Tuglow Trip Reports
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by John Poulton.
Present:
John Poulton (Leader), Anne Poulton (Boss) and
boys, Walter Waener, Susan and Kevin McFadden, Fabio Bertolla and visitors John
and Beth Kemister and Bob Cooper.
We
me upon that fateful night surprisingly at a place of repast. Actually the
Paragon Cafe at Goulbourn was what first drew our suriant (what is this word
suriant, John? It is not in my dictionary! Ed.) wiles. There we appeased the
pangs of hunger upon high piled plates of pasta etc [nice bit of alliteration
John, ED]. Happily fed we sallied forth (or Beethoven's fifth) along the road
towards Oberon eating dust in various combinations. Walter had not joined us at
this stage, anticipating finding us at Dingo Dell. We rolled along well keeping
the "unceebee'd" Kemisters in sight between us. The trip in went
until about 500m from the campsite when a fallen tree blocked the road and Fab
discovered that he had a flat tyre. Whilst he dealt with same, we sideslipped
the tree and set up camp, getting the boys to bed about 11 pm. Some campers
already at the Dell spoke of a phantom Subaru that drove in and out aimlessly
cruising the Tuglow wilderness. We guessed that perhaps it maybe Walter,
seeking us.
Next morning greeted us with a fairly acceptable looking day and the missing Walter. The first party consisting of JP, the Kemisters and Kevin and Susan kitted up and headed up to the parking area. After the wander in (which I must admit actually seemed shorter this time)_ we donned gear and headed underground. Despite the myriad bags of gear (ropes, rigging, wetsuits, buffets etc) we made good time arriving at the top of the long abseil in good mood. THEY had morning tea leaving poor old me to rig the pitch. We then descended and arrived at the stream way passage. Stripping to various stages of undress we donned wetsuits (or in Mr Kemister's case multiple layers of thermals) and performed that most awful of caving manoeuvres, the cold water entrance. I'm sure that is partially psychological, but cave water always feels frigid. Fortunately one numbs off very rapidly and we scooted up the river way, the newies impressed by the cave whilst still freezing various body parts off. All went well until we had to do the last swim through. Jeez it was cold! Have you ever noticed how the icy water always seems o congregate at about crutch level, no matter how deep it otherwise is? The swim was worth it though and we scrambled along the rift to the waterfall. A few more photos were taken and then the process was reversed to see us eventually back at the rope, shivering but generally exhilarated!
The
cave itself appears to be coping well. The water level although lower than my
first few trips was higher this time than the last couple of visits. A small
amount of rubbish was found and removed but otherwise all was well.
The
ascent was rather time consuming as neither John nor Beth had ever used
mechanical ascenders before (as we discovered) but with prompting they
performed very well and we eventually all reached the top of the rope intact.
Leaving the cave rigged we escaped, meeting the second party at the entrance.
Down time was about four and a bit hours. It was really nice to be greeted by a
hot and sunny day. This led us to a swim in the Kowmung before returning to
camp and preparing for the night.
The
second party had an uneventful trip, basically retracing our steps and
de-rigging as they came out. The quest for the high passage must wait must wait
for another day. However, I really would like to find the over passage to the
top of the waterfall so if anyone can draw/supply a map for same I would be
really appreciative.
The evening was spent in typical
pose around the campfire, waxing philosophically and Sunday proved to be very
slack. We basically slowly broke camp, went for a swim and headed for home.
Overall, it appears to have been a very successful trip and everyone appears to
have enjoyed themselves.
By Gerrard Collins
Present
Jason, Steve and Myself
I have to say I was disappointed when Kevin McFadden rang me at 1030 on Friday and advised me of the cancellation of this trip. I was at work, car packed, ready to leave early and head to Tuglow. I decided to go away somewhere anywhere. Jason rang me at work at 5.25pm as I was about to leave to tell me they were on their way to Tuglow. Hey, it was somewhere to go. We agreed to meet at Shooter's Hill and I was to ring Jason's mobile at about 8pm and check on their progress, but analogue mobiles just don't work. I tried ringing from every phone I passed after 8, this added about an hour onto my trip.(A lot of public phones don't work either.) I camped on Shooter's Hill Rd but didn't see any one.
Saturday morning I topped up on fuel in Oberon and gave the mobile phone one last try (didn't work). Heading down the eastern spur on the decent into Tuglow I viewed a magnificent waterfall across the valley to my right. Steven & Jason were at the creek at Tuglow filling water bottles when I arrived. They walked in and had just arrived. I drove them to the cave and we made our way in. A short 35m rope was used as a hand line on the first climb, a 45m from the top of the pitch and a 60m from halfway down as the 45m wasn't long enough. Going up stream to the waterfall at the end of the passage we saw a rope hanging down some flowstone which we climbed on the way back to explore the upper level and see some more formation. We then headed downstream to the sump. On the way back out after 3 1/2 hrs underground I found out that Kevin McFadden's new ni-cad conversion for Oldham pit lights only lasts 3 1/2 hrs. I exited with a trusty Petzel.
The evenings entertainment was a bout of laying on the grass reading , after swimming & dinner.
Sunday we went home via Jenolan and the Jelly Bean pool.
Here is another version by Jason Selman (a prospective member of ISS)
Steve and I thought things were off to a bad start when we rang John Poulton for directions from the car on our way out of Sydney on Friday afternoon. Being informed that he was no longer going, we rang around a bit more and found that no-one else was going either. We managed to convince Gerrard to come, and arranged to meet a Shooter's Hill that night. Fortunately Shooter's Hill turned out to be a little more than a signpost! Things were getting better!
Steve and I spent the night in the pine forest south east of Oberon and returned to Oberon the next morning to purchase the correct map of the area. With this in hand, we were now confident of being able to find Dingo Dell camping ground, despite no camping ground shown on the map. Having received a quick description on the cave by Anne Poulton, we were ready to rock.
We discovered that there are limits to Steve's All Terrain Ford Meteor, but repairs with accessory cord and the toestrap fro a pushbike allowed us to abandon the car only 4km from the camping ground. Fortunately, Gerrard met us here and you've probably read the rest of the story.
In the cave at last, it was a good trip, with the only stuff-up being Steve's "the rope will reach the water on this pitch!". a short wait while I rigged a new rope for the third pitch that would reach the water. The cave was great, with some good, although not spectacular decorations and with the added bonus of the adventurous passage through the underground stream. We went upstream about 400m to a 10m high waterfall which we could not negotiate, and 300m downstream to the sump. The exploration involved walking, wading, swimming and even a quick (and very cold) duckunder.
I have since learnt that it is possible to get past the waterfall to a further chamber, the Christmas Pudding chamber and other formations. Plenty of scope for another trip to explore the many other passages, especially higher up and to find the further chamber.
The day's caving was finished with a swim and a feed down at Dingo Dell, where we spent the night, before a slow trip home via Jenolan on Sunday.
by John Poulton.
The word was bandied around that night, that Tuglow time was nigh
For ISS was once more bound to caverns deep inside,
The limestone rock of karst complete, a darkness for to find.
We sallied forth, we valiant few to tempt the stygian realm,
On Friday night we pitched our camp and slumbered till past dawn.
The cavern, mystery and black,it called us to the door
Alas its siren song must wait, for aid is once more called.
Gary's parked his Falcon car, halfway up a trail, a bit misplaced on last nights trip, his traction it did fail.
We dragged him up the track and down to camp with kids and wife in tow.
They set up camp (with Yvonnes help). We buggered off below.
The long high hill that stands before the Tuglow's gaping maw, will break the heart of lesser folk, whose will just won't endure.
But we, determined (slightly mad?) did breast it just post haste, for caverns called, the dark below was more like to our taste.
Overalls and harnesses, helmets, lights and gear,
with backpacks, drinks and munchie bars, there was naught to fear.
We headed down, the sun was left and stygian depths were ours,
Aware the subterranean depths belonged to us for hours.
We laddered down the rocky drop, belay rope there in case,
And walked and crawled and slithered through a most amazing place,
With holes and slabs and slips and drops and pits of bone dry dust,
And mud and slime and oozy bits, cave things you can trust.
We came down through the key hole and settled there for tea,
At least for drinks and munchie bars (a second one for me!)
Then off we went, exploring. The holes and pits abound, with slip aways and hidden drops and strange, cavernous sounds.
The dragon’s teeth, and deep dark hols and rifts that go and go,
A slippery slope that leads to - where? Just watch out for that hole. The streamway's still a long way down and today that's not our aim. We'll hunt around here a little more then head up to the ground.
Well John (the Canberra one) he found a rubbish tip,
with cans of cream (4oz net) and other stuff forgot,
Out it came, we packed it off, we could not leave that sh__?
The bones remained, a kangaroo and KFC ? I spot.
We exited the deep, dark pit; a muddy, dirty crew.
Renewed again as always, by caves, they make us new (Note that spew could also have fitted here depending on how one is feeling at the time)
Once again we'd visited to'ard Hades realm below
Once again we'd made it back,'cause he was just too slow.
The cavers heart is twisted, the cavers mind is weak,
The cavers sense of morals just doesn't run too deep.
We crawl through mud and bat poo, we slide in slime and filth,
We dangle, roped and Jumar'd, like a spider on its silk.
We know that we are different from other surface folk
Because they've never been there, their fantasies a joke.
We've tasted lifes sweet mystery in bejewelled caverns deep
We may be really grotty, but better that than sheep.
I think that you all probably deserve to have horrible doggeral thrust upon you at times, so this is the 1998 offering.
The Tuglow trip was quite pleasant. Anne, the boys and myself, Gary Brown, John Kemister, Andrew Scobie and Kerry [the other bloke from Canberra with the Landrover] all went underground on Saturday. As trip leader I elected not to descend the last abseil because I was not sure of the SRT capabilities of the other members of the party and had no desire to rescue anyone from that hole. This brings into focus that fact that we really should get some training going so that trip leaders can be better informed of their trippees skills. Some sort of club accreditation system needs to be available to make it easier and fairer on both the leaders and cavers. The cavers on this weekend may have been perfectly competent however I had no way of really knowing and the bottom of Tuglow is not the place to find out.
On a more positive note the ISS choir is going strong, with songs and poetry readings and clarinet solos etc. The culture of the club no longer only grows in Petrie dishes.
I hope that everyone enjoyed themselves (even the Browns who, having been towed out, have stated that they will definitely have a 4wd for the next trip).
by Wal Waerner,
Present:
ISS: Wal Waerner (TL), Anthony Pezutto,
Tony Pezutto, Kerin Knuckey.
Visitors: Melanie Anderson, Aaron Hawkins (4th
Gong Rover), Paul Armstrong (Figtree Venturer), Greg Pearce (FV), Levi Boes
(FV), Dean Pezutto.
After
meeting at my place on Friday evening we set off at 6pm to meet at Goulburn
Macca’s (as the Venturers apparently require a daily fix to survive). Aaron had
gone with Melanie to act as navigator and also because there weren’t quite
enough seats in the Subaru. Arrived at Macdonald’s with no sign of the other
two who had ended up at the other end of Goulburn. (Thought you would have known better Wal! ED). Once reunited we all headed off up the
Oberon road.
Unfortunately.
Melanie’s little Barina didn’t enjoy dirt road driving so the pace was slower
than I had hoped. Eventually we ended up at the top of the hill above Dingo
Dell, the Barina could go no further (in 1 piece). I drove my carload of
passengers into the valley and returned to collect the remainder. Camp was set
up by 11.30pm.
The next
morning saw an early start of 8.30am for caving. We all piled into the Subaru
and headed up to the Tuglow carpark. A brisk walk soon saw us at the cave
entrance. The Venturers set up the abseil with me going down first to ensure
the rope was in the right spot. Eventually the rest of the group arrived.
Communication
was also a problem! This was partially solved by having someone about 15m up
the rope on a ledge to pass on calls.
After donning
wet suits we headed downstream to look at the sump. This part of the cave has
little decoration but fantastic old dams formed in the stream way. The water
has since eroded these and flows around, under or through the old walls. The
lower sump contained a dead frog (about 10cm long) floating in the water as
well as a piece of string mysteriously vanishing into the depths (who brought
the SCUBA gear?).
Headed back
upstream and soon ended up at the waterfalls. After a quick viewing session we
headed back and found the way up to Knights Knobbly Chamber, though only Greg
and Paul went up for a look and to sign the logbook. Apparently it was
“awesome” and “really spectacular, with formations everywhere”. I have since
explained to the lads that “boring” and “doesn’t go” are more diplomatic things
to say in this situation! A return to the entrance soon followed (here by
1245pm).
The next
few hours were spent prussiking out. I spent most of that time huddled under a space
blanket shivering and feeling sorry for myself, it was really cold! (Thermals Wal, Thermals! ED). The prussiking process took a lot
longer than I thought hence the second rope to speed up the process. At last
Anthony and I were able to exit the cave; the prussiking providing much needed
warmth to wake me up again. There was even a cup of hot tea waiting upstairs
for me and Kerin had offered to haul me out on some sort of lifting system
(though I only found out this after getting out, the chance to sleep a little
longer was lost). It was wonderful to see the last of the day’s light as we
emerged from the cave. Anthony, Tony, Kerin, and Dean were staying until Sunday
and planned to visit the cave then (having arrived after we went underground).
The rest of us packed up gear and left Dingo Dell at 8pm for the drive home.
Once again the drive took longer than usual due to the 40kmph limit for the
Barina to avoid the car falling apart on the dirt. Sadly Goulburn MacDonald’s
had closed by the time we arrived there, we were forced to visit a 24 hour food
stop along the highway. Aaron was transferred into the Subaru so that Melanie
could have an easier run back to Engadine by not going via Wollongong. We
arrived back at my place at about 130am, Melanie reaching Engadine 30 minutes
later.
Anthony’s
group had two people abseil in on the Sunday morning for practice. They then
prussiked out without a splash in the water!
All in all,
a great, though tiring, weekend was had by everyone! Next time it would be good to get into the upper section of the
cave but this is not feasible with a large group or after spending time in the
water.