Cooleman Trip Reports
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by Wendy Hird
The trip started badly with a flat on Bob's Kombi at about 8.45pm on Friday night just outside of Yass, the nice tyre repair guy who answered the number given by the NRMA was actually on holiday but he came out to his workshop to repair the tyre anyway, as Bob didn't fancy driving to Coolamine without a spare. This added about 1 hour to the trip. It was damn cold the time we got there, Kevin and Sue McFadden and Dave Dicker were already set and sound asleep in their cars by the time we got there. Bob and I figured a late start was required the next day as we didn't arrive until 2:00am.
Saturday! With Dave who had got some literature on the park, and after much deliberation, we decided to tackle Coolamine and Murray caves which could be reached via the Jennings walk (named after the late Joe Jennings), a nice gentle 6km stroll around the dry creek bed upstream of the Blue Waterholes. The day started fine and stayed fine, with a few spots of rain as we left the last cave, bit a great day for a hike. Unfortunately the dry creekbed was full of water from the recent snow melt and rains, and we ended with about 12 creek crossings in icy cold water - apart from Sue who was piggy backed over most if the creeks by her faithful slave Kevin in a desperate attempt to keep her feet dry. Bob was trying for first place in the dry socks competition until we reached Murray cave which was thigh deep in some cases, when he gave up the ghost. The photos of Bob trying to pole vault across streams should make good viewing.
But first was Coolamine Cave: a nice cave, not much else to be said, not many formations, but Bob got some nice photos of water drop but not a lot to write home about. (it is when you see the photo. Ed)
Murrays
Cave - much maligned by being called a tourist cave, lots of live straws along
the roof (thousands - literally) with a lot of old damage to the large
stalagmites on the floor and shelves. The water was deep, loud, flowing, and
icy cold, thigh high in the middle sections. Lots of large flow stones and all
a beautiful pristine white, very little mud damage for a cave with the amount
of traffic it is supposed to have had and well worth a second look - in March
or April when the level of water in the creek should be lower!).
We cut short the Jennings walk by cutting across paddocks and stopped off at the old Coolamine homestead on the way home. Some of the original newsprint is still in evidence, dating back to 1932 (before restoration some dated back to 1889 apparently) which makes very interesting reading and the farm makes you very happy you have a heater and electric blanket to get back to at your own home.
The evening started well, roaring fire, good feed and good company, but it deteriorated badly - the weather, not the company - and the howling wind and rain forced us to take over Bob's Kombi in a vain attempt to set the Kombi squashing competition. We managed to get all 5 of us in the Kombi and we spent the rest of the evening shuffling about while finishing off the port.
The next day dawned cold. It had snowed overnight and the ice lay in thick sheets over the tarps. The boots from the day before were frozen solid as were the socks and overalls! We decided not to hike down the riverbed to the other caves as had been the original plant, but to pack it in and have a nice drive home. With a scenic route for the McFaddens and myself, taking in Mt Selwyn, Kiandra and Cambramuura, we looped home via Cooma and were home by 5:00.
All in all a great trip! Next time camp near the water tank as it got the full sun in the morning and be prepared for wet feet if attempting this at the same time of year.
by Dave
Dicker
Present
were: Bob Kershaw (TL),
John and
Vonny Kemister, Gerrard Collins,
Dave
Dicker, Kerry Sanders, Greg Brown & Family
Aims:
The main
aim of the trip was to further familiarise ourselves with the Cooleman Plains
area. We’d obtained a blanket permit and the key to White Fish Cave. The second
aim was to enjoy a weekend in the bush.
Friday
12-11-98
I left
Lansvale at 2.30pm, the weather being overcast, warm & humid. The clouds
built up as I headed south and rain set
in around Goulburn/Yass. I arrived at
the campsite at Cooleman Mountain at 9.00pm, to find that Bob had arrived &
set up. John, Vonny & Gerrard arrived during the night.
Saturday
14-11-98
The day
dawned with the last of the clouds dispersing and the sun pleasantly warm. By
9.30 we were packed and ready to go - but Kerry hadn’t arrived - so we went
anyway, leaving a note on one of the vehicle’s windscreen. We drove down to the
Blue Waterhole, noting that there was a lot of water lying around - the creek
crossing had about .3 - .4 M of water in it.
From Blue
Waterholes we followed the Clarke Gorge track for a hundred metres or so, then
headed westwards to a gorge which is tributary to Clarke Gorge. We spread out
and found several caves in the sides of the gorge, including CP10, CP11, CP33,
CP34, CP60 and CP61. CP11 will bear another visit at a future date. We all
gathered at Cave Creek about a hundred metres downstream from where we left it.
The
entrance to Clarke Gorge was just in front of us and it looked spectacular. We
filed our way down the gorge, crossing the creek as necessary. There was plenty
of water and the rocks were slippery - both Gerrard and myself took a dunking.
We found several caves in the gorge, including CP61, CP76, CP95 & CP96. The
weather at this stage was kind, it didn’t rain and there were a few bursts of
sunshine for the photographers.
Beyond the
gorge, we kept going to the waterfall and found CP18 - White Fish Cave. This
cave is so named because an albino fish was discovered in one of the pools
within the cave. The entrance is situated on the left hand bank of Cave Creek
(looking downstream), and about 30 M above the falls. Part of Cave Creek flows
into the cave, and with the volume of water in the creek, the flow and noise
was considerable. Bob, Gerrard and John went some way down the first section,
but decided that some climbing equipment would make the experience safer, so
they emerged after a short while.
(At the
Nullarbor meeting Neil Anderson said it was a wise move to retreat as we would
not have got through the small water crawls.
ED)
In the
meantime, the rain had set in, so with wet weather gear on, we returned
upstream to CP12 (Black Range Cave). From here, we left the main gorge track
and headed south (to the right looking downstream). We found CP 14, CP15 and
CP16, (Barber’s Cave) then followed the track, taking good advantage of the
views back down the valley to the northeast. The weather cleared a bit and the
sun came out - the shredded mist and
rainbow made the effort worthwhile. Over the saddle and down the track and good
views of Nichole Gorge were presented, then down the track to Cave Creek and to
the carpark at Blue Waterhole.
Back at
camp we found that Kerry and Greg & family had arrived. They had spent a leisurely
day looking around the Blue Waterhole area. After changing into dry clothes and
relaxing for a while, we had tea & then a short slide show, then the usual
yarn around the fire. (I still can’t work out how you get a campfire to burn
downwards!) The weather was mild and clear, with a million stars on display.
Sunday
14-11-98
The dawn
chorus woke me along with the odd sunbeam. The valleys were full of mist and
the temperature was such that you’d rather sit in the sun than the shade. The
camp gradually became active, and consultations took place. John had a crook
throat and couldn’t talk, Kerry was still keen on finding a shortcut back to
Canberra, Bob was still partly suffering from hay fever and I had a crook left
foot and even crooker left knee. I headed out at 8.30am, returning the White
Fish Cave key to Yarrangobilly on the way. I had an uneventful run home,
arriving at 3.00pm.
Bob left
for home about 9.30 am and the rest visited the homestead before visiting
Murray’s Cave.
Conclusions:
1 CP10 is a cave we should re-visit with
some equipment. The entrance has a lot of loose soil so care must be taken, but
from a short way down, the sound of running water can be heard.
2 CP18 - White Fish Cave is another
interesting cave. A ladder is essential and a trip in March or so will be good,
as there will be less water flowing in.
3 Barber’s Cave will be another
rewarding cave to visit.
4 Scenically, Cooleman Plains is a
rewarding area, it’s good just to go there and enjoy it!
by Greg
Pearce.
Present ISS (Subaru sub-branch) – Bob Kershaw,
Anthony Pezutto, Tony Pezutto, Alison Scobie, Andrew Scobie, Caitlin Scobie
ISS
(Range/Land Rover sub-branch) – Byron Sanders, Kerry Sanders
ISS
(Non-vehicular sub-branch) – Paul Armstrong, Greg Pearce
Non Members
– Ian the pommy Backpacker
We arrived
at Cooleman Mountain Camping site at 2200 after an uneventful 6 hour drive.
Upon exiting the car, we found that the thermometer wasn’t lying, it actually
was -5oC. Finding the
Sanders’ already in bed, Bob and I set up camp. The Scobie’s (with Paul in tow)
arrived within the half hour, and the Pezzutto’s didn’t make an entrance until
0200, they then spent the rest of the night hammering in each tent peg twice,
or so it seemed.
Saturday
morning we all woke to a decent frost over everything, those of us stupid
enough to sleep under the stars saw countless shooting stars all night, but woke
with stiff sleeping bags. Bob refused to exit his tent until the sun hit it. A
fairly slow morning followed, and by 0900 we were all ready and anxious for a
great days caving (or so Bob led us to believe).
Over
breakfast we all met Ian who has been backpacking in Australia for the last 8
months. It was quickly decided that he should join us for the day to find out
what caving is all about.
A quick
trip to Blue Water Holes followed, although the Red Algae seemed to block out
most of the Blue Water, it could be seen to be blue in places. It was then a
short drive back to Coolemine[1]
Homestead where we left the cars. What followed was a short viewing of the
homestead. Some of the original newspaper used as wallpaper still exists;
including an interesting article from 1937 about a man named Adolf Hitler and
his quest for World Peace. In the next room there was found articles about the
military build up in 1939, and the next room contained a 1987 advert for a
Toyota Landcruiser. After a short visit to the homestead we left to partake in
what we had come for, cave hunting.
Alison and
Caitlin quickly left us seeing that although the pram was supposedly a 4WD
model, it really couldn’t handle the terrain. The rest of the party spent all
morning scouring the limestone outcrops for caves. Eventually finding CP27 but
with no further success. Bob had been mislead! After lunch the hunt continued,
we found four caves of little significance, all of them untagged. They were of
course GPS’d. Finally giving up, we returned to the vehicles and prepared to
find some caves on the other side of the road.
Leaving the
cars at the road side, we walked into the area and found several caves, CP50,
CP5 and CP72… No cave was entered into to any great extent (mainly as they were
not big, or were too wet - CP5- for Andrew). By this time it was time to trek
back to the cars and prepare for the impending darkness and coolness.
Nibbles
were of cause eaten at this stage, followed by much rugging up and collecting
of firewood. An uneventful night was spent huddled around the fire discussing
such topics as Backpacking, Pommy bashing, The Goodies, Banana Man, Dr Who and
Monty Python. Not to mention of cause Anthony’s place of work.
The night
wasn’t as cold as the first, although we were treated to quite a show by the
local wild dogs. Hours of howling in the distance (and not quit so distant)
gave all concerned a rough nights sleep (except for Ian who slept in his car
and didn’t hear a thing). As soon as the dogs stopped howling, Caitlin started,
and so all were up earlish Sunday, although Bob still wouldn’t get up until the
sun hit his tent.
Sunday
morning involved a trip to Murray’s cave. Murray’s is the biggest cave at
Cooleman, and well visited by tourists. At Murray’s we met some people from the
ACKMA conference being held at Yerrangobilly. Faces can now be put to well
known names from Ozcavers, such as Andy Spate, Ellery Hamilton-Smith and Arthur
Clarke.
Murray’s
was extremely dry at this time of year, although we couldn’t get passed the sump
(Andy said that the water has to drop 3 more metres before it can be passed).
Several members crawled up a side passage to satisfy any ‘real caving’ urges
that they had from the otherwise caveless weekend. Caitlin enjoyed her journey
into the cave, and even managed to say the word cave (and the word Bob).
Although Caitlin was quite disheartened by our Monk style hummmming.
After lunch
everyone split up to return home. Bob and I went via the Brindabellas, everyone
else went via Cooma. The Sanders stayed on for another evening. It should be
noted that the drive home took 6 hours for all concerned, so that no matter
which way you drive there (Cooma, Gundagai, Brindabellas) it takes 6 hours.
A great
weekend had by all, especially those of us who had not been caving for a
looooong time. Everyone walked away looking forward to Cliefden in a month’s
time.