Participants
from ISS
|
Alison Scobie |
Walter Waerner |
|
Andrew Scobie |
Bob Kershaw, Trip Leader |
|
Caitlyn Scobie |
Max Hall - Councillor David
Hall of the Dundas Shire Council |
|
Clark Scobie |
|
‘Click’ on the photos below to
enlarge them. ‘Click’ on underlines phrases to take you photographs from
Alison’s folder of photos.
Visitors
James Ferguson, Owner Balladonia
Homestead and property
Kristy Pozniac, working
“holidayer” from Canada
Firstly, Thanks to Max Hall for
organising the permit for us to search and cave in South Australia and for
organising the areas to search for new caves.
A question first - How do you
keep six adults from going batty for three weeks? Take along a chirpy,
inquisitive 2 ½ year old young lady of course!
30th March
Bob left home at 7.00am to
collect Clark Scobie and then headed to the remaining Scobie residence and we
departed Figtree at 7.30 a.m. for the 3rd biennial pilgrimage to the
Nullarbor and to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Illawarra
Speleological Society Inc.
We had a good run south west,
carrying all our food stocks except the fresh fruit, vegies and water and
arrived at Hay about 5.30pm. Where upon we set up camp met up with Walter and
enjoyed a counter meal at the local pub.
Unfortunately, we were all
“truck shocked” the next morning from the continual movement of interstate
trucks as they passed the caravan park during the evening, every 10 minutes or
so it seemed.
Next time a better place must be
found to spend the first night out.
31st March
We were up at the crack of
sunrise (6.00am) or should I say Caitlyn cackling time and after packing up, we
headed for the Hay Bakery for some much needed fresh bread or cakes for morning
tea. We arrived at Renmark for lunch beside the Murray River near the Tourist
information centre and watched the house boats moseying on upstream in the
quiet and sunny conditions. We arrived at Spalding about 5pm for an ice-cream
and break before arriving at Port Augusta at 7.30pm. Andrew laid on a quick
meal which commenced his cooking duties for the trip. Bed at 9.30pm.
1st April
We left Port Augusta at 10:00
a.m. after a sleep in and shopping for fruit, vegies and last minute beer and
port supplies. We had lunch at the Lions Park at Kimba at 12.30 and arrived at
Ceduna at 4.30pm. This time we stayed at a quite caravan park - Shelleys by the
beach and adjacent to the racecourse. Andrew again cooked up a BBQ meal then
Wal and Bob called in to visit Max Meth who lent us a couple of maps and spare
tags in case we needed them while on the Nullarbor.
2nd April
We left Ceduna about 8.30am and
arrived in Nundroo in time to consume the fresh Ceduna pastries at 10.30 and
then arrived 
at
the Nullarbor Roadhouse at 12.30pm and awaited the “Nullacruiser” of Max Hall.
Max arrived with Kristy, who was en route to Adelaide to continue her tourist
exploits to the Red Centre. Later James arrived. Max and Clark took to the
skies above the Nullarbor for a one ½ hour flight to spot a few more caves for
us to visit over the next few days. James’ car would not start so the engineers
among the group got to work and eventually found a way to start the car. James
was not the only one to have trouble. The late “Possum” Bourne’s Subaru racing
team had to remove a wheel bearing from their trailer and so a couple of hours
later they to, managed to find a solution to their problem and headed east to
Ceduna to acquire new trailer bearings.
We eventually left the roadhouse at 5pm and headed SW to
Gilgerabbie hut for some protection from the very strong SE winds. We dined,
chatted and rugged up before heading to bury our heads in our pillows at 10pm.
3rd April
Awakening to a cloudy, cool and
windy morning at 7.30am we relaxed, chatted and decided what to do during the
day. Later, we headed north to find 5N121. Bob remembered coming here with Max
Meth on a trip in 1997 to locate it at that time. Anyway, Wal who was new to
Nullarbor caving and the enthusiastic one of the bunch, entered the cave with
Kristy and Max. While in the cave, Ranger Brett Dalzell arrived at 5N121 to
meet us. He later went to get the key for the hut and we enjoyed the warmth of
it later in the evening.
Next we ventured to 5N125 to
relocate and GPS it.
After lunch at the hut, where we
kept out of the 40kmph winds, we went via the coastline to a cave Max spotted
years ago from the air to locate it. It was tagged 5N2351 but only went for 1m.
We returned to the hut to a great dinner and bed about 9pm.
4th April
We packed up and left the hut
about 9am and headed for 5N117, a cave entered
in October 1965 by ISS member and is known as Skull Blowhole cave. We parked
at the same spot as did the 1965 expedition did, entered and surveyed it.
We then travelled to campsite two, arriving at 5pm. Wal, Kristy, James and Max
walked west about 2 kilometres to see if they could locate a feature that Max
had seen from the air. They found the feature and Wal did a quick reconnoitre
of the cave, while 
James, Kristy and Max watched the sunset before they all
walked back in the dark to camp.
Ranger Brett lit a fire and we
enjoyed a baked dinner, apple crumble, wine, port, chocolate and popcorn before
heading of to bed at 10.45pm.
5th April
We rose about 7.30am (the moose
was missing this year!) and split into two groups - Brett, Max, Kristy and
James went north in the ranger’s vehicle while the Scobies, Wal and Bob 
headed to 5N2352 and surveyed it for a couple of hours then
headed out for lunch and cameras. After lunch they returned to where the cave
ended in a gypsum area with fine formations. In the meantime, Kristy, James and
Brett had located several features previously seen from the air and James
spotted a new unknown feature, they then returned to camp, packed up and left
to pursue other things. Max came over and joined with everyone else at 5N2352
We exited about 4.30pm and
returned to camp after a 2.9km walk. A quick wash, nibbles and Wal excelled
with pancakes and a tomato and beef inserts to the pancakes. After examining
the great starry skies we headed off to bed about 9.30pm.
6th April
A dewy morning. We drove 1km
away to examine and survey the following caves:
5N2353
- a cave with Aboriginal hand prints.
5N2354 - a small cave that went
down and around
5N2355 - a small cave through a
boulder collapse
5N2356 - a large collapse but
only with a small lead that didn’t go anywhere.
We returned to camp about 5pm and had a
great baked dinner by the fire. A strong SE sea breeze -“The Nullarbor Doctor”
came up and cooled the camp and surrounding area.
Lightening was observed to the
south and west and slowly moving east - toward us! The storm approached about
1am and Andrew and Bob had a conversation as to retreat to cars if the
lightening came across the camp site - Wal who was sleeping out most nights rearranged
the interior of his car and slept in it just in case of a deluge. Fortunately,
the storm split and headed north and south of the camp but the rain fell from
2am to 4am giving about 5mm overall.
7th April
We arose about 7.30am to a warm
morning. We left the camp about 9.20am and travelled north to examine two small
caves - 5N2357 and 5N2358 and we walked a triangle of 2.5kms. Then we walked to a blowhole -5N2359-
with a small interior full of animal bones. Wal had contracted Lloyd’s
disease and commenced a dig but it didn’t go anywhere - maybe next time Wal! En
route home we walked 1.2km to a blowhole but found it went down ‘80 foot’! We used a 30-foot ladder and 5m tape
but ran out of equipment. It was tagged 5N2360.
We returned to the cars at 5pm
and the camp 5.30pm.
Another great baked meal and
loaf of bread. The rain at 9pm sent everyone to bed but it stopped soon after.
8th April
Arose at 7.30 and left at 9.30am
and returned to 5N2360. It turned out to be a 13m pitch! Wal, Max and Andrew
descended it but it didn’t go anywhere! After lunch we walked 2km to a doline
with five blowholes - 5N2361 - Quinn Holes! An easy climb down and a quick survey
and we returned to camp about 4pm. The group relaxed at camp while Max went off
in search of more holes in the ground.
Shepherd’s Pie, pudding and bed
about 10pm after a great campfire.
9th April
We packed up and left camp at
10am and headed to the Nullarbor Roadhouse for a shower and a bit of laundry
duty, a steak sandwich and ice cream. Max, Clark and Wal went on a 1 ½ hour
flight over the area again (!) and spotted another two new features reasonably
near a track and at 3.30 we headed to the Ivy Tank area. 12kms east of the old
motel we camped beside the old Eyre Highway. While drying out the laundry, Wal
and Max went for a walk north to find a cave - but to no avail. We turned in
about 10pm.
10th April
We awoke to a foggy morning and
we left for a walk about 10am around and around in circles waving off swarms of
March flies trying to find 5N2362. Eventually, Max located the feature - a few
metres from where he and Wal walked the previous evening. It was a small
collapsed doline. We returned to camp packed up and left about 2.30pm and while
seeking refuge in our cars from the march flies we headed west and found 5N2363
- a collapse with more hand prints. We drove a bit further and camped. We were
all exhausted from a day of hand waving attempting to keep the march flies at
bay. A few sprinkles of rain at 9pm.
11th April
Another foggy morning with no
wind. It turned out to be a hot day with NW winds and lots of small flies. (I
heard on the ABC radio on the way home to Wollongong later in the month that an
area in SA had sold more than 4000 fly nets over the Easter Weekend to Tourists
and that the NT had the worst grasshopper plague in years especially around the
Timber Creek area). Anyway, we visited 5N2364 then drove to camp five and
walked to what we tagged 5N2365 but later re-tagged 5N247 and 5N253 (a known
cave) a blowhole that collects water from a vast pavement. Andrew and Wal
returned after dinner to venture down the hole to see if they could find the Troglodiplura
lowryi Spider with it’s large fangs. They only found a few skeletons or
husks.
We visited another large 40m x
50m collapse and then returned to camp. Max had another feature 4kms away for
us to visit the next day.
12th April
A hot night and a relaxing
morning then a cold change came through with cooling gusty SW winds. In the
afternoon we went west and visited a pavement area and a small blowhole 5N2366.
Then to a small hole, 5N2367 and then 5N2368 (which was a known cave 5N246). We
visited and tagged 5N247.
We returned to camp for pumpkin
soup and made a satellite phone call to Brett to obtain permission to drive to
the cave 4kms away as there were no natural anchors to use to enter the
blowhole. At this point we discussed the use of wind generators such as those
on yachts to charge batteries as the wind blew during most of the nights so far
on the trip.
13th April
We drove to the blowhole and tagged it 5N2365.
Unfortunately the cave was only
a ballroom and there were no leads. So we returned to camp, packed up,
fixed a leaking tyre on Andrew’s car and headed to the Nullarbor Roadhouse via
5N2369 and 5N2370, the two new features that had been spotted a few days
earlier from the plane. We had a great dinner at the Roadhouse restaurant
before saying farewell to Wal at 9pm, who was heading to Adelaide and Melbourne
for work and scouting activities.
We then drove 31kms to camp 7
arriving at midnight and setting up camp and bed at 12.15am to the dingoes
howling in the distance.
14th April
A late start at 8am and we fixed
another tyre on Andrew’s car. An early lunch and off to 5N2371 and large cave
but no leads. Then to 5N2372 - A cave that had dog fence wire used as a
climbing aid going down the blowhole. Andrew, Max and Bob used a ladder! At the
bottom we found quite a few formations and a rock cairn that looked like a
grave. Andrew started a dig to find bones but probably didn’t dig deep enough!
We returned to camp via the 5N254 doline and a great meal cooked by Max.
15th April
Left at 10am and we went for a
2.3km walk to a “nothing”
pavement, 5N2373. Later, Andrew, Clarke, Max and Bob walked to Gemini 2
(second pair of blowholes) 5N2374. It only had a depth of 7m and didn’t go
anywhere. We continued our drive passed an old chimmney stack and made camp at
5.30pm on a big flat area.
16th April
At 7.30am and drove east looking
for a sinkhole marked on the topographic map but it turned out to be a small
doline. So we headed west and still didn’t find anything of significance. A
small doline and cave, 5N2376 - 500m north of the camp kept us amused for 20
minutes.
After lunch, Max on his bike and
Clarke and Bob went to look for Wal’s geographically misplaced GPS but we were
distracted by three small caves/dolines we found and tagged, 5N2377, 5N2378 and
5N2379. We didn’t find the GPS and returned to camp at 6pm after covering
another 60kms of the Nullarbor. A great baked dinner was waiting for us and we
did find that camp two was covered in grasshoppers.
Up at 7am, we left the camp at 9am and arrived at the
Nullarbor Roadhouse about 10am and left at 1130am after Max did a bit of soldering
on a joint on his GPS fitting. We arrived at a campsite at 5.30pm on the road
to Reid after collecting a bit of timber near Warbla Cave. A great moon rise
and sunset. A late night to bed at 22.45.
18th April
Max left on his bike at 930am to
look at potential caves 13km to the northeast of the camp, (especially the hole
shown in the 
photo at left). He returned rather despondent as none of the
dolines were worth looking at. So we decided to pack up and head for Weebubbie
cave area and stay there for the night and have a swim. We arrived at the site
at 5.30pm and Andrew and Clark baked some fresh bread for tomorrow’s lunch.
This was the first camp among
the trees for 18 days and it was different - there was no uninterrupted horizon
and plenty of crickets.
19th April
A
relaxing morning! Andrew, Max and Bob went into the cave, took a few
photographs and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the waters. Later in the afternoon
the Pilot from the Nullarbor, Fiona and the waitress, Kiri came to the area
with Doug, a starling control operator. Andrew and Max took Clark, Alison,
Caitlyn, Fiona and Kiri into the
cave and enjoyed a quick swim in the cool waters.
20th April
21st April
22nd April
I arrived at the Gilgerabbie Hut
for the night and continued to type this report in between looking at fantastic
crimson and orange colours among the cirrus clouds during sunset over the hut
and taking a few photographs.
23rd April Bob left the Nullarbor Roadhouse
just after 8am and had a great drive to Ceduna in the cool of the morning.
Stopping off for a meat pie and a fresh loaf of bread before calling briefly in
on Max Meth and a refuelling stop before venturing to Port Augusta for the
night (arriving at 5.30pm). I booked in at the same motel as Clark and we had a
great meal at the motel’s restaurant with him before a cup of tea/milo and
heading off to catch up on the cricket and a “real” bed. 24th April Bob travelled from Port Augusta
(departing 7am CST) to Hay (arriving 5.15pm EST). Unbeknown to each other the
Scobies were in the pub and Bob was in the motel across the road! 25th April Bob left Hay at 7.30am and
arrived in Wollongong at 4.30pm travelling in the heavy rain from Goulburn to
Wollongong. Things we had and should take
next time: a 12v electric drill for making
wooden tyres for children’s bikes a gas soldering iron a 12v tyre air compressor lots of food both fresh and
tinned A 12v/240v inverter for
computers and recharging batteries and discharging car batteries! Tyre plugs Things we didn’t have and should take next time!!!! A large mosquito net to
cover us during lunch times 
Bob turned left and headed to an area north of the
Mundrabilla property. We made a camp when the track petered out next to an old
Chevy Master. Here we had great sunset shots and watched 6 satellites and 3
shooting stars cross the skies between 7.30pm and 8.30pm. A strong NE wind came
up at sunset and blew the flies away.
keep
away from the pesky flies while a strong breeze blew in from the North East.
Max returned having covered over 100kms and no new “massive” caves or others
worth returning to examine. So we packed up and returned east toward
Mundrabilla to examine a couple of caves tomorrow. We arrived at the campsite
and set up our cameras and photographed a few star trails while looking for
satellites (only 2 tonight) and “shooting stars”(3).
saying
farewell to each other and heading our respective directions for a long drive
home after a leisurely and reasonably fruitful 2003 expedition to the
Nullarbor!
I
(Bob) must admit that I miss my young shadow and her quiet chatter and
inquisitive “What ya doing?” and “What’s that?” but it is quiet just listening
to the wind blowing through the leaves of the bushes.