then descends and twists around and under itself requiring two more handlines to assist in the descent and ascent.

At the bottom of the last handline assist is a passage that runs perpendicular to the main cave direction. This goes for 20m and is another fault or rift with a false floor as holes can be seen to descend. In this section of the cave is a bat colony with a lot of guano on the floor and is extremely well decorated and active. (As good as some tourist caves at Yarrangobilly Caves). The two drawbacks are the small entrance to this section and the choking air when nearing the bat colony. At this point the floor ascends for several metres but is too small to enter as the formations will be damaged.

At the bottom of the main chamber a series of shawls on the wall greet the visitor. A small fissure goes nowhere.

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24th - 27th April 1996

Part A By Bob Kershaw

Aims

Survey the BD-12 area;

Explore for BD-11;

Explore for and Survey BD-10; and

remember what Lloyd said whilst siting around the campfires.

Present

From Wednesday night: Gerrard Collins and Myself;

From Thursday morning: Fran and Ron Poulton;

From Thursday afternoon: Susan and Kevin McFadden;

From Friday afternoon: Dave Dicker and Lloyd Robinson.

(With Guest appearances from Bob's colander; Gerrard's 1960's Land Rover; The McFadden's Electric Shower; Lloyd's reminiscences; Fran's and Dave's Cameras; and Ron's modelling.)

Gerrard and myself departed Wollongong about 5pm on Wednesday evening in the Landy and was I in for a Treat! The noise and "air conditioning" and bumps and lost voice were only some of the delights of the 1950's technology - OH for the Kombi! We arrived about 1230 and were in bed by 1am. We awoke to 2-3EC Temp and fog. We set up camp, collected some timber and by the time we arrived back Fran and Ron had arrived. They had been to a dawn ANZAC Day service at Greenwell Point. So we had an early lunch and walked the SRT gear to the BD-12 area.

Oh what a walk up the hill through the wattle!!!

Susan and Kevin had arrived while we were "up the Hill" but forgot to light the fire! We enjoyed a good meal wine and fire before an early night and the strenuous walk again the next day.

We woke about 6.30 am and were away by 8.30 on Friday in fog and more cold temps.

The walk up the hill for the second time wasn't any easier. We just made another track! We reached the BD-12 area and whilst Gerrard, Ron and Fran completed a surface survey, and tagged holes BDX-7, 8, 9 and 10, Susan, Kevin and myself removed some blackberry vines to make entry into a hole easier. Unfortunately the hole below the tag didn't go. So we reset the gear above another hole and I abseiled into the 11m hole tagged BDX-8, and then proceeded to ascend - it didn't go anywhere either. We returned to the hole below the BD-12 tag and removed more rubbish and I squeeeezed into a small hole in hope, but alas it was only wide enough for water to continue on its downward journey.

We packed up and carried the gear uphill towards what we thought was the direction of BD-11 for a search on Saturday. We did find a collapse about 4m wide and 3m deep but it didn't show signs of an entry point. So we left the SRT gear and returned down the hill around to the right on what was becoming a track for us. On our downward trip we found the old ISS campsite on the spur above the Efflux - plenty of timber for a future campsite in the area. We arrived at our campsite to the greetings of Dave and Lloyd. We again enjoyed a hearty meal and associated accompaniment. We then settled down to listen to Lloyd's stories of the "Good Ole Days".

On Saturday we arose to more fog and cold temperatures. Fran, Dave and Lloyd went for a walk in a northerly direction - their story is covered in Part B of this report. Eventually the rest of us reached that bloody hill and made our way up the track. It doesn't get any easier on the third day! We reached the gear and proceeded to walk around the area and returned and concluded that BD-11 was not in the search area (aren't we clever!) and headed back to collect the gear and head for BD-10. Our spirits needed a lift and we didn't talk much on the way back to the BD-4 Area. We left the gear in the creek bed and headed to BD-4 to show Kevin and Susan. Using the rough directions of the Newcaves expedition of October 1995 we walked up the knoll that Ron, Gerrard and myself have circumnavigated. But we had never been in this area! We were walking at a "high" altitude and I said to Ron that I will just go down and have a look down there. Behold the terraces and the cave(s). We located numerous entrances. Our spirits had increased dramatically. Holes that look as if they go somewhere. We returned to the camp just prior to the others and did we have some stories to exchange. Another night of fine food and wine and Lloyd's stories, although I had slept through some of them!

Sunday was a more leisurely start, more fog cold temps and a riverside photography session. I found out later that my batteries had gone flat and all the exposures were no good - this from a reasonably good exponent of photography too. Ah well, it had to happen sometime! We eventually got underway except Fran, Susan, Dave and Lloyd. We found at least 20 holes in the BD-10 area, almost missed another big hole now tagged BDX-11 and placed several blue tags in the area that are worthy of investigation in the future. Kevin and Gerrard surveyed the cave tagged BD-10 whilst Ron and I did a rough surface survey.

We returned to camp, had a quick lunch and left about 2.30pm and arrived in the 'Gong about 9pm. A good weekend with few other people around except for some motor bike riders at midnight on the Friday night who woke all except Kevin and Susan who in their Land Rover!!

Future trips in warm weather need to finish the BD-10 area before embarking on other projects.

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Part B by Dave Dicker

FRIDAY 26 APRIL

I picked Lloyd up at Mt Kiera around 8.30am and we had a leisurely trip to Moruya, where we fuelled up and had lunch. We had an uneventful trip in to Bendethera. Lloyd was looking for the lead-off to the original track which came down the Big Hill, but the NPWS seem to have done a good job of hiding it.

We arrived at the campsite around 3.00pm to find a few tents and a lonely Subaru. We boiled up the billy and set up the tent. A little while later, a group of horsemen rode by. The leader, Mr Harte, stopped for a yarn - he apparently knew many of the early identities of the area. Around 5.00pm, the rest of the group returned from the caves. Ron, Fran, Bob, Gerrard, Kevin, and Sue had spent a hot day tramping the area South of the Main Cave with mixed sucess.

After tea we had the usual yarn around the campfire. The weather's clear and cool with half a moon.

SATURDAY 27 APRIL

Lloyd and I had a few problems deciding on today's itinery. Should we investigate the Krawarree Saddle or hike down the Deua to investigate possible limestone outcrops? The Deua won the day, so while Ron, Bob, Kevin, Sue and Gerrard headed up Con Creek, Lloyd, Fran and I headed down the Deua.

The horsemen who came down this way yesterday left a good track, although the way seems to be fairly well used anyway. From the end of the northern Bendethera paddock, we crossed the Deua twice in a matter of 100 metres, then followed the track over a spur, cutting off a large loop in the river. Some 400 - 500 metres up the spur, we came across an old fence line - presumably the original northern boundary. The main sliprail posts were well made and looked quite old. They hadn't been burnt at any stage, so the 1968 bushfires hadn't been through that section. At the top of the spur we found an old cairn to which we added a few rocks. We went down the other side of the spur and crossed the creek on a long diagonal. We noticed that the trees both sides of the crossings had been blazed. The second spur was much lower than the first, being covered with open stringybark forest. The horses had spread out a bit, but we followed the faint tracks and the occasional blazed tree. Descending back to the Deua, we encountered a flat with dense bracken growth, and another wet crossing. Some 300 metres from the crossing, to the left of the track, a limestone outcrop can be seen. As far as we can ascertain, there is no report of caves in this area -(there may not be any!) but the outcrop may bear investigation at a future date. A further five crossings brought us to a large loop in the river. As time was getting short, we decided to head back to camp.

We retraced our steps without difficulty, noticing that the sky was getting more densely overcast. We got back to camp around 5.00pm to find the caving part of the group having a clean - up. We gave a general report, had tea, and after a sharp shower of rain, had a long and fruitful yarn around the campfire.

To summarise the day, the Deua is a beautiful watercourse, and wet feet for the day is a small price to pay for the magnificent scenery. Unfortunately, there had been some burning off in the area, so photographic conditions weren't good. A walk down this valley on a clear crisp day in winter would be memorable.

SUNDAY 28 APRIL

The camp was up by 7.30am and the caving group was away by 8.30 am. Lloyd, Fran and I intended to mark the grave near the homestead with a wooden cross, made for the purpose. Sue decided to stay in camp after a few hard days in the field. We drove to the general area and located the site. We made contact with a family camped nearby, Wayne and Bev Nicholson. They were very interested in the local history and contributed to our local knowledge. While Lloyd was talking to Wayne and Bev, Fran and I got the gear out and set up the cross. There is still some conjecture as to which member of the George family is buried there, so at this stage, no nameplate can be attached. We returned back to camp and had lunch. The caving group returned shortly after.

Survey notes were exchanged, gear was packed, and Lloyd and I got away around 2.00pm. We had a few minor fuel pump problems on the way to Moruya, then a clear run to Kiama where the weekend traffic banked up. We arrived at Lloyd's around 6.30pm to a meal on the table, and I got home around 8.30.

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11, 12, 13/10/96

By Dave Dicker

PRESENT WERE:

Wolf Stengl; Andre Stengl; Jaimie McMahon; Dave Dicker

The aims of the trip were to introduce Andre and Jaimie to caving, re-familiarise Wolf with Bendethera, carry out further surveying in the BD10 area, and time allowing, investigate the limestone outcrop 1.5km downstream of the north paddock.

11-10-96

I picked up Wolf, Andre & Jaimie at Wilton around 7.00am and we were away by 7.30. We arrived at Bendethera around 12.00 noon. We noted the heavily carved up tracks on the flats - evidence of the horde that inhabited the area over the long weekend. We crossed the Deua near our normal campsite with the intention of following the track to the bottom of the Big Hill. Some large trees discouraged us after a couple of kilometers, so we returned, set up camp and had lunch. Just on dark we had a sharp shower, luckily the awning was up. Later in the evening, the rain set in. We turned in around 9.30pm. The day had been hot and humid.

12-10-96

We were on the walking track by 10.00am. The weather was fine and warm. We made good progress to BD10, which we found without difficulty thanks to Bob's description. We did, however, encounter two black snakes on the track, both were busy getting out of the way. We descended BD10 and found that it was only negotiable as far as the previous survey indicated. A very short, thin caver may push it a bit further as the cave follows a distinct fissure. At this stage, it was decided that Wolf, Andre and Jaimie would go to the Main Cave (BD1), while I had a look around the edge of the limestone outcrop to the south of Flagpole Flat, looking for evidence of any fissures or benches. I didn't find any, but the outcrop will bear further investigation. I got back to the vehicle around 2.00pm, Wolf, Andre and Jaimie arrived around 2.20pm. Wolf reported that the Main Cave has deteriorated greatly since he last saw it in the early '70s.

We returned to camp collecting some firewood on the way. Around 4.30pm Wolf and I headed north up the track as the light was good for photography. The evening was clear and cool.

13-10-96

Our aim this morning was to check the scar on the hill to the north-east of camp. Wolf thought it may have been an early track or attempted track into Bendethera. On closer investigation, it turned out to be a steep scree slope with rocks about 300mm dia. As we had already packed up, we headed out around 11.00am and had an uneventful trip home.

Conclusion:

Judging by the condition of the tracks around Bendethera, there must have been a big population in the area over the long weekend. On the trip weekend, there were three groups in the area.

Long weekends are not the best time to be in Bendethera!

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25-27 APRIL 1997

PRESENT: Wendy Hird, John Kemister and Dave Dicker, author of this report.

The aims of the trip were to investigate the limestone outcrop noticed on the Bendethera trip on 26, 27, 28 April 1996. (Ref ISS Newsletter Vol 3 No. 3). The outcrop is approximately 1.5 Km North of the Northern end of the Bendethera clearings, on the Western side of the Deua River.

I picked Wendy up at 6.00 am on Friday 25th and drove to Canberra to pick John up. We travelled via Braidwood and Araluen to Moruya where we fuelled up and had lunch. We noticed quite a lot of four-wheel drives in town which didn't augur well for the peace of Bendethera. We had an uneventful trip into Bendethera. There was a lot of burning-off smoke in the air as there was last year. We arrived at Bendethera at 2.00pm to find a large population in residence. There was a large contingent of horsemen in the horse-camp, and later in the afternoon, another contingent arrived from Moruya. There must have been at least fourty horses all up. We had a general loaf around for the rest of the day. The weather was overcast and mild, clearing up later in the evening.

We woke to a typically cool and misty Bendethera morning on Saturday 26th which cleared to a mild sunny day. We were away from camp by 9.00 am and drove to the northern end of the clearings. We did our double crossing of the Deua and started the climb up to the "cairn". About half way up, we caught up with some of the horsemen, they were returning towards Araluen, intending to camp at Alpine. One of their horses had panicked in the steep country, and had taken a tumble down the slope. Fortunately, the rider had bailed out in time and the horse and rider were only shaken. We met them again at the top of the hill. They informed us that the "cairn" mentioned in the previous report was in fact an aboriginal grave. This particular Aboriginal had run off with his neighbour's wife, and was overtaken on this spot and speared. It did seem an odd place for a cairn!

We arrived at the outcrop around 10.30, and it looked much bigger close up than I remembered it. We had a short snack, then split up to find out how large it was. Wendy followed the northern boundary John went up the middle, and I went up the southern boundary. About 100M up the slope, I noticed two casuarinas which looked incongruous among the eucalypts and angophoras. I headed over to investigate and found two possible entrances, one above the other. The top entrance was partly overgrown with the tree, but looked like it may go. The bottom entrance was some 10M directly below, and went in 2-3M before silting up.

I continued on up the slope and met John and Wendy at the top of the outcrop. It runs about 200 - 250M up the slope, and is 100 - 150M wide (ref sketch). We worked our way down the slope, Criss-crossing the outcrop as we went. We didn't find anything promising, so we all went over to have a look at the two southern entrances. Back at the base we checked for possible effluxes but found no evidence. We had lunch, noticing two groups of bushwalkers passing by along the track. This track is well defined.

Around 1.30, we headed back taking a few photos along the way. The rest of the afternoon was spent yarning, swimming (briefly) and writing up this report. The day has been sunny and mild. All was quiet by 9.30pm.(Even Wendy?? Ed.)

Our intention on Sunday 27th was is to get away early, have a look around the old homestead area, then follow the Dampier Fire Trail to the Braidwood / Cooma road.

We were away from camp by 9.00am and drove up to the old ovens. We had a look at the water races (Wendy and John hadn't seen them before). The cross at the gravesite is still in place and sound. There seems to be a lot of various weeds growing around the old homestead site, possibly carried in by the horses.

We then carried on up the Dampier trail meeting a group of 12 Toyotas, one of which had tossed the towel in. John made notes of distances and features out to the Cooma road, so he can come in that way from Canberra on future trips.

We arrived at the Kemister residence around 1.30pm, had lunch (thanks Vonny) then Wendy and I headed home. I dropped Wendy off around 5.00pm, and I arrived home about 6.30 after a slow trip up the "Expressway".

CONCLUSIONS

1. Although the population at Bendethera was high, the weekend was peacefull - no trail bikes.

2. The horse trail heading north down the Deua is becoming very well defined and may become an erosion problem. It will be interesting to see what the NPWS does.

3. The homestead area has a lot of exotic weeds growing around - probably brought in by the horses. Again, it will be interesting to see what the NPWS reaction is.

4. The outcrop investigated on this trip probably needs a further visit with a shovel. It has been investigated about 50%.

5. On the 1:100 000 map, there is a cave marked about half way between Bendethera and Wyanbene. It is just down the eastern side of the Minuma Range (about 250m in altitude). This may bear investigating.

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9 & 10 August 1997

By Ron Poulton

Participating on this fine and crisp weekend were Dave Dicker, Gerrard Collins, Kevin McFadden, Wendy Hird, Jason Selman and myself.

Serious Business

According to plan we completed the surface survey of the BD-10 region on Saturday morning and investigated the various holes/caves. The rough survey of BD-10 was checked and confirmed as adequate, given that it is not much of a cave. BDX-11 was surveyed at a low grade and is also basically a hole in the ground! Of more interest was a hole about 2 metres in front/below the BD-10 tag that was explored by Gerrard with assistance from Jason. It is now designated BDX-12. Basically it would seem to be about 25m deep and showing typical rift type development parallelling the BD-10 rift for about 20m. According to Gerrard, when it chokes out at the bottom in gravel/mud it is starting to get fairly damp so it probably is fairly close to the water table. Be warned the entrance squeeze is very tight even after the removal of a couple of rocks. A low-grade survey form Gerrard's recollections combined with surface features was made.

In the afternoon, we split up with Jason and Gerrard opting to do BD-9 again, while the rest of us older and wiser heads returned to camp after we relocated the entrance. On the way, we diverted into BD-4 and placed a pink survey marker to mark the current water level for future reference.

Sunday saw the group split with Kevin, Jason and Gerrard heading off to investigate BD-1 and the Efflux of BD-2. Dave, Wendy and myself surveyed the old irrigation channel from the homestead site to it's source.

Funny Business

The following awards were earned by various members over the weekend. To Kevin and Wendy - The X-Files Award for apparently being buzzed by a UFO on the way to Bendethera. They opted to reach Bendethera from Wyanbene Rd and while doing a Serious "were the heck are we now" stop, were passed by a set of stoplights with no visible means of support. Their claim, not mine! Personally, I'm not sure they weren't abducted by aliens and replaced by exact duplicates, but who knows?

For Wendy on her own - The Fairy Princess Award. Finding things just a little too crisp on the shaded hillside at BD-10, Wendy opted for the sunny bottom of the valley. Unfortunately, it seems she didn't hear us leaving the locale and awoke to find the hills deserted and herself all alone in the forest. (Must have been the replacement from the UFO that could not handle the cold???? Ed.) Of course we didn't notice she was missing until the second beer had been consumed, but immediately set out in search of the missing Princess, only to find her happily(?) wandering along the road to the campsite.

To Jason and Gerrard - Encouragement Award for enthusiasm beyond normal for opting to camp at Flagpole Flat for an early start on Sunday's caving. They explained Kevin's early fun run. They had a head start on him.

To Kevin -the 2000 medal for Olympic Caving. Kevin was last seen by the slothful Campers on Sunday morning disappearing at a trot up the track towards Main cave. He lingered a little too long over breakfast and was late for his appointment with Jason and Gerrard to visit Main.

For Dave and Myself - The Lets not exert Ourselves too much because we are older and wiser than this lot portfolio. We were too smart to get grotty, wallowing in dirty dark holes when we can con the younger members into doing it.

Finally, The Not Quite Anorexic Ferret Award goes to Gerrard, who exploring BDX-12 discovered that vertical squeezes going in with gravity assistance that take 2 minutes, get much tighter coming out and take about 35 minutes. However, he managed without assistance, although it was on offer, and I didn't hear him swear once (Maybe twice?? Ed).

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16 & 17 MAY 1998

By Dave Dicker

Present were:

Bob Kershaw (TL); Kerin Knuckey

Dave Dicker; John Kemister

Neil Burton (V); Kerry Sanders (V)

Allison Sanders (V); Gerrard Collins

Terry Collins (V); Helen Roberts

The aim of the weekend was to locate BD14 (Figtree Cave) and survey it. As a secondary aim, we wanted to find any other caves on the Krawarree Saddle.

I picked up Bob on Friday (15th) afternoon at 4.00pm, then we headed down to Albion Park and picked up the Bendethera information and GPS and survey gear from Ron at his surgery. We then picked up Kerin at Oak Flats, and with a full vehicle headed down the coast, stopping at Batemans Bay for tea. We arrived at the campsite at 10.00pm noting that there are more drainage humps in the road than there used to be. John, Neil, Kerry and Allison arrived around 10.30 pm, and Gerrard, Terry and Helen some time after midnight. The weather was overcast and mild.

On Saturday morning the group was up by 7.00am, the weather is still overcast and mild. Allison had decided to have a relaxing day in camp, but the rest were away by 9.00am. We followed the main track to the Krawarree turnoff then followed the Trail some 3km to the saddle, noting the prevalence of the Bendethera Wattle where the limestone is located. There is a difference in altitude of approximately 340M from the base of the Trail. We reached the saddle around 11.30 am and noted a large kurrajong tree near the track with a blue “T1” tag on it. Some 25 M to the northwest there is a small solution pipe tagged with a blue “BDX2” tag.

After conferring with the GPS, the group split up into two and headed off uphill in different directions. One group returned and reported finding BD29. We all walked up to BD29 which is located near a limestone point on the southern, uphill side of the saddle. Another untagged cave is located some 6 M to the west of BD29. This was given a red “8” tag. The red tag was left in place for the time being. BD29 was descended by Gerrard and Helen and a Grade 1 survey made. The cave is rift developed, and BD29 and “red 8" are connected. In the meantime, other members of the group were searching to the north of BD29, and found BD23, BD24, BD25, BD28, and BD31. BD24 was descended and a Grade 1 survey made. As it was now 3.00pm, we decided to head back towards camp, looking for BD14 on the way. Before reaching the level part of the saddle, a small-untagged hole was found near the track. This was given the interim red tag “9”. While some of the group continued along the track, others searched the northern side of the saddle, looking for a gully, a fig tree and BD14. As time was getting short, we decided to leave the re-discovery of BD14 for another day, and with the rain coming down, we all descended the spur, arriving back at camp at 4.30pm.

We all sat around eating cheese and nibblies for a while, then had tea. I then got out the projector, and Gerrard volunteered the use of his spare battery. John & I had brought some miscellaneous slides along, and after a few pyrotechnics from the projector we had an enjoyable slide show. (The projector now needs a bit of re-wiring!). The camp was quiet by 10.30pm

On Sunday, after a showery night, most of us were up by 8.00am. The weather was still showery and misty. Our original plan was to investigate the limestone just south of Flagpole Flat, but after the strenuous effort of yesterday, there was a marked lack of enthusiasm. After breakfast, Bob and I exchanged information on cave locations, then, as it was still rainy, we decided to break camp and head home. On the way out we noted that the NPWS has erected a fence around the gravesite - this was duly photographed. We then put out the campfires of the group camped at the “bus stop” (trail bike riders.) We then had a slippery drive out, arriving at Moruya at 12.30pm for lunch, then had a showery trip home, arriving at Bob’s at 4.00pm and home at 5.30pm

Conclusions

Although we didn’t find BD14, we relocated a number of other caves. BD14 will now be quite easy to locate next time.

The GPS is an extremely useful piece of equipment, however, the final location of cave entrances is still dependant on looking at the ground and following past descriptions.

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18 - 20 June 1999

BY John Kemister

Present. ISS - Gerrard Collins, David Dicker (Sydney branch), John Kemister (Canberra branch), Bob Kershaw, Tony, Anthony and Dean Pezzutto, Alison and Andrew Scobie. Visitors (sort of) - Neil (Big Fella) Burton and Kerry (Grizzly) Sanders

Aim -1. Continuation of GPS location of known, rumoured, lost and unknown caves on the Krawarree limestone.

2. Much more serious activities such as general banter, chit-chat and enjoying the ambience of the Deua.

The Canberra contingent (John, Kerry and Neil) arrived just after dark on Friday, David, Bob, Gerrard and the Scobie's later that night. The Pezzutto's arrived the next morning having camped upriver.

Saturday, -1⁰C, after breakfast and Neil's half a packet of bacon, saw the entire troop heading up the Krawarree trail. The 'Whippersnappers' (and Grizzly) went on ahead to find Figtree Cave, BD14, while the 'Geriatrics' plodded behind to continue work on the BD 23 to 30 series. Work was much assisted by a pair of VHF handhelds. With these it soon became obvious that the “W's” were off to blazes down a gully trying to find BD14, so they came back to the 'G's and grabbed a GPS to find the cave within 100m of starting (great invention those things). Much banter resulting.

The “G's” followed an old compass and tape traverse south from the cairn on the trail to locate two untagged entrances. These were duly tagged BD 61 and 62. One was free climbed for around 10-15 m (a small amount of dry but clean formation) to a solution pipe choke, the second was explored a little way (20 m) and then left for a more serious SRT attempt on a future trip, as it appeared to go further.

The traverse was continued, with the 'W's rejoining the 'G's after exploring BD14. An interesting set of three small dolines in close formation was thoroughly checked out but no 'goes', a pity, as they looked very promising. Too much of Australia in the sinks! Looping back North East to the BD 23-28 group, BD 26 proved elusive. One untagged entrance was given BD 63. As the evening was advancing, BD 29 and 30 on the lookout were given a miss and the 'G's made their way back down to camp. The ever keen 'W's headed off to the Gin limestone to try to find Gin Cave, BD-35. BD 39 was located and also another deep untagged pot. A good reference was thereby obtained for further GPS work in this area.

Back to camp, the "W's” arriving well after dark. After various culinary achievements, a very close circle around the campfire, a time away from the fire to see some great slides, Neil's of WA and David's of the recent Nullarbor Trip, a very quick return to the campfire, and, when the wood gave out, (not much around after the long weekend influx of visitors!), a very quick dash into the sleeping bags.

Sunday dawned clear and -3⁰C. The 'dress circle' camped up near the road had heavy frost outside and inside their tents, the 'plebs' on the flat close to the river were much less frosted. Either way it was bloody cold. After Neil thawing out with the remaining half a packet of bacon, and Kerry's mystery breakfast, the day's campaign was discussed.

It was a toss up between the Canberra contingent doing a recce on Deua Cave near the Deua Trig up on the range, or a combined new visit/trip down memory lane to the Main Cave BD1. Nine ended up going to BD1 with only two having seen it before (25 years since my last visit and it is still a very impressive cave - John).

BD 2 evoked many good memories of the early work at Bendethera. Trying to push the Efflux with Lloyd, Roland, Wolfgang etc., walking in from Khan Yunis on the Snowball Road. The mist on the ranges. The first vehicles to the top of the Range from the West. Ah, well.

Deua Cave was left for another trip. David and Bob tidied up the paperwork at camp and headed back on the long trip home to The 'Gong and Sydney.

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Friday 18-6-99

I picked Bob up around 3.30pm and we headed out on a clear sunny afternoon. We had tea at Bewong, fuelled up at Batemans Bay, then took the Wamban Road from Moruya. We had an uneventful run into Bendethera until we negotiated the third crossing of the Deua. The “slightly boggy section” over the crossing resembled a soggy, ridgy range of mountains, and presented me with the first problem of the weekend - I got the Range Rover stuck. The ruts were filled with rocks and bracken and the key was turned. The starter was sluggish - second problem. The vehicle pulled out of the ruts with much help from Bob pushing, and we proceeded towards our usual camping spot. We noted that the NPWS have put up a number of informative signs at various locations. We arrived at camp around 9.30pm to find John, Neil and Kerry in residence. All was quiet by 10.30. Night cool and clear.

Saturday 19-6-99

The vanguard was up and active by 7.30am, and there was general action in the camp by 8.30. We were away (with a recalcitrant battery) from camp by 9.45 and arrived at the parking area by 10.00 - a flat tyre on my vehicle - third problem. The wheel was changed as a club exercise and the flat one mounted on the spare wheel carrier. - one of the mounting studs kept turning - fourth problem. And I haven’t broken a mirror for a long time! Things improved from here.

We walked up to the turnoff to the Krawarree Trail and noted that just below our “B” tag, there is now a large arrow blazed in the tree. (the tag was later removed.) The ten of us headed up the trail. About half way up, Gerrard, Alison, Andrew, Tony and Kerry decided to go ahead, locate Figtree, and start the survey. Neil had brought along two hand held radios, so Alison was given one and Neil kept the other with the arrangement that we communicate on the hour. We eventually arrived at the saddle at 11.30 and contacted the other group. They hadn’t found Figtree yet, so we all met at the cairn and Gerrard was given Bob’s GPS. After that, they found the cave quickly.

The rest of us followed a traverse done by Richard Wilson and Max Perkins in 1984. We wanted to find two caves marked M25 and M24 on their sketch map of the Krawarree Saddle We eventually found M24 first without too much trouble. M25 was a short way down the hill. These two caves are now designated BD60 (M24) and BD61 (M25). Our next object was to positively locate and identify BD29 and BD30 from the same traverse. We were a long way out in this, (ED’s NOTE:I had a different sheet that matched up perfectly with the first traverse!) but we did find a series of dolines which we designated BD3HOL. At this stage the other group radioed in and met us at BD3HOL. Alison joined our group and the rest followed the contour lines to the Gin Outcrop. We then had a concentrated search for BD26 which is the last of the known caves to be relocated on the Krawarree Saddle. We had no success, so, as it was 3.30, we headed back down the track, arriving back at the vehicles just on dusk. After loading John’s Landrover with firewood we drove back to camp. We had the usual beer and nibbles then prepared tea and lit the fire. A Nullarbor slide show was put on, and most turned in around 10.00pm. The weather is cold and clear.

Sunday 20-6-99

After a cold and frosty night (-3C) we had a slow start, most of the group headed up to Main Cave (BD1) as some had never seen it before, while Bob and I did a tour around the old homestead area, where the NPWS have erected many informative signs relating to the human history of Bendethera. We left Bendethera around 11.00am and had an uneventful trip home except for an intermittent charging problem. I arrived home at 5.30pm after an eventful and enjoyable weekend

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11-12 September 1999

by Bob Kershaw

Present: Dave Dicker, Bob Kershaw, Gerrard Collins, Greg Pearce, Paul Armstrong, John Redpath and son Matt and Cousin Steve, John Kemister and Canberra Friends Neil Burton and his friend Wilemena Gentle and Kerry Sanders.

Aim: to find,GPS and Survey caves on the Gin Outcrop.

John, Kerry, Neil and Wilemena spent Saturday looking for Deua Cave on the Minuma Ridge - their story later.

As for the rest of us, we arrived at various times on Friday evening dreading the weather forecast of rain, rain and more rain! Fortunately it was sun, sun and more sun and a very cold night, -2^oc on Sunday morning!

We were away about 8.30am after we changed another flat tyre on Dave’s RR for a brisk walk up Little Con Ck. Unbeknown to us mortals, Gerrard led us up the garden path through some great hakea trees and other vegetation such as Austral Indigo (Indigofera australis), a beautiful pink to indigo flowering plant.

We realised this oversight, thanks to GPS confirmation, so we backtracked towards a place he recognised on his last trip and then led us up the right path. At this point, Dave’s crook foot played up again and he returned to collect wood and enjoy the company of birds and loud music from an adjacent campsite.

We found BD36 and had lunch among the leeches and Blanket-leaf Trees (Bedfordia arborescens), a slender-trunked small tree with dark green leaves on the top side and woolly white underneath, with dead leaves often hanging beneath. The leaves only grow in bundles on the end of the branches - a quite distinctive tree. The bright yellow small flowers (Nov to Jan) are in loose woolly clusters. After this respite we surveyed and explored it for about ½ hour. BD37 is just below BD36.

Further upstream we found the cave with an interim tag called Phantom Cave, cause it looks like the Phantom’s Cave.

Up a little further we struck BD39 and explored the pot and have a grade 1 survey.

A bit more exploring we found a hole that Gerrard had found last trip and tagged it BD42. Further on BD38 was found and surveyed to grade 1, BentTree Pot was found and tagged BD44. All have grade 1 surveys due to their short length.

Continuing along the Gin ridge and then down, down, down to Little Con Ck for the walk back to the cars, arriving about 5.15pm.

At the campsite, the Deua searchers arrived to a cold beer and a bittersweet story of their search.

Sunday Dave and I headed back early (my blisters had broke so walking was out today) and enjoyed a great seafood basket on the jetty at Batemans Bay for lunch.

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DEUA/BENDETHERA

11 -12 SEPTEMBER 1999

by John Kemister

Present - The Canberra Branch of ISS, ie - Neill Burton, Willameena Gentle, Kerry Sanders, (visitors), John Kemister (Member).

While the Wollongong Branch for this weekend intended continuing tagging at Bendethera itself, we planned to have a look at the Deua limestone.

We headed out from Canberra around 1.00pm on Friday 10th ( ain't flextime wonderfull!) and camped on the Minuma Range adjacent to the Deua Trig. The old Imperial altimeter was zero'd at 3320 ft. After a night of being intermittently blown and dripped upon, interspersed with periods of stargazing, we awoke and set out around 9.00am (early for some members of the group!) Catch phrases for the trip were FBT's (Flamin' Big Things - referring to meteors, space junk, comets etc., and the name Satellitus - for someone going around in circles).

Armed with, sundry maps, a compass and the altimeter, we headed down the ridge from the saddle north of the Deua Trig. Heading down the ridge, the vegetation change was noted at 1700ft. From this point we headed down the gully to the right, noting a beautiful scent of many native Frangipani in full bloom, then fanned out and contoured the slope. The gully was explored up and down stream, with no caves (or limestone) being found.

While Neill and Willa sat and sketched some of the surroundings, Kerry and John set out again to follow the next gully East up a while, Kerry having located a small spring in earlier ramblings. Again, no cave or limestone!

Deciding to give it a rest around 2.30pm we headed back up the centre of the ridge. Lo and behold, at 1750ft a limestone floater was found, followed by an outcrop at 1780ft, just inside the vegetation change. We arrived back at the vehicles in the saddle at 3.50pm. For the record it took us 20 minutes to come down the ridge, 1 hour and 50 minutes to get back up again!

Back at the original campsite on the range, we checked the altimeter, noting a 120 ft variation due to falling barometric pressure over the duration of the day's trip.

We headed down to the Deua River for Saturday night socialising with the rest of ISS.

Sunday dawned clear and frosty. A few headed off after breakfast up to BD1 while Kerry, Gerrard and John explored the slope between BD2 and BD1 for possibles. This was initiated by a report, from the now defunct Bermagui club, of a cave in this area. After traversing the hillside for a while an entrance was located, unfortunately the GPS was with the crew visiting BD1.

However the entrance was considered worth tagging.

Description - BD46.

The entrance is a 3m wide by 1.5m high solution hole in solid limestone, facing North East, and angling into the hillside at 45⁰. It was found just within a vegetation change from close Bendethera Wattle to an interspersed Tea tree looking shrub when coming from the direction of BD1. A bearing was taken to a prominent peak to the North, bearing 10⁰. The entrance is approximately at the same elevation as BD1. Growing within the entrance is a coppiced trunk of a non-eucalypt tree. Two Currajongs are growing to the South East and one to the North east of the entrance. The cave is about 3m deep, terminating in a clean rubble filled floor. It is interesting that any silt washed into the cave appears to have washed through the rubble floor, and because of this is possibly worth digging. No airflow was noticed. There is old flowstone/formation evident on the roof and walls, with a large chunk having fallen from the roof.

A tag, BD46, was placed on the right wall of the entrance, at head height just within the drip line of the entrance.

We then met the group coming from BD1 and returned to camp. A very quick and cold dip in the Deua was undertaken by some members, then lunch, departing for home around 3.00pm.

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20th to 26th April 2000

Present: Adam Peters, Jason Bond, Bob Kershaw. John and Vonnie Kemister, Anthony and Tony Pezzutto.

Visitors: Sarah ?(El presidento’s Girl Friend), Ron and Annette (Kemister’s Pals)

The aim of this long trip was to relax among the hills of Bendethera and catch up on a few outstanding items like find out the number of tourists who have visited the area; GPS a few sites; find Gin Cave.

Bob’s Report

Well Jason left about midday on the Sunday and the rest of us left camp about 1015am and travelled in different directions. Adam and Sarah examined the Bendethera area, The Kemister party did the same and collected firewood and Vonnie built and upside down fire!!

Tony, Anthony and I arrived at Flagpole Flat about 1130 and started to search for BDRED13. GPS said there but I new it wasn’t in that location! We found a small hole at the base of the knoll just above the sinkhole and under the Kurrajong trees and tagged it BD45. We then walked up the hill and had lunch, a bit of a scout around and I found a cairn adjacent to an untagged pipe entrance. Anthony found a Kurrajong Tree with BD carved into it (from Rick Kelly and XX in the late 1960's or early 1970's.- Pers. Com from Lloyd Robinson). We tagged it BD47. We walked to the eastern edge of the knoll - out of the Bendethera Wattle and walked down the hill through the clear eucalypt trees to the base of the knoll and found another small hole and tagged it BD48. Tony went for a short walk and found BDRED13. 10m south of BD45!

We retagged BDRED13 to BD49. All caves have grade 1 surveys except BD47. As the setting sun cooled our feet we washed had nibblies and watched the Vonnie fire burn ( in the photo to the left by Anthony Pezzutto)from the top to the base and provide us with warmth for the night.

Monday was another frosty morning. We (Adam, Sarah, Tony, Anthony and I left camp about 1030 to enter - abseil- and survey BD47. It was interesting listening to the tourists as they walked through Flagpole Flat talk about the abrupt delineation in vegetation of the wattle on the hillside. Sarah and I stayed on the surface while the three A’s surveyed BD47. As I looked around I found more and more limestone with fossils embedded in the rocks. It is marvellous that we have walked over the Bendethera Limestone for the past 6 years with our collective eyes closed to the past!

Back at camp the Kemister party had left leaving us with a great campfire circle and minute upside down fire! Nibbles and a Dinner provided by Adam and Sarah who were using up their two trays of meat and sausages!

An early night and a relaxing Tuesday morning as we slowly packed up waiting for the sun to dry our tents. We left Bendethera about Midday, had lunch at Batemans Bay, then returned to Wollongong Via Braidwood and Goulburn after a great Long Weekend in Paradise.

Anthony did a steering damper from Bendy to Moruya and travelled in the traffic up the coast.

The route down the Dampier fire trail is worth investigating for larger 4WDs to shorten the time by about 1 hour.

Thanks to Jason and Adam who transported me and my associated paraphanalia. Their cars have never had so much equipment (junk) in them and are never likely to do so again.

Tourist Numbers

ISS placed a visitors book at the entrance to BD-1 in September 1999

A summary of the information from the book is shown below. The information was retrieved over Easter 2000

September 1999 45 visitors

October 1999

Long Weekend 37

Rest of October 20

November 1999 66

December 1999 79

January 2000 210

February 2000 48

March 2000 52

April 2000 up to Easter 7

Easter Friday and Saturday 63

Easter Sunday estimate 80

Easter Monday estimate 25

Total 618

expanded for a full year 800

How they found out about the area

word of mouth and friends; 4WD books; NPWS; Previous knowledge; 4WD tag along tours and the Internet

Roads travelled to get to Bendethera

From Moruya 64 parties

From the Minuma Range and Dampier trails 54 parties

a few from Araluen

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14/15 October 2000

by Kerry Sanders

(The writer has a current Class C artistic licence)

TIME: Friday 13th. Unlucky for some.

SCENE: Fraser in the ACT around 2PM.

CAST: Geoff McDonnell (SSS)

Vonny and John Kemister (ISS)

Kerry Sanders (ISS)

Scene 1, Act 1. Leaving the ACT for Bendethera in 2 distantly related Land

Rovers. The weather is mild but there is a hint of rain in the air. An occasional 'spit' of rain falls on the intrepid four, but that does little to deter them.

Scene 2, Act 1. After an uneventful trip, (except for a passenger wearing the paint off somebody's 'panic bar', they arrive safe and sound at the ISS camping ground.

Scene 2, Act 2. Vonny and John proceed to replicate the Taj in canvas, Geoff miraculously brings out a tent from somewhere inside his pack and Kerry unrolls his piece of canvas near his Landy. The weather is balmy and the cast proceed to chill..., or was that...

Scene 3, Act 1,etc The next morning.

John is up at 'sparrers followed later by Geoff and Kerry. The female cast member will not be 'scene' for some time.

Geoff and Kerry with light packs, packed with lights, proceed towards the main cave with the intention of showing Geoff as much of the scenery as possible.

A side visit to Flagpole Flat to a look at the Bendethra Wattle, and the outcrops near the fig tree had Geoff waffling about the wattle. What' l they do next you ask.

Next was a visit to the Eflux. A once pristine cave system with enhancements designed by BHP and carried out by Jack 'gelignite' Murray. An interesting mix of primitive and industrial art deco.

Then on to BD1. 'WoW', 'You don't often find..' etc............off into the distance. Kerry proceeds to the paperwork side of the trip and gets the visitors book. He is amazed by so many visitors from Venus and Mars.

Also the pair that levitated in would be interesting to have in your caving party, just imagine how much prussiking it would save in the Big Hole.

Off to find Geoff. Geoff is at the back of the cave flashing at the bats.

Kerry gives him a hand and hold one of the flash guns. Geoff is then overcome by this Cecil B DeMille urge and they suntan the decoration with all available light sources.

They can't wait to see what develops.

In deference to the bats, and the fact that Geoff has no more film left, the pair make our way out for lunch.

After lunch and a look around near the entrance they then head back. The limestone outcrops are very prominent on the way back and Kerry points these out to Geoff. The map starts to make more sense now.

Kerry has always wanted to find the source of the creek first crossed on the way back, and this seems like a good time for them to look. A quick orientation and off the track through the bush. On to the dry creek bed and 'lo and behold' (and old explorers term) there it is. Luck you say, nah, just old bushie skills.

The flow was coming mainly from one source just below ground level and a great 10 minutes was spent head down trying to find out from whence the water came. Off to the right about 1.5mt above the waterline was a small person sized hole leading down and right. A quick look from Geoff, and no go, a valiant effort. Kerry decided that a head and shoulders approach was needed. A blade separated a small squeeze from a very, very, small squeeze. Head down and toes up again went Geoff, a flick to the right and he was through. All he had was a mini Mag light of dubious parentage. "I shall return" called Geoff and sure enough he did. After 5 minutes or so he appeared. He found that the squeeze opened up to a 'river' passage of about a metre wide and nearly 2 metres high with water to about knee level. With a mini Mag light of dubious parentage about 20 metres was sufficient for Geoff. They had located BD6. Geoff made copious notes on the back of a muesli bar wrapper (an SSS tradition) for later reference.

After a wash and refilling water bottles at the creek, they make our way back to the truck for the trip to camp.

The camp pair, oops, I should say the pair that we had left at camp, Vonny and John, welcomes them back with hot drinks.

The time was about 1530 by now. The rest of the afternoon was spent telling the latter about the former and trying to get John to remember anything about BD6. Oh well, Bob Kershaw is sure to know the history.

Sleep in on Sunday. Pull the canvas over your head to keep the sun out. The weather has been first class. They'll find it hard to head out this afternoon. Geoff and Kerry decide that a walk to the old homestead site is in order. The NPWS has put up 'Bendethra Guides' around the most prominent sites and have drawings to show you what it was like when they took over in 1980. The pair wonder what it was like in 1880 when it was in full swing.

Time for Geoff and Kerry to head out. Vonny and John are to remain on stage while the other two exit, stage left. Kerry keeps muttering about how the bulldozers have taken all the fun out of the creek crossings, and cursing the Pajero drivers for having more influence than the Landy drivers.

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15 & 16 SEPTEMBER 2001

by Dave Dicker

Present were:

John and Vonny Kemister, Kerry Sanders,

Ted Johnson (V), Dave Dicker

Due to our problem with insurance, this trip was not an official ISS trip. As in the 1980’s, ISS is currently “on hold” until the problem is resolved. This meant that our status for the weekend was the same as the general public – we could not enter any cave except Main Cave. It was my intention to use this weekend to check the effectiveness of the work done on my damaged left foot, and it was John’s intention to check his repaired knee. We also had the secondary aim to GPS locate any significant features.

Ted arrived at Lansvale at 2.15pm Friday, and we got away around 2.45pm. We stopped for a bite to eat at Bewong. Just south of Ulladulla we ran into a violent storm with high winds, lightening and torrential rain. Imagining the effect the rain would have on the track to Bendethera, we decided to stop at Batemans Bay, and continue to Bendethera on Saturday morning.

Saturday 15^th September

We were away from Batemans Bay at 7.30am on a bright sunny morning. We fuelled up at Moruya, then out on the Wambin Road. After some 5km, there was no evidence of last night’s heavy rain – the track into Bendethera was no worse than it normally is. We arrived at our campsite around 10.00am to find John, Vonny & Kerry in residence and wondering what had held us up. After a brew and a snack, we decided to walk downstream along the Deua and further investigate the limestone outcrop 1.5-2km along, also to GPS any holes found.

At this stage, I discovered that I’d left my daypack, containing the GPS, survey gear and Bendethera notes at home, so we couldn’t carry out the second aim of the weekend.

We drove to the northern end of the Bendethera paddocks and parked the vehicles. The day was bright and sunny and quite mild. We performed our multiple crossings and arrived at the outcrop. We then split up and searched the southern part of the outcrop, re-finding the small holes found on the previous trip (Easter, 1997), and finding another entrance about 50m to the north – pity about the GPS. This new hole will need a great deal of attention from a shovel before entry will be gained, but it may be a better prospect than the first two holes found. We again checked the lower edge of the outcrop for evidence of an efflux, but again to no avail. We consider that we have now checked about one third of the outcrop reasonably thoroughly.

Around 2.30pm, we decided to head back to camp. The weather is still bright and sunny and the valley looks beautiful. Back at camp, we had a clean up and relaxed for a while. Towards dusk, the fire was lit and tea cooked, followed by the usual yarn. Both John’s knee and my foot stood up to the walk very well, although I may buy another pair of boots which will give me better support

Sunday 16^th September

I was up around 6.30am to a mild, misty morning. I grabbed my camera and wandered upstream taking a number of photos of the Deua.

Back at camp we had breakfast and packed up. John and Kerry intend exploring upstream along the Deua, to the south of the clearings, Vonny intends catching up with some book work, and Ted and I will have a bit of a look around the homestead area, then head home. According to the information plates, there is a second water race uphill of the main one. This one may be difficult to locate as it probably wasn’t restored in the 1960’s, but it may bear looking at.

We had an uneventful run home on a continuing bright sunny day, arriving around 4.00pm.

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October 13^th and 14^th 2001

Present:

Gerrard Collins (new 1976 Range Rover) Kerry Sanders (Discovery TDI)

Bob Kershaw (Subaru Forester -not there).

Visitors: Meagan and Tim Knowles

(who had discovered BD 14 with Gerrard a couple of years ago!) in their Mitsubishi Challenger.

The aim of the weekend was to relax and try out our new cars on the roads in and out.

Kerry had a relaxing trip in to Bendethera on the Friday afternoon and was waiting in his sleeping bag when we arrived at 1030pm Friday evening. The great bloke that he is got out of his bag and boiled the billy for a late cup of beverage before turning in for the night.

Everyone but Bob was up by 7am!!!

A relaxing but chilly morn playing like lizards on the road to warm up as the sun rose above the majestic mountains.

We left camp about 8.30 and were walking by 9am towards BD1.

En route Bob had a thought that there was an upper level entrance to BD6. So on arrival in the area we inspected the area to the north of Con Creek above BD5 and 6 and Bob found a Gerrard size hole that fitted the description. So down the intrepid super caver of the year went and return half an hour later and giving us a description of a cave that goes adjacent to Con Creek with leads into the hill above BD6. The entrance was tagged BD 62.

We then headed to BD4 to re GPS it with WGS 84 coordinates that relate to the new Australian DGA 94 coordinates. This is especially important since Bob has a new GPS program that can use the topographic map and overlay the track points of the Garmin GPS over the map. The map of the walk is reproduced later in this article.

We then headed to BD47 to re GPS it amongst the wattle. Success!

Further up the steep winding hills towards what we thought was the BD 15-22 area. Unfortunately, the ground became steeper and the wattle appeared in front of us so we headed straight up the hill towards the track on the Krawarree trail and then to the cairn on the trail. We then re-tagged BD 65 and then BD red 9 to BD 66.

As the daylight was fading we headed east down the Trail to the cars arriving about 5pm. Kerry and Gerrard had hot footed it to camp and were in the process of cutting firewood when the rest of us arrived.

A salute to the new cars thanks to Kerry and the bottle of Scotch!

A quiet talk around the campfire over dinner and the bodies were feeling the long day’s walk. Tomorrow’s plans were changing as quickly as the bodies became tighter and the drizzle continued.

Sunday dawned and a relaxing morning packing up as we planned to exit up the Dampier trail to avoid the traffic along the coast road and try something new.

The Forester might be pushing some of the trails this way but it was very scenic. Not to mention the cold weather as we had lunch.

We arrived back at Wollongong about 4.30pm in the drizzle after a great weekend down south.

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November 17^th and 18^th 2001

Present: Bob Kershaw, Carol and John Redpath.

By Bob

Aims: to replace the visitors Book at BD1; search for a few caves opposite Flagpole Flat and see how the Forester handled the road in to Bendethera.

I arrived in Moruya on Friday afternoon and had a chance to talk to Kate Boyce of the Moruya Historical Society regarding information on Bendethera. I swapped Dave’s Historical article for a couple of news articles for Dave to further add to his article.

After arriving about 4.30pm and setting up camp I enjoyed the bracing waters of the Duea to refresh after the long drive and warm weather. After dinner I finished drawing up the new visitors book and then had an early night.

Waking to a bright and warm Saturday morning I left the car park about 9am and walked to BD1 to retrieve the old visitors book and replace it with a new one. A new GPS reference and then headed down the hill and tried to find BDA1 but no good. I must have “just missed it by that much”! Lunch at the creek crossing near BD6 and

Returned to the cars at 12.30 quite hot and thirsty.

Returning to camp saw Carol asleep under the tree and John had just returned from a walk around the area. They left Wollongong about 5.30 am and arrived at 1030am. I had a swim to cool off and we followed the old water race to find the beginning of it but to no avail. A swim on return to camp before the usual pre dinner accompaniments - march flies and more march flies.

Dinner and the Mosquitos and warm weather and fireworks provided by groups camped near the horse yards and from another site across the river kept us enthralled for some time.

Sunday we were away by 830am and walked to Flagpole Flat to try and find some caves mentioned in a trip report by Endeavour group a couple of years ago. No luck!! But we did re-find and re-GPS BD10, BDX11 and BDX12 and place tags BD64 and BD 67 on a couple of untagged holes near BD10 worthy of further investigation.

We returned to camp to pack up, have lunch and then have another swim before we departed about 1.30pm.

We drove out the Dampier trig route to try the Forester but I forgot what the road was like! Low range for the Forester and breaking going down hills to avoid some rocks and this just as the southerly change dropped temperatures from 23 C to 14C and the rain and a bit of hail falling from the greying skies.

Footnote:

The Dampier trig route from Bendethera to Wollongong is 340kms and 5 hours travelling along the road from Braidwood at 100 kmph and the freeway at 110kmph.

The dirt road out is a trial for the Forester !

The Moruya Road is more forgiving for the Forester but takes a bit longer and is about 290km and travelling down the Princes Highway goat track! And with all that Sunday afternoon traffic.

Maybe Bendethera to Batemans Bay then Braidwood and Goulburn and Wollongong to avoid the traffic.

Take your pick!!!!

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Easter 2002

28^th March to 1^st April

By Bob Kershaw

Members Present: Dave Dicker, Adam and Sarah Peters and Bob Kershaw.

Visitors: Kel Blackett and girlfriend Jem Northey

Aims of the weekend:

to Re-GPS some caves at Bendethera:

see how much damage was done to the wattle in the region by the January fires.

28^th March

Dave and I left Wollongong approx. 5.30pm and headed inland for the trip south to avoid the South Coast Traffic jams. Arriving at the Turn off on the Snowball road about 9.30pm, the fog became so dense the visibility was reduced to about 5 metres in places, for the drive down the precarious slopes. We eventually arrived at 11.30pm to our usual campsite and a very warm night despite the mountain fog.

29^th March

We arose about 7.30am and finished setting up the campsite and were ready to have a leisurely jaunt up to the caves when a new Nissan Patrol entered the campsite with the other members of the weekend party, after leaving Wollongong about 4.30am to beat the Saturday traffic. Unfortunately, they had a half hour wait near the Bendethera Trig hill as a group towed a not so 4wd to the top.

As Dave and Bob walked to the caves, the Patrol members set up their camp and promptly went to bed!!!! Meanwhile, Dave and Bob undertook some track maintenance by clearing burnt trees from the path to stop people from walking around the obstacles and widening the path

Dave and Bob Re-gps’d BD7, BD8 and BD9 then tied BD8 to “Tree A” with a surface survey seeing that the undergrowth had been burnt away. Later, we headed to Flagpole Flat and RE-Gps’d BD44 and BD49, just west of the doline.

The wattle in the area of BD8 had been burnt but only from the creek up the hill to just above “The Terraces” about 10m and about 50m wide. Other than that, nothing else had been burnt in this area and at Flagpole flat the wattle is totally intact.

As the day became more humid, sunny and very hot, we returned to the camp about 3.15 for a beer, munchies and a wash in the river. A leisurely dinner and chat around the campfire before we turned in about 10.30pm to a cloudy and warm night.

30^th March

We awoke to a 12 degree and cloudy morning. The crook foot of Dave and the sick Sarah remained in camp while the other 4 headed for BD1 to show Jem the cave and for Bob to re-gps BD46 while the other 3 went into BD1. However, we made a quick side trip to BD4, en route to BD1, to show them the clear turquoise water. The water level was 1cm above the pink marker we have in the cave.

While walking above BD, Bob I found a couple of rock outcrops that gave a great view eastwards. Later we walked down the south side of the track to try and find BDA1 but to no avial. However, we did find a Gerrard size pot about 50cm wide and 4m deep and tagged it BD68. Jem was right in there turning over every rock to try and find a new cave to enter. Yes, she has been bitten by the bug! We arrived at camp at 5pm.

The fire only burnt the wattle on the main slope in an area about 50m by 20m at the base of the hill, on the right hand side as you climb up to BD1. Apart from that, nothing else!

A hot wash, a couple of beers, nibblies and great meal with red wine under the starry skies, then bed about 10.30pm.

31^st March

Arose to a cool 10 degree but sunny morning.

The Nissan mob decided to stay in camp and Dave and Bob headed north, downstream, along the Deua River about 1030am to search the karst block found a couple of years ago.

We found the block after a great walk but I’m sure that Dave with his wet feet became a bit impatient as Bob waded the river in bare feet and then dried his feet after every crossing to ensure his boots remained dry.

We had a quick lunch under a large Kurrajong tree before moving uphill to locate 3 Casuarinas that marked the location of the two large wombat size holes.

We tagged them BD 69 and BD 70 and Dave attempted to enlarge one while Bob searched the hill in a zig zag format but found nothing. We returned to the camp about 3pm to find that the Nissan mob had returned to Wollongong.

A quick wash a few beers, an early dinner, wines, port and we turned in for an early night about 8.30pm

1^st April

We rose about 7am (still daylight saving time) and departed at 8am before the incalculable number of 4WDs departed Bendethera. A quick bit to eat at Goulburn about 1030 Eastern Standard time and in we arrived in Wollongong about 1pm. Later, I heard on the news that there was a 5km bank up of cars at a road works site at Mittagong. Lucky we did leave so early!

Over the weekend we decide that we would make the following T-shirts with sayings for Sarah:

“I’m a perfectionist!

P... off! No not that way!”

For Adam

I’m Sarah’s little Monster!

For Adam - It’s my car!

For Sarah - No it’s my car!

Next time Adam take out the seats so you can pack the GPS unit!

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September 14^th and 15^th 2002

Present: Bob Kershaw and John Kemister

Aims: to re-charge our batteries and find BD-A1, anything else in the BD-1 area and see if the wattle was still flowering; see how the vegetation had recovered from the January bushfires.

WE arrived Friday night -John from the west and Bob from the east. We noted that the NPWS had a grader in fixing the road and with no rain for some time the roads were dusty and “new”. The Forester ate the hills! Although the blackened trees en route gave an eerie feel to the drive in from Moruya, many have sprouted regrowth.

After a cold night of 0 degrees we set off at 0930 to walk to BD1. I showed John the small squeeze that Gerrard tackled last year, BD-62, and the BD6 efflux that feeds Con Creek. We thought that this might bear examination tomorrow. En route we stopped to observe a 2m Brown snake warming itself after I almost stepped on its tail and then we zig-zagged up hill in search of BD A1 and then to BD1 to check the records of visitors since Easter. The number of visitors is as follows:

Easter Sat and Sun - 96

April 2002 - 104

May 2002 - 24

June 2002 -56

July 2002 - 108

August 2002 - 19

September to date -13

We then headed for the region of the BD 50's and within 100m of BD-1just slightly west of south came across a rock outcrop and a hole with an orange tag. Low and behold it was BD-A1! After all these years we accidentally re-found it and re-tagged it BD 56. It is 100m from BD 1 on the same elevation at a bearing of 195 to 210 degrees (depends on the GPS and utility program!

[During the week after the trip I found a brief phone report from Endeavour from 1999 saying it was south of BD1.] So to all those who followed me blindly over that time attempting to re-find it, I do apologise. However, there is a cave above the BD 2 efflux towards BD 1 that is a significant cave - 60m in length.

After this find we looked around and became entangled in a mess of Bendethera Wattle and Melaleucas trees that intertwined with the wattle - oh the scratched legs!

WE returned to the cars about 5pm feeling pretty good that we finally relocated BDA1!

A quite night as there were only about two other cars in the whole area - what a bonus!

The night was clear and very cool and the temp dropped again to below zero as it froze the water left out overnight.

Sunday we headed to BD6 to examine the efflux and attempt to enter the tight squeeze. We were amazed that this cave probably links to BD62 and thence to BD4 and the whole area under the Flagpole Flat area is probably a huge underground reservoir that needs to be surveyed.

WE returned to the cars and camp about 1pm packed up and headed out about 2pm John back west and Bob east. I visited the Plumwood Fire lookout tower on the way out and what a fantastic view from atop this hill. Also the coast was covered in a pawl of smoke from burn offs that was reminiscent of the January fires.

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