We were all revved up and ready to go bush again this year. It is 2 1/2 years since our last trip with Ken and the aeroplane. A trip was planned to go out this year to a site north of Cocklebiddy WA but it has been postponed again. The property owners are concerned about disrupting the muster and shearing of their sheep, so the trip is postponed until Easter next year, Boo Hoo.
I am not a scientist, palaeontologist, archaeologist, geologist or cartographer and I do not have university qualifications. I have worked alongside many of these professionals and don’t pretend to know what they know.
For many years I have been associated with the Victorian Speleological Association and participated in their expeditions and I consider it a privilege to work alongside them. We do the exploration to enable others to gain access to the caves, fossils and artefacts. By systematic exploration we have located several thousand caves, blowholes, waterholes and dolines.
Discoveries include many fossils of extinct creatures such as
Thylacene (Tasmanian Tiger)
Thylacoleo (Marsupial Lion)
Dasyurid (Tasmanian Devil extinct on the Nullarbor plain)
Procoptodon (Short faced Kangaroo)
Diprotodon (Giant Wombat)
The cavers have expertise and experience to gain access to these remote and inaccessible caves.
We have ropes, ladders, harness, lights and all the other equipment to rig the caves for safe entry and return. Getting down is easy but getting out is more difficult.
Over many years we have learned to read the country and be aware of the hazards. If you see bare earth there is often a wombat hole near. If you see a green patch it is often a sign of rabbit warrens because the rabbit dropping act as fertiliser and different grass and shrubs grow there.
Blue bush is slow growing and very hard wood. It can easily puncture the sidewalls of tyres and should be avoided.
We do the little jobs that make these expeditions a success. From the time we hit the camp site there is work to be done.
A fire pit and toilet pits need to be dug to allow cooking.
A pit needs to be dug for food scraps away from camp.
A canvas shelter is erected to give protection from wind and rain.
Everybody needs to erect their tent and set up a bed.
Fire wood collected on the way to camp is broken up when we get there.
A runway needs to be cleared for the aeroplane.
Dinner has to be prepared and cooked.
Database is searched for known caves on our patch.
New discoveries are catalogued and photographed.
Hand held GPS are loaded with data for each day searches
Nullarbor Blowholes. 
We were all revved up and ready to go bush again this year. It is 2 1/2 years since our last trip with Ken and the aeroplane. A trip was planned to go out this year to a site north of Cocklebiddy WA but it has been postponed again. The property owners are concerned about disrupting the muster and shearing of their sheep, so the trip is postponed until Easter next year, Boo Hoo.
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A Foot soldier.
I am not a scientist, palaeontologist, archaeologist, geologist or cartographer and I do not have university qualifications. I have worked alongside many of these professionals and don’t pretend to know what they know.
For many years I have been associated with the Victorian Speleological Association and participated in their expeditions and I consider it a privilege to work alongside them. We do the exploration to enable others to gain access to the caves, fossils and artefacts. By systematic exploration we have located several thousand caves, blowholes, waterholes and dolines.
Discoveries include many fossils of extinct creatures such as
Thylacene (Tasmanian Tiger)
Thylacoleo (Marsupial Lion)
Dasyurid (Tasmanian Devil extinct on the Nullarbor plain)
Procoptodon (Short faced Kangaroo)
Diprotodon (Giant Wombat)
The cavers have expertise and experience to gain access to these remote and inaccessible caves.
We have ropes, ladders, harness, lights and all the other equipment to rig the caves for safe entry and return. Getting down is easy but getting out is more difficult.
Over many years we have learned to read the country and be aware of the hazards. If you see bare earth there is often a wombat hole near. If you see a green patch it is often a sign of rabbit warrens because the rabbit dropping act as fertiliser and different grass and shrubs grow there.
Blue bush is slow growing and very hard wood. It can easily puncture the sidewalls of tyres and should be avoided.
We do the little jobs that make these expeditions a success. From the time we hit the camp site there is work to be done.
A fire pit and toilet pits need to be dug to allow cooking.
A pit needs to be dug for food scraps away from camp.
A canvas shelter is erected to give protection from wind and rain.
Everybody needs to erect their tent and set up a bed.
Fire wood collected on the way to camp is broken up when we get there.
A runway needs to be cleared for the aeroplane.
Dinner has to be prepared and cooked.
Database is searched for known caves on our patch.
New discoveries are catalogued and photographed.
Hand held GPS are loaded with data for each day searches
These are the jobs for the foot soldiers.
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