Honeycomb Hill Cave was high on my list of places to revisit. What was already one of the most restrictive caves to access in the DOC estate had only gotten stricter and more onerous in the intervening decade since I had last been. There was considerable hoops to jump through during the permit process that ultimately ended up with me corresponding with more than a dozen people and I only just managed to receive the permit a few days before after starting two months in advance; if I knew the hassle this trip would cause in the end I probably would have done without it. Honeycomb is a fairly unique cave system in New Zealand; its nearly hundred entrances mean that despite over 13km of passage you are never too far away from daylight, hence the name Honeycomb, which has spilled over into a bee theme for many of the passage names. Many of these entrances are vertical rifts or skylights so the cave contains some of the country's most important subfossil deposits including moa and other extinct species. Also within the restricted area in Honeycomb Hill Arch, arguably the most interesting of the three natural bridges over the Oparara River. I have a dream to someday packraft the Oparara River through its three tunnels but the river was sufficiently low that this was not the time.
In the tradeoff between an earlier start and sleep we left the Charleston Cave Base around 8:30am for the long drive to and past Karamea. McCallums Mill Road into the Oparara Basin was as busy as ever and I noticed new lookouts and trailhead infrastructure on our way in, clearly something DOC was working to promote to bring tourists into the area. We got organized at the roadend trailhead despite a cheeky weka doing its best to steal whatever it could. We strolled down the flat trail, stopping at Honeycomb Hut to drop a few things and to have lunch. Finally a little after 1pm we crossed the swingbridge, worked our way along the boardwalk, and entered Honeycomb Hill Cave at the A Entrance.
For starters we walked the main tourist loop to reacquaint myself with the cave. We walked into the Aven 12 area at the Honeyflow Stream and then turned up the Deer Drop Passage past the Elephant's Feet and some moa graveyards to the L Entrance. Retracing back into the cave, we found the small side passage that best accesses the upstream portion of Honeyflow Stream. In addition to going well with the bee theme of the cave, the Honeyflow Stream is aptly named for the dark golden tannin-stained waters cascading over steps in the granite floor with flowy trails of white foam swirling on its surface. We worked our way scrambling upstream, managing to find ways to hop back and forth across the stream to maintain dry feet. In short order we could see green light from the first of several skylights filling the passage ahead of us.
I forgot how stunning these skylight areas could be and our pace grinded to a halt as we happily snapped photos. The partially cloudy day meant changing light; it was not the best conditions but occasionally we would get brief glimpses of the strong sun rays shooting into the cave. Continuing past four of these excellent skylights we reached the T Entrance, the submergence for the stream.
From the T Entrance we exited the cave into the bush to try to find the Petals Entrance that comparatively few get to. We initially found all the landmarks we expected to see along the way but then got confused as we got closer, eventually after some backtracking realizing that we had to cross through to the very back of a long open air rift to get to the entrance. Back into the cave we went, in search for the Enduro Stream. This area was fairly complex and it took some wandering around before we gained our bearings. Eventually we found the 6m downclimb into the Enduro Stream. It was a bit more exposed than Lara was comfortable downclimbing and I foolishly chose to bring the shorter of the two ropes I had. So after some trepidation and deliberation we decided to return back out Petals, back down Honeyflow, and then decide if we head out for the day or further in. I knew Enduro Stream would get us wet to above our waists so I at least enjoyed staying dry.
It took us less than an hour to traverse the bush and return down Honeyflow so we decided to use what was left of the daylight to head further into the cave. From the A Entrance we worked our way over the the B Entrance and then down the Overflow Passage to the C Entrance. Retracing steps we soon found the cave gate and passing through continued on Bee's Knees to Hives Canyon and D Canyon, both spectacularly tall and strangely lit passages with towering skylights. On the way we spotted some nice formation coated mud cracks and subfossils. We took the D Passage to the windy canyon passages that led us to the beautiful M Entrance overlooking the Oparara River.
Exiting the cave we used the last of our daylight to work our way around the deep pools and over the log jams of the Oparara River, soon arriving at the multi-tiered Honeycomb Hill Arch (really a natural bridge). Here again we furiously snapped photos from multiple vantages. My favorite feature is the dramatic diving board protrusion of bedrock that sticks out into the middle of the void, perfect for a small figure to show the scale of it.
We continued down the scenic limestone creek, even spotting a couple large eels. Before too long we were back at the swingbridge, then hiking back to the car for our overnight stuff before settling into Honeycomb Hut. The hut was actively being restored and as caving friends promised us it was far from mosquito proof. As we rehydrated our dinners the bugs got aggressive. The hut is effectively two small bunkroom buildings that have had a middle room built in between them. I eventually realized that the bunkrooms were actually bug tight so once it was time for bed I shut my bunkroom door and spent a solid 15 minutes killing every mosquito I could find in the room. By the end of this the cloud diminished to maybe one or two survivors and I became confident I could sleep unabused.
In the morning we opted for one more dip into the cave since we had our rare permit. We made quick time from the A Entrance to Hives Canyon and then turned up to see some of the formations in the Gypsum Passage and subfossils near the Eagles Roost area. We then took the D Passage all the way out to G Entrance and then took a series of offshooting entrances to cut across to the lower level of M Entrance. This time we took a smaller canyon passage at the end that popped us out into golden light of the river's submergence. I particularly enjoyed the backlit view of steam rising off of some of the logs in the entrance logjam. We repeated our return through the arch and down the river as we did the previous night but the light was less good.
We packed up at the hut and strolled back to our car. I wish this is where the Honeycomb story ended as it was an excellent trip to this point, but things cannot always work out sometimes it seems. Driving back out along the many twists of the effectively one lane dirt road of McCallums Mill Road, we encountered not one, but three different cars appearing head on around a tight turn driving way too fast and way too center to be safe. Each time I had to de increasing aggressive defensive maneuvers to avoid head on collisions while the other drivers generally seemed oblivious and too slow to react at all. The second time I had to slid past some ferns on the side of the road. The third time my left tire actually had to veer off the roadbed to avoid the oncoming car which resulted in a disheartening scratching sound to the undercarriage. And the other car continued on; horrible. The first chance I could I pulled over to have a thorough search of the car paneling and undercarriage. Everything looked and behaved normal until hours later we arrived at the Metro Cave trailhead, noticed considerable diesel leaking, and on driving back to town to figure it out the car stalled on a hill and I had to carefully back it up at wait nearly 4 hours for AA to arrive. The only decent thing was that the cave base was a short walk away from the breakdown so Lara could grab her car, I could empty out my rental vehicle, and we could crash at the cave base this night. Plans were dashed and stress levels were high; the vehicle situation has yet to be resolved even as I write this over a month later. So Honeycomb Hill Cave was every bit the world class cave I remember it being, but the trip was unfortunately tinged with disappointment and I would now think twice about driving that road again after the trauma and uncertainty. Nevertheless thanks to Lara, DOC employees, and the Honeycomb Hut work crew cavers for all assisting the trip.
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