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Troglodyte is the magazine of the Northern Caverneers Inc. Editor: Cathie Plowman
PO Box 315 Launceston Tasmania 7250
Volume 21 Issue 2 December 2011
Northern Caverneers 50th birthday celebratory cake, baked and decorated by Janice March.
Photo: Cathie Plowman
2
• NC celebrated 50 years with a fantastic effort from Paula and John
Barrass and Janice March. Thanks team!
• Thanks to Jessica Wools-Cobb who coordinated the caving program for
the January 2012 National Venture based at Quercus Park with more
than 1300 Venturers from around Australia. Over the four days of
caving there were eight trips (four of each to Honeycomb and Kohinoor
caves) with a total of 73 Venturers participating. Thanks to everyone
who assisted with leading the trips and gear organisation.
• David Butler, Stephen Jacobs and David Wools-Cobb are participating in a week of surveying in late
February in Exit Cave as part of an Southern Tasmanian Caverneers (STC) coordinated project.
• Several members of the Van Nynanten and Wools-Cobb families rafted the Franklin River in January
and hopefully saw a bit of the karst of the Franklin and lower Gordon. On return, Paul will continue to
pursue Baldocks Road access issues with government authorities.
• David Wools-Cobb led a party from the Sydney based Metropolitan Speleological Society (MSS)
through Kubla in December and another from Sydney University Speleological Society (SUSS) in
January. Meanwhile Cathie is leading a National Speleological Society (NSS) party from San
Francisco around a few Mole Creek caves in February.
• Jill Bennett is assisting Stephen Blanden to complete maps and documentation of caves in the Wilmot
River area. Jill, David Butler and Cathie visited the area recently. Stephen’s long and thorough
dedication to seeking out limestone areas and exploring them for caves is impressive. He first visited
the Wilmot River area in about 2000 and has tagged and documented a number of caves. Our return
party could not locate all of these. Sediment deposits and river bank changes after flooding may be a
reason for our failed efforts.
• Meanwhile Stephen B is focussed on medical treatment and rehabilitation following last year’s
double-dose of surgery.
• Brigida Van Nynanten completed her gap year in the Australian Navy and is off to Melbourne to study
occupational therapy at Monash University. Oliver Van has deferred a university place for a gap year
studying sound technology at Alanvale. Stephen Jacobs is having a gap year too, and has taken leave
from his outdoor recreation work to enjoy the bush on his own terms.
• Janice and Andrew were last seen on the Wildside bike ride on the west coast.
Contents:
Soil Cone.......................................................................................................2
President’s Report .........................................Paul Van Nynanten................3
50th Anniversary Celebration ....................... Janice March..........................4
Trip reports - Caving in Western Australia .................................................6
- Little Trimmer Cave..............Cathie Plowman.....................6
- Underground film..................Frank Brown..........................8
- Northern Australia caving ....David Wools-Cobb................9
- Golden Valley 1 ....................Henry Shannon ....................11
- Golden Valley 2 ....................Henry Shannon ....................12
Notes on geology of Golden Valley..............Henry Shannon ....................15
Karst Care report - Kubla Khan ....................David Wools-Cobb..............17
Cave rescue orientation program ..................Cathie Plowman...................18
Membership list...........................................................................................19
3
President’s Report
Paul Van Nynanten
From the spa lounge of Possum Palace.
I wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy new year. The past year has been quite productive for our
underground club. The two cave rescue practices have been exceptional and can warrant that, in the unlikely
event of a real local caving accident, that you will be happy with your extraction in a professional and timely
way—if cavers have anything to do with it.
Next we need to manufacture a wonderful cave specific rescue stretcher. The one pictured is made by Ian
Collette from Western Australia Speleological group (WASG) and works sooo well in a cave. Rather than
bore you with the details, we’ll just say it’s a work in progress. Thanks to all who contributed in the last
cave rescue practice, and I must say how well the
three Tasmanian clubs involved worked together
(apologies from the fourth club who couldn’t make
it on the day). Special thanks to Jay Anderson and
Ian Collette who flew over from Western Australia
especially for the event.
The good news is the number of caving trips we
have done this year and got some armchair cavers
out of their lounge rooms. I was exceptionally
pleased with Northern Caverneers 50th anniversary
celebrations with a huge roll up of past members.
Many thanks to Janice, Paula and Cathie.
The ‘Ut is looking good and kept in trim. The gate
is locked so you will need to contact a Squire of
Ugbrook to get a key. Just please reset the fireplace
and leave dry kindling inside for the next visitor to
enjoy on a wet night. On this note, NC Inc is the responsible party minding the hut on behalf of the
Tasmanian Land Conservancy so control access to the hut, including keys and bookings.
We are still endeavouring to find a solution to access to Baldocks without a keyed gate that blocks a public
road, so will keep you posted.
In the meantime, eat well and keep on caving.
Paul
Rescue stretcher from WASG.
Photo: Paul Van Nynanten
4
The Happening of the Year:
Northern Caverneers 50th Anniversary Celebration—27 November 2011
Janice March
The November 2011 meeting of Northern Caverneers Inc was also the AGM and there was discussion that it
was the Club's 50th year, it was November and the 50th AGM and we still had no plans for a celebration. As
our 50th year was within weeks of concluding I gathered a few names of past members who might still be
around and started to make up a guest list. As we already had a barbecue on the NC agenda for 27
November we decided that this would be the 50th celebratory event, and advised the hosts Paula and John
Barrass that we were converting this into something bigger. I went home and spent any spare time during
the next few days ringing up strangers and getting further names of past members to try to locate. I built up
a list of email addresses and found that some of these past members were very much interested in attending
a reunion, so I sent out as many invitations as possible using cyberspace to help spread the word. In the end
the barbecue was attended by more than a handful—more like 25 past members and 20 more recent ones
and their families.
Guest list:
Some of the founding members were ‘found’ including life
member Frank Brown who lives in Hobart and whose wife
was recovering from recent surgery, so he was an apology.
Other early members who I contacted but who couldn’t
attend were Paul Richards, the first editor of Troglodyte,
who lives at Glen Dhu. Rob Abey, who lives at Shearwater,
and who has had numerous skiing and other adventures
overseas since leaving NC. Richard Porch, from Dilston,
who has a collection of caving memorabilia and some pretty
funny stories of his former caving mates and experiences.
Ian Gasking lives in Perth, Tasmania was also an active
member in the 1960s.
Bob Woolhouse's daughter Gill Chapman and her husband Keith
attended and could remember some of the old faces Bob used to keep
company with. Bob was NCs founder who died in 2008.
The ladies from the underground surprised me as they were some of the
keenest members even in the early days. Ros Wells attended and told of
her marriage to another former member Ralph Power who now lives in
Queensland. Jenny Smithies similarly told of a caving club marriage to
Roger McLelland who now resides in Boston, USA. John van Stavoren
came with wife Joy who are both into pistol shooting these days. David
Atkins lives in Norwood and still actively involved in bushwalking in
Tasmania. It was good to see that, although these past members had done
their caving in 1960s, they still remember the Northern Caverneers as being a significant part of their past,
though most were saddened to hear of the difficulties with access and bureaucracy faced by modern-day
cavers.
From the 1970s and 1980s era of NC, Jill Roberts and Frank Salt attended. I managed to contact several
who could not attend: Jed Butler from Hobart, Bill Hardman, Toby Clark (plumber), Russell Grayson,
Compton Allen, Rob Prydon (ex-quartermaster during 1970s), Rodney Hart—these latter four are living in
Sydney. Also Denise deVitt, Craig ‘Hippo’ McKenzie, Peter Godding (an arborist from Tree Wise Men),
Geoff Holloway and Peter Dohnt.
Mark O'Brien (accountant) who is still the NC auditor came along with his wife and children, as did Peter
Special Event
Some of the party participants.
Photo: Cathie Plowman
Gill and Keith Chapman.
Photo: Cathie Plowman
5
Cover who is now in Hobart, Peter Dowde (long time and current member and trades teacher), Ian
McKendrick (electrician)), Charmaine Gibson (lawyer), Elspeth Froude (occupational therapist), Yvonne
Gluyas (caterer), Rhonda Cover (primary school teacher) and Penny Thomas (teacher and farmer) all
attended. They enjoyed catching up with each other and watching an old movie digitised onto a lap top.
From the 1990s, most of the recent and current members joined about then. Some who have moved inter-
state were invited but unable to attend. They were ‘Iggy’ Robert Squibb who lives in Melbourne with wife
Kim. Geoff Grossel (current member) who now resides in Canberra with wife Katrina and three daughters
was on a junket to Scandinavia with his national fisheries work. Graeme Pennicott, who is extra busy now
he's retired from teaching at Meander, Peter Zund who is studying meteorology in Melbourne and loving it
and Chris Riley who hangs out in Golden Valley.
Ronnie Harrison from Texas didn't reply so who knows if he's stuck down some hole he couldn't get out of.
Chester Shaw and wife Kaye live at Mole Creek. Catherine Stark is now with MCCC and she and her
partner operate Seven Sheds Brewery at Railton.
Debbie Hunter from MCCC and Wildcave Tours attended, as of course did Rosie and Henry Shannon and
other current members, Jill Bennett from Relbia, David Wools-Cobb from Ulverstone and daughter Jessica
from Devonport, Paul and Jean Van Nynanten, David Butler and Cathie Plowman from Deviot (another
couple who met on an NC trip), Janice and Andrew March and their two kids, Suja Yussof and his family,
Paula Barrass and her husband John kindly offered to host the party. Current member Nic Haygarth
(history researcher) was there to meet some figures from NCs past so to add to his ongoing research into
all things caving. Stephen Blanden had only just travelled home from hospital and was unable to join us.
So we are a varied bunch of people united by a previous or current interest in speleology, and although
there was a bit of grey hair and talking about grandkids, it was good to hear everyone's enthusiastic stories
about caving in their younger days.
Paul welcomed everyone to the occasion and invited all present to keep in touch with NC now that the
newsletter is online (via the STC website). Janice read out the apologies and mentioned those who had
been contacted by email or phone. There were many others who were impossible to trace in the short time
frame.
There were some delicious desserts to share including a 50th birthday chocolate cake in the shape of a cave
with Lego characters abseiling in and one waiting at the bottom of the hole. The celebration was very well
attended and by all accounts enjoyed by everyone who attended.
Editor’s note: Well done Janice on organising this event in less than a fortnight. To quote Janice herself:
‘why spend months organising something that can be organised just as well in a couple of weeks?’ Thanks
to hosts Paula and John Barrass for their much appreciated efforts and to everyone who attended.
L-R Jenny Smithies, Ros Wells, Ian McKendrick
and Janice March admiring the memorabilia.
Photo: Cathie Plowman L-R David Atkins, Ros Wells and Paul Van Nynanten.
Photo: Janice March
6
MC-39 Little Trimmer Cave
Cathie Plowman
14 August 2011
Party: Paula Barrass, David Butler, Cathie Plowman and David Wools-Cobb
Paul Van Nynanten had mentioned some interest in visiting this cave due it its links to a
film he had (read on!) and I decided to ascertain if access was possible and arrange permission. I knew that
karst scientists from the Forest Practices Authority had
done some water research in the caves some years be-
fore and was keen to find out where things were cur-
rently. I had a bit of ‘to and fro’ re obtaining permis-
sion and the key. In the end, neither Forestry Tasmania
nor the Forest Practices Authority had any objections
to us using the cave, but deferred the decision to Rolan
Eberhard of the Department of Primary Industries,
Parks, Water and Environment.
Next issue was the key. No one seemed to have a key,
but Rolan had a key which he believed was outdated in
relation to the current lock on the gate.
Gate, Little Trimmer Cave. Photo: David Butler
Caving in Western Australia
Brigida’s gap year with the Australian Navy included training in Melbourne and deployments in Darwin
and at the Stirling Naval Base in Western Australia. While in the west, Brigida got to enjoy some of the
caving places previously enjoyed by her parents thanks to the friendship that cavers generally extend to
visiting trogs. The photos show Brigida underground , the hut at Borrunup (not quite as rustic as our own
camp!) and a scene from the Borrunup forest.
All photos submitted by Paul Van Nynanten (photographer unknown).
Mainland travels
7
While I was planning the trip, Stephen Blanden
located trip reports from 1947 and 1960. These
did not give a lot of details about the cave, but one
referred to the party encountering swarms of bees,
something which we hoped to avoid. Out of the
blue, NC life member Frank Brown, who had no
idea of my interest in Little Trimmer, sent an
article (also published in this issue) about making
the film Down Under, Down Under in the 1960s.
Anyway, with an okay to enter the cave, we set
out equipped with a possible key and suitable
tools. In the end the key fitted, but the gate was
jammed closed from lack of use and required
considerable force to open it.
Locating the cave happened fairly easily enough, but the two David’s seemed a bit impatient at times!
David Butler was the only one of us who had previously visited the cave, and that was thirty years ago and
in darkness. As the adjoining pasture lands have since
been replaced by tree plantations, things had changed a
little. Just below the cave, its outflow stream has a nice
series of moss-covered tufa terraces.
Once inside the cave, it is a Hickmania troglodytes
paradise. I counted 14 just inside the cave entrance, two
with egg sacks. The stream runs along the base of the
cave and had the remains of a small dam on it that had
been part of previous water monitoring studies. Rolan
had asked us to remove this if possible; we did so quite
easily and David Wools-Cobb recorded our efforts for
Karst Care. The cave has some beautiful formations
and, near the far end, some large talus.
After exiting the cave and eating lunch, we set out to
find a second entrance that we had heard about from
several sources. Based on the information that Stephen
Blanden had given me I quickly located a cave
entrance. I called out to my companions but,
while Paula came and investigated it with me,
both David’s showed no confidence in my cave-
finding ability, ignored me and continued to
search. It was only when, after some time, they
had given up that they conceded to investigate the
cave I had found, which was actually the second
entrance.
Back home and the phone rang as soon as we
arrived, it was Stephen Blanden laid low with
illness keen to hear about the trip. I followed the
trip with some web searching looking for
published material about the scientific work that
has been done in the cave. Most of the research
Little Trimmer Cave. Photo: David Butler
Little Trimmer Cave. Photo: David Butler
Tufa terraces. Photo: David Butler
8
has been in relation to water variations with forestry activities but there has also been some work done on
reproduction rates of Hickmania troglodytes. Internet references show that water monitoring in Little
Trimmer has contributed to forestry operations in karst water environments.
During the next week, Rolan contacted me as University of Tasmania biologist Niall Doran was interested
in re-visiting the cave to monitor H. troglodytes. Rolan was surprised how, after no one visiting the cave for
about ten years, there were two unconnected trips within a week. I advised him not to ponder this, these
things just happen….
Underground Film
Frank Brown
The rather banal title of this article is a small joke—very small! At the time we made Down Under, Down
Under there was a widespread activity of making experimental films many of which were anti establish-
ment, radical and experimental. They were collectively labelled as ‘Underground Movies’. I am sorry if the
joke did not need explaining, but it was a feature of a more adventurous film made in Kubla a bit later. The
producers of that one got a handful of money from the Whitlam Government partly because of the
association. Lots of arty types in Canberra in those days. Remember Blue Poles? Now for the story of the
TCC-NB venture into film making, at least as far as I can remember.
I am not sure who first floated the idea at the Monday evening meetings in Pierre’s, but everybody must
have been in favour. In typically Tasmanian fashion, a camera man was found quite easily by asking mates,
and Norton Harvey’s name came up within a very short time. Meeting with Norton was a pleasurable
experience. He had the gear, the experience and the willingness. All that was needed was some way of
generating sufficient light. The obvious power source was car batteries and so we thought we would be
using car head lamp globes. Then somebody discovered that 12 volt bulbs with conventional household
fittings were readily available and were cheaper than the car bulbs. These lamps were meant for lighting in
houses remote from a 240 volt supply using home generators, a not uncommon happening in the 1960s. A
dozen of these globes were purchased and some salvaged light fittings were obtained from a friendly
electrician. Next requirement were reflectors. A trip to the car wreckers solved that one. A couple of
evenings were spent in my workshop with Ralph Power and Bob Yates. We mounted the reflectors in cut
down four gallon kerosene tins. Heavy duty wire, also supplied by the friendly electrician, was used to
connect the fittings. A car battery company was found that was willing to loan a heavy duty 12 volt battery
provided we did not damage it. Little Trimmer Cave was selected as the main site for filming underground
due to its ease of entry and wealth of formation. A cast of three was decided on, working on the principle
that at least two would be available any weekend. Ralph, Bob and Jerry drew the short straws. Near the first
planned filming day Jerry moved to another job and was unavailable, so we decided to go with just Bob and
Ralph.
On a typical filming day, the party would congregate at the Little Trimmer car park and haul the gear to the
cave. Part of the gear was the six volt battery out of my FX Holden. This was used in series with the 12 volt
battery to run the bulbs at over voltage for extra brightness. Inside the cave a series of scenes was shot,
usually based on the movements required to negotiate a particular piece of territory. During the course of
the day we would shoot one spool of film, which was about 100 feet if I remember correctly, and would run
for a very short time. Most scenes were about five to 10 seconds duration as I recall, but some may have
been longer. A typical trip would take several hours however. In this manner we built up a series of caving
shots with Bob and Ralph walking, climbing, crawling, squeezing as cavers are wont to do.
The first disaster was when some thieving bastard stole Ralph’s helmet. Fortunately we had a good photo of
its painted decoration, a white scull on a black background. My artist wife Lynn was able to paint a replica.
We carried on filming. Then Ralph was involved in a car accident and broke the talus bone in his ankle, a
bone with poor blood supply and thus slow to heal, no pun intended. A substitute actor, wearing Ralph’s
replacement helmet solved that problem provided the stand-in only appeared back-on in long shots. More
filming. Then Bob was transferred out of the state. By this time Norton had developed a very portable light
9
source based on a smaller battery and a couple of Quartz-Iodide bulbs that had just come on to the market.
This was well timed as some other bastard pinched the globes from the hut we were using at the time. I am
not sure what happens when you plug 12 volt globes into a 240 volt supply, but I hope it was a big surprise.
A few scenes were needed to make a reasonably coherent film, mostly outside, so another stand-in was
appointed. This time it was Lynn who took the role as for some reason no caver was available on the day of
the shoot. All shots taken that day were carefully staged in an endeavour to hide Lynn’s light frame and
distinctly feminine shape, but...if you look closely!
The film was finished with titles and acknowledgments and given a showing to the club. We did show it to a
couple of the Yakka overall staff, but they declined to make us an offer. Sometime later, I moved to Hobart
and got involved in other things. Caving was no longer a regular part of my life, but I did retain an interest.
The filming episode was among the more memorable events of those years.
Editor’s note: An email swap with Frank revealed that the filming happened in 1965 or 1966.
Northern Australian Caving (or more bushwalking than caving)
David Wools-Cobb
Party members: Bob Kershaw, Ruth, Dane and Brian Evans, David Wools-Cobb, Freya
In late June 2011 I went for a little drive up the Stuart Highway to Kununurra to join Illawarra Speleological
Society (ISS) for another northern expedition. The drive was just less than 4000 kilometres each way, taking
a leisurely six days on the way up and a bit longer coming back. En route I couldn’t resist visiting Cutta
Cutta Cave, just south of Katherine.
This year we had initially hoped to revisit the Ning Bing Range, which I’ve previously reported on,
however the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation is still developing a
management plan, plus due to the big wet of last summer access was a problem. So we decided to try to find
what is reputedly the largest sandstone cave in Australia, Whalemouth Cave, just north of the Bungle
Bungle Range.
We had little information to go on, just a couple of
reports. One many years old, and a more recent one but
both lacked critical details, perhaps deliberately. The big
wet had wiped out much of the access track, which
presented some challenges (30 kilometres took 1½
days!). We had my Landcruiser, well equipped with
recovery and assistance gear, a hired Landcruiser troopie
and a Great Wall ute (2 x 2, but high clearance). Much
road rebuilding, towing through sand and construction of
ramps up river banks, plus winching of a tree off the
road made for an enjoyable, but challenging, time-
consuming access to the general area. The final
approximately 10 kilometres of the ‘road’ was totally
inaccessible due to flood damage, so we made a base
camp on a river.
A day walk into the area where we thought we might find Whalemouth Cave proved hot and frustrating as
our directions were quite vague, but we did finally locate the lower entrance....and what a sight!
Approximately 50 metres wide and perhaps 70 metres high made for a spectacular gaping entrance. Entry
from here seemed quite difficult, up beside a slippery waterfall. After dumping some gear at a possible
Whalemouth Cave track scene.
Photo: David Wools-Cobb
Mainland travels
10
campsite some distance away we returned to camp
after a long, hot days walk.
With two members of the party staying in camp as
our back-up, the following day we headed off with
full caving gear, many kilograms of rope and
minimal camping gear and food, but our packs were
still quite heavy. Whalemouth Cave is a multi-pitch
vertical system (with about seven pitches and four
climbs and a total of 190 metres vertical relief. Our
plan was to locate the top entrance, work our way
through the cave, then return back through the cave
de-rigging as we went. Unfortunately Dane felt too
ill to walk in, leaving three of us to carry all the gear.
We got to our campsite late afternoon, and while
setting up and cooking a meal, Brian scouted the cliff
lines to look for a route to the top, leaving some rope
quite some distance up the ridge. Next morning we set of very early, again with quite heavy packs filled
with rope. Route finding was difficult, but we managed to locate the side of a valley leading down to the
upper entrance.
It had been a difficult climb, taking much more time than anticipated, so we decided that we would only
attempt the first two or three pitches. Bob decided to remain outside, whilst two of us rigged the first pitch.
It was a horrible pitch, with one re-belay and two rope protectors, finishing alongside a freezing cold
waterfall, on a ledge just above a 4 to 5 metre deep pool, with no way around but a swim through.
At this stage, being in shorts and tee-shirt,
considering an immersion in very cold water
just didn’t turn me on. Brian joined me on the
ledge and decided to swim across (being in a
wetsuit) to see what the next pitch was like.
As time was tight, and conditions awful, we
decided to abort, meeting Bob back at the
entrance by mid-afternoon.
It was a disappointing walk back down to our
camp, but at least we now knew the route.
The walk back to base camp on the following
day involved possibly the heaviest pack I’ve
ever carried, having collected all gear left
earlier plus lots of rope between us. We were
met by our base campers in a hidden gorge, a
truly magnificent place, just a few kilometres
from camp.
So, our Whalemouth Cave trip was more bushwalking than caving, but we still very much appreciated the
tremendous scenery. It turned out that the previous party managed to drive to a point quite closer to the
bottom entrance, with, I believe, one group dashing down through the cave, while others followed with a
‘pull through’. Otherwise the trip would be best done by one party heading up as soon as the other party
had emerged from the bottom entrance.
The following day didn’t start well: a flat battery on the hired troopie, and it didn’t want to start for quite
some time (the battery had a faulty cell). Of course we had completed most of the road and track repairs so
the trip out was much easier and faster, but Bob still managed to stall the troopie on a steep creek bank,
requiring a winch back to a point where I could get him charged again. Overall virtually every piece of
Whalemouth Cave bottom entrance.
Photo: David Wools-Cobb
A hidden gorge, Whalemouth Cave area.
Photo: David Wools-Cobb
11
recovery equipment I was carrying got used....but it was fun...and nothing stopped my ‘cruiser.
After all the hot bushwalking and driving, we took a day off and headed out to the northern coast to
Wyndham—great views of the three rivers that flow through this area.
At this stage I badly need to actually get underground, so headed for Gregory National Park in the
Northern Territory and Bullita. We spent two days adding a few hundred metres to the southern karst
survey and then one day looking for entrances between two known cave areas, hoping to join them. This
was a very hot day, mostly on the sharp karren surface, which is horrible; one fall and you’d slice some-
thing open. We noted lots of thin drops into possible cave below, but none worth pursuing.
However as we were heading off the karst, I decided to look at an area that looked interesting and managed
to find a difficult climb down into really nice cave. The area was very extensive, with fantastic light effects
from the sun shining down through various upper holes; quite photogenic, but guess who didn’t carry a
camera that day. We managed to climb down to a lower level, only to find some old survey stations from
two years previously. Bob Kershaw and crew had surveyed into this, but not realised that there was an
extensive upper level. Being our last day, it looks like I’ll have to go back to survey this find!
Back to Kununurra, where I was joined by Joy to drive back home....but that’s another story.
Golden Valley trip 1
Henry Shannon
23 November 2011
Party: Jill Bennett, Greg Middleton, Henry Shannon and John Wylie
John Wylie from Sydney Speleological Society (SSS) periodically visits Tasmania and has a project going
to check out the minor karst areas and other cave features in Tasmania, and he has the necessary patience
to follow up the local landowners and chase up any leads. The idea this time was to check out a story of
limestone caves in the Permian age rocks at Golden Valley. Reading the geological literature is not
encouraging for the area as a caving prospect. The possible, though rather unlikely, limestone is in the
Glencoe Formation of the Golden Valley Group. This unit is locally famous for containing abundant
bivalve fossils both brachiopods and molluscs which can often be got out as whole specimens from a silty
matrix, but mostly it is pushing it to call the rock limestone. But sometimes the matrix does grade into
lime-mud or lime sand so there is some real limestone but typically in very thin beds. John had arranged
for us to visit the Whatley property at Golden Valley where there are two small known caves.
At the entrance of the more convincing of the
caves, GV-I, a small cliff was coated with an
algal? growth reminiscent of stromatolites but soft
with fissures cutting the surface into 2 centimetre
chunks. The entrance was about 1 metre high and a
bit wider than that and the cave went straight into
the hill as a comfortable crawl-way for maybe 6
metres, before splitting into three at the end. The
cross-section is a flat oval form and although the
wall rock is obscured with tough weathering resi-
due it looks like it is a limestone. Outside, shelly
fossils are abundant in the immediately overlying
rock. It is conceivable that the cave might continue
if the floor sediment was dug out at the end before
trying to go in further. It looks overall more like a
fragment of a water conduit than just a local
Jill Bennett outside entrance of GV-1. Note growth
on wall. Photo: John Wylie
12
weathering effect. I am interested in caves in these thin limestones in the flat-lying rocks because it is just
possible they contain caves related to ancient basin-scale water circulation rather than local drainage or
weathering effects, and if so they may just keep going once the entrance sediment blockage is past.
The other cave was around 100 metres eastward following the contour of the hill. It was a flattener also
going straight into the hill about 5 metres. It is too hard to see clearly if it is also in limestone; the outcrop
above is maybe 20% carbonate in the form of shelly fossils in muddy sandstone with abundant drop-stones
from passing icebergs. The caves were mapped and GPS located by other members of the party.
There is another known cave on the property more or less at the bottom of the hill with a sinkhole entrance
not far from a quarry in mudstone, typical of the Quamby Mudstone unit (now thought to be of latest
Carboniferous age rather than Permian) and with a second sinkhole about 20 metres away. This cave has a
bit of mess around it mainly corrugated iron sheets. The cave is on the actual unconformity between the
Ordovician Gordon Limestone and the Tasmania Basin sequence and is controlled by a joint in the Gordon
Limestone for about 6 metres, with a short branch along another joint to a low point with wet vegetable
debris which appears to contain a pool at times. The limestone was very slaty-looking for the most part,
unlike what is typical at Mole Creek, and is dipping at about 50º. Because you can stand up in it, you can
see the unconformity easily but the top cut-off of the Gordon Limestone is corroded to the point where no
glacial striae (scratch marks) can be seen and there is a gap, possibly an etched-out mudstone bed above
some carbonate material (going by its surface etching) which I think originated as a rock flour of ground
up Gordon Limestone. Above the gap more typical glacial outwash conglomerate takes over with about a
metre exposed in the arched ceiling. This
exposure is unexpected and truly
remarkable. The other sinkhole would
likely give access to another cave like it,
if dug out. An origin from basin-scale ar-
tesian flow is a possible for these features
as well.
Next stop was on the neighbouring
property, visited with the idea of seeing
the quarry and lime burning relics from
the pioneering days. There were some
small, but genuine, disused quarries and
the ruins of a stone-built kiln. Rather
more interesting was the worked example
of why a dam built on limestone is not a
good idea if it is a visible water storage
you actually want. It has achieved instead
a kind of duck-pond which overflows into
a group of shafty sinkholes in gravel. It
was said that fluorescein tracing has been
done showing the water got out into the Meander River and the logical place for a spring would be Cubits
Sugarloaf some 7 kilometres west-north-west. Of course, the water lost recharges a big underground stor-
age in the limestone but Tasmania is not groundwater conscious.
We were well received at the house and in conversation it turned out that a family that John (Wylie) had
visited some 20 years ago were still living locally and were contacts for some sandstone caves up the Lake
Highway. There was enough time, so we went to visit the Staack family who have built a round house out
of limestone from Flowery Gully. We were then guided to a sandstone tower climbed by a local by drilling
holes for a ladder of spikes and from there aimed off to a mesa feature where the caves were.
These caves were, as sandstone caves go, pretty remarkable. For something like 100 metres there is a
complex with a gallery inside of the cliff with frequent passages out to the open and occasional verticals to
the top. Never truly dark but with parts where a light was more than just useful, some was crawly, most
The sandstone cave on the Staack property, showing joint
control and ‘river passage like’ cross section.
Photo: Henry Shannon
13
was upright walking or stooping. The passages follow a joint sys-
tem and the typical styles of rock-shelter formation, in which the
insides of joint blocks are hollowed out by granular disintegration
of the rock were nearly absent.
Golden Valley trip 2
Henry Shannon
1 December 2011
Party: Jill Bennett, Simon Bland, Henry Shannon and John Wylie
The idea this time was to map and photograph the limestone caves
seen last week and GPS fix and tag the entrances, then to do a bit
more surface exploration. On the way in we accidently took the
turn-off in to Caroline Webster’s place and noted that the leaking
dam was nearly half full from the recent rain. There was no one at
home, so then off to check a quarry on the road in to the cave on
the Gordon Limestone–Stockers Tillite unconformity. This quarry
is mostly in Gordon Limestone with near-vertical dip and at the
high point the unconformity occurs with exposure of about a metre
of the tillite. Then on to the convenient quarry where fragmenting mudstone of the Quamby Mudstone is
extracted for road surfacing, where Simon parked the van and then off to the cave named Whatleys Hole,
tagged now as GV-3. There is an entrance drop of about 2 metres with the main passage going north for 10
metres about 2 metres high with the bottom ⅔ in Gordon Limestone and the top ⅓ in the Stockers Tillite.
There is a low shelf cut out along the unconformity. Near the end, a short (2 metre) side passage goes off
south-east controlled by the dip of the limestone 50º north-east strike 140º. The cave was dripping wet, with
mud and sticks on the floor sloping down from the entrance and levelling out towards the end. There are
some floor holes in the earth, one near the entrance.
Then it was up the hill to the house. Larry and Judy Whatley were not at home but John (Wylie) had been
told beforehand to expect this. We went down to the easy cave, down from the white gum, to do the
documentation, tagging it GV-1. From my map its passage length is 8 metres counting a side branch of 2
metres. The ceiling half is in rough-weathering rock full of fossils, the bottom half relatively smooth-
weathering limestone. The cave is widest at the contact; the limestone part slopes inward evenly to a
rudimentary floor canyon up to 30 centimetres deep with semi-vertical sides, a reasonably typical limestone
cave cross-section.
Since going over Clarke (1968), in which there is
a log for a stratigraphic borehole 750 metres east-
south-east of the cave I have become convinced
that the cave is exposing (a) the base of the Billop
Sandstone and (b) a limestone bed at the very top
of the Glencoe Formation that is not present in
the bore section, (but described as reaching 7 to 8
metres in the Quamby Brook outcrop). At some-
thing over 1 metre thickness, it is substantially
thicker than any of the 6 limestone beds recorded
in the bore, the thickest of these being 23 centi-
metres. With regard to (a) I can recognise a
brachiopod of the Spiriferid family in what I am
now calling the Billop Sandstone and the only
Spiriferid recorded in the fauna list is Spiriferella
and it is recorded only for the Billop Sandstone
where it is abundant. For me it was intriguing to
Entrance to GV-3 Whatleys Hole.
Photo: Jill Bennett
Inside Bullock Cave: Jill Bennett standing on loose
sand floor. Photo: Henry Shannon
14
come across the kind of fossils you deal with in first year palaeontology practicals in a situation where the
knowledge was useful.
We then went round the hill to the second of the Whatley’s house caves, tagging it GV-2. It is a flattener at
the base of a steep outcrop of Spiriferid-bearing Billop Sandstone even if it looks more like a calcareous
siltstone than a sandstone. It is hard to make out what is inside because there is not enough room to look
around but while in the cave it seemed there was at least an intermittent draught. This reminds me that on
the previous trip I had brought out a sheet of newspaper that seems to have blown in to the cave, the page
was about a year old. The cave was documented before we moved on. It trends at 140º getting too low to
get your boots in.
The surface exploration effort was successful in turning up another cave, thanks to Simon who took on the
wet blackberries. The cave consists of a cliff overhang and a flattener going into the hill at 265º with a bed-
rock floor rising slightly and wet, with a trickle running out. It is cut out of what is likely to be the same
limestone bed but here reduced to about 30 centimetres. At 3 metres in, it effectively ends in a mud cliff
though the cave technically continues as a dig for the wetness tolerant. It was given the tag GV-4 and called
Trickle Cave.
After this effort there was a scouting effort over to the next gully but the bench edge of the Billop Sandstone
lost its identity, so the horizon where entrances can exist was not traceable. This ended our Golden Valley
effort but the was enough time to check out the Bullock Cave, a well-known local feature on a pioneering
days track down to Jackeys Marsh, so-called from the story bullockies used to stable their teams in there
overnight. It is 700 metres south-south-east of the cave complex on the Staack’s place and rather lower
probably in a lower sandstone bed. The access track connects to the Lake Highway. The cave turned out to
be a true rock shelter type; hollowed out from the inside of a large joint block by granular disintegration of
the rock depositing loose sand on the floor, and its subsequent removal by sticking to the feet of passing
animals, ant lion activity etc, such caves are often called wind-eroded but this is a fallacy since wind
movement features are not seen on even the loose sand.
Reference:
Clarke, MJ, 1968, A reappraisal of a Lower Permian Type Section Golden Valley, Tas. Geological Survey
Record No 7, Tasmania
Whatleys Hole
15
Surveyed and drawn by Henry Shannon
Reworked tillite
Limestone
Tillite
GV-3 Whatleys Hole, illustrating geology
of the shelf along the Ordovician/Late
Carboniferous unconformity. The white
annotation line shows the actual
unconformity at the base of the overlying
tillite in this area dominated by rock flour
derived by glacial grinding of the
underlying Gordon Limestone, but includ-
ing a protruding erratic (right edge). To
the left of the line there is a stripped
surface close to the original glaciated
pavement but a little incised into the
underlying limestone. The bed that been
eroded out to make the open shelf is likely
to be the dark mudstone reported to
seperate the tillite and reworked tillite
layers in the borehole (Clarke 1968).
Notes on the geology of Golden Valley
Henry Shannon
16
GV-1 showing passage form of flat oval upper section
above enlarged joint canyon towards floor. The
boundary between Billop Sandstone (more a richly
fossiliferous conglomerate) and an underlying limestone
at the top of the Glencoe Formation occurs at the wide
point. The limestone bed is reported to reach 8 metre
thickness over at Quamby Brook and to be absent in the
Mines Department borehole and the adjacent type
section along Brodies Road, which was termed Glencoe
Road in 1968. John Wylie at the entrance.
GV-3 Whatleys Hole. Simon Bland placing the tag at the
entrance. The white line is to pick out the limestone/tillite
boundary. The fallen block at the base of the entrance debris
slope is reworked tillite, as is the tillite visible in the ceiling.
GV-2 showing Billop Sandstone outcrop at
entrance.
All of the previous photos: Henry Shannon
17
Kubla Khan
David Wools-Cobb
29 November 2011
Party: Rod Smith (MSS), Catherine Stark (MCCC), David Wools-Cobb (NC), Jim
(MSS), Natalie (MSS).
Metropolitan Speleological Society (MSS) from Sydney had contacted NC re a leader for a Kubla through
trip. It was a suitable time to combine the trip with cleaning out boot-wash stations in the cave.
Each boot wash station was examined for mud accumulation, with three stations requiring considerable
mud removal. These were (a) station at the start of the Xanadu rock fall; (b) station at the base of the
Khan; and (c) station at the end of the Sallys Folly rift.
The technique used was to pour all water into a large dry bag, scrape out all mud into plastic bags, then
replace the water. Some stations were topped up with water we carried from the swimming pool.
(a) This boot-wash station not been serviced for some years and is mainly used for ‘bounce trips’,
returning from Xanadu. As the rock fall from this station to the Khan has now been cleaned, I believe that
mud accumulation should dramatically reduce.
(b) Accumulation of mud in this station was considerable, but again it should now reduce with the
cleaning of the rock fall route, however this station is also used by those returning from the far reaches of
Xanadu chamber. I recommend the installation of a further boot-wash station at the base of the Begum and
the marking of a cleaned route be through to the base of the Khan. This may be achieved by siphoning
from the pool, used previously, high in this chamber.
(c) This station is at the end of the muddiest section of the Kubla route. This is the second time that this
station has been serviced. More recent installation of plastic ‘pavers’ and some matting should somewhat
reduce the accumulation of mud, however it is still a muddy route. The possibility of installing of some-
thing like ‘sail cloth’ on some of the muddier sections, with matting over the top may reduce the mud
transfer in this area. This boot wash station requires ongoing maintenance.
Inspection of all maillons was conducted, with all now having been replaced with stainless steel, except
the one of Cairn Hall pitch. I note that the karabiners on the Sallys Folly drop off have also been replaced
with stainless steel maillons (good thing).
Approximately 15 kilograms of mud was removed from the three boot wash stations.
The Alph River was approximately 10 centimetres above ‘normal levels’ and I noted that foam had been
deposited about 1 metre above the water line during recent flooding. The Pleasure Dome had only just
commenced flowing, with one top pool full but little water elsewhere except the bottom few pools (first
ones encountered).
There was a large accumulation of mud at the base of the egress pitch and on the mud slope heading out.
One party member has been on a previous bounce trip and commented that the rock fall route was difficult
to follow in some places. Further reflective markers will be placed on my next trip in January.
Total time (to actually do the work, not counting the trip): 3 person hours
18
Cave Rescue Orientation Program
Cathie Plowman
Since I first connected with Tasmanian caving clubs in the early 1990s there have been several efforts at
increasing search and rescue skills within the clubs, most notably the efforts of the late Jeff Butt, Dean
Morgan, Andrew March and also Damian Bidgood from Tasmania Police.
The most recent efforts at increasing search and rescue skills and ability to respond to an incident was
inspired by a visit from Joe Sydney from the Hills Speleological Society (HSS) in 2010. Joe along with
Ross Anderson from Western Australia Speleological Society (WASG) has been prominent in raising
search and rescue skills and thinking within ASF clubs.
Following a single-day exercise during the winter, members from three Tasmanian caving clubs, along with
representatives from Tasmania Police and the Parks and Wildlife Service, teamed up for an introductory
weekend of search and rescue theory and practice at Mole Creek in November 2011. This was led by Jay
Anderson and Ian Collette from WASG. Despite some organisational hiccuphs, all participants found this a
valuable exercise, both in skills gained and working with other clubs and agencies. Plans are to follow this
with more exercises in 2012 and to increase our resources (e.g. build a suitable stretcher) and gain additional
skills in specific areas such as radio operations and incident command system (ICS). How much attention
we give this depends on people continuing to be interested and driving the process.
Stretcher practice. Photo: Janice March Some of the participants at the debrief.
Photo: David Butler
Stretcher practice.
Photo: Cathie Plowman
Stretcher discussion.
Photo: Janice March
19
Northern Caverneers
2011
NORTHERN CAVERNEERS
PO Box 315 Launceston 7250
Club email (for outside enquiries) [email protected]
Club members group email list [email protected]
BARRASS Paula 61 Ecclestone Rd, Riverside 7250 6327 2922 [email protected]
PO Box 676, Riverside
BENNETT Jill 694 Relbia Rd, Relbia 7258 6391 8798 [email protected]
0407 689 878
BLANDEN Stephen 1395 Main Rd, Gunns Plains 7315 6429 1192 [email protected]
BROWN Frank [email protected]
BUTLER David & PLOWMAN Cathie
637 Deviot Rd, Deviot 7275 6394 7686 [email protected]
DOWDE Peter 45 Osborne Ave, Trevallyn 7250 6331 7761 [email protected]
GROSSEL Geoff 98 Nullabor Ave, Harrison, ACT 2914 02 6241 8464 [email protected]
HAYGARTH Nic 3/42 Frederick St, Perth 7300 6398 1334 [email protected]
JACOBS Stephen 36a Lavender Grove, Summerhill 7250 0427 813063 [email protected]
PO Box 5347, Launceston
MARCH Andrew & Janice 34 Wyett St, West Launceston 7250 6334 5567 [email protected]
REEDMAN Stuart 0407 971296 [email protected]
SHANNON Henry & Rosie 319 Brisbane St, Launceston 7250 6334 1885 [email protected]
0427 550999
STEDMAN Haydn & Lyn 56 Miles Rd, Mole Creek 7304 6363 1424 [email protected]
TYRRIL Wayne PO Box 538, Launceston 7250 0412 392963 [email protected]
VAN NYNANTEN Paul & Jean
37 Charlton St, Norwood 7250 6344 4614 [email protected]
WOOLS-COBB David RD 419 Castra Rd, Ulverstone 7315 PO Box 20, Ulverstone
6425 3950 [email protected]
WOOLS-COBB Jessica 98 Percy St, Devonport 7310 0428 597436 [email protected]
WRIGHT Steve & Beth PO Box 219, Gravelly Beach 7276 6394 3931 [email protected]
YUSSOF Suja 11 Longwood Ave, Newstead 7250 6344 3428 [email protected]
0458 855070
