EXPLORATION OF CAVE

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29715, 8 January 1962, Page 13

EXPLORATION OF CAVE

Party Descends 800 ft "Th* Press" Special Service MOTUEKA, Jan. 7. Explorers at Takaka Hill, north-west Nelson, have descended 800 ft into a subterranean cavern. They hope to reach a record depth of 2000 feet. The expedition, into a seemingly bottomless marble cave, has so far been hampered by heavy rain and icy water has cascaded down on to the explorers. After seven or eight hours below they have had to return. wet and exhausted. Penetration of the top passages has been slow as the eight-man party has spent much time clearing boulders from the shattered upper levels. Even so. utmost care has to be taken while climbing the steep faces as a rolling rock could cause a tragedy to those below. The party is made up of members from North Island caving groups and is being led by Mr P. Barrett, of Auckland University. There are two geology graduates with the party and so far the exploration has given them plenty of scope for surveys. So far, three rare cave beetles and two unusual white centipedes have been found. All were more than 500 feet below the surface. Today. 600 feet below the surface, a shaft at least 100 feet deep is being attempted. The rumbling of an unknown stream at the bottom of the shaft can be heard in all the adjacent passages. The eight members of the expedition expect to continue surveying and exploring for a further five days. The entrance to the cave was found by Mr E. J. Sixtus early last year. Extensive exploration was then carried out by the Nelson Speleological group, but they were hampered by lack of equipment. Telephones are being installed to eliminate any danger to the speleologists from further flash flooding. In spite of the difficulties, the cave has been surveyed to a depth of 570 ft and exploration is going on more than 200 ft beyond this point The small entrance through which the party wriggled contrasts strikingly with the huge cavern below. The largest of these is more than 100 ft high and 40ft wide. It plunges down at 45 degrees for more than 200 ft.