On Friday I found myself up in Wellington to present some of my research at a workshop. It had been a hectic week so I had to prepare and pack at the last minute at the expense of sleep. Friday night we went to the city to see a friend of Justin's off. I woke up at 7:30am on Saturday, ate a quick breakfast, threw gear and myself into the car, and off we drove for an hour and a half to Martinborough, Justin's favorite local caving (and wine) area. I drifted in and out of sleep the whole way, just alert enough to make the occasional comment.
Then several dirt country roads brought us to our car park. We packed packs and started our hour hike along a four-wheel drive track through farmland. Everything was thoroughly muddy from the previous day's rain. Eventually we reached the limestone karst area. Justin pointed out across the karst and told us that every tree we saw has a hole, most of which have yet to be explored. As a bonus, ones with fences around them were guaranteed to be vertical entrances. We headed towards Plunge Pool Cave, the 500m long 80m deep through-trip Justin pushed and rigged. We suited up at the entrance for a cold and wet cave. My brain had been in disarray for over 48 hours and I managed to leave my overalls and helmet in Dunedin. At least I had lights and vertical gear and I knew we were planning on a fast trip. The stream was flowing at 3 times the normal flow and we knew there were several constrictions we would have to pass. We had one more look at the weather and decided to go for it.
The first 7m abseil was a mere 5m into the cave, a beautiful overhanging waterfall that plunged into a deep pool with plenty of nice formations nearby. When I hit the bottom of the waterfall I hyperventilated a breath from the jolt of the cold water- it was going to be a cold trip. It became quickly obvious I was not going to be getting good photos of this cave as our wet clothes and bodies emitted a atmospheric fog that would cloud any flash photo. Not to mention stopping would be too cold. We followed the stream which was the only option. I quickly became aware of the low nature of this cave and worried a bit about the cave flooding. We powered on through one or two more obstacles which felt like commitment enough to go through the bottom of the cave.
At intervals we had to wade through half meter high drifts of foam. In several places there was only enough airspace to pass through the water up to our necks. There were several drops and handlines to negotiate. Near the halfway mark the cave widened slightly to house a nice passage with glowworms. This quickly reverted back to a low and steeply descending streamway. The cave steadily went on. Eventually we reached a breakdown area near the entrance. I remember hoping that it was drier outside than it had been in the cave. We exited the resurgence into lush and humid rainforest. A classic through trip! Now to escape the bush.
Next we ambled our way up the hill through thick supplejack vines. Eventually we found the break in the bluff and returned to the top entrance of the cave to have lunch and dry out in the sun. We then decided to walk along the river below to search for resurgences. On the way we checked out the impressive lower entrance to Rose's Cave. We traversed the short, but scenic, limestone gorge spotting three resurgence creeks. The largest creek did not yet correspond to a cave so who knows what there is still to be found at this tiny but dense karst field.
On the walk back to the car Justin spotted a cut log he wished to re-purpose as a firewood chopping block. He was determined to carry the waterlogged 20kg+ section the 2km+ to the car. At intervals the log was rolled down the four-wheel drive track to save his back and arms. The log made it to the car despite much pain and suffering.
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