For the third and final phase of the expedition we were based out of Charleston Cave Base. I was immediately impressed at the improvements since my last visit including more sensibly laid out bunkrooms, removal of the death-slip material on the access ramp, more clotheslines, and even while we were there, addition of a new cooking stove. For this portion we were joined by Henry Rotherham (one day), Kieran, and Travis. In particular it was great to catch up with Travis after many years. For the first day Kieran led several of us up the Tiropahi and an intermittently dry Doubtful Creek in search of Mystery Creek Cave, perhaps not visited since the application of GPS. Portions of the creek were incredibly scenic with chains of delicate mossy tidepool-like pools and greenery everywhere. Along the way there were all sorts of interesting karst features with submergences and resurgences seemingly everywhere. We made it about 1.5km up the creek when things were starting to feel more grim with no obvious cave in sight. Just as I was about to give up hope I heard hoops and hollers, the cave had been found. Mystery Creek Cave had a neat resurgence entrance with algae covered stalactites and linked crystal-clear potholes along the floor. Carl and Mark surveyed while Travis and I scout ahead into the cave. It was quite a sporty cave with much climbing and stemming to avoid deep wading and swimming pools with a nearly continuous chain of waterfalls. The cave had clearly seen nearly zero visitation, as evidenced by the many sharp protuberances that broke off as we climbed, adding an extra hazard. Travis and I made it over 150m into the cave to a broad pothole and waterfall that there was no way of passing without a swim that was a good enough place to stop. My survey instrument got a weird azimuth error so we ended up leaving the survey for Carl to take on himself as we worked our way back to the entrance and then caught up on the last several years. It was a neat cave but a bummer we spent so much time finding it that we did not have the chance to finish the survey. We arrived back at the cars about 5 minutes before Henry and Kieran, perfect timing.
The second Charleston day was forecast for somewhat poor weather and declared an overdue rest day. I used it as an opportunity to drive south to catch up with Mary over lunch, then laundry. It was indeed a miserable rainy day but not nearly as bad as forecast. In the afternoon I took the Americans to play tourist by checking out Pancake Rocks and Truman Track, favorites despite their popularity. Pancake Rocks had some of the biggest swells I had seen there before, which added to the appeal. We ended the day with a social dinner at the Charleston Pub.
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| Pancake Rocks |
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| Truman Track |
Weather was the worst of the whole trip the third day and even Kieran admitted it was terrible. Wanting to make something of the day, I ended up driving to Westport to sort out Metro Cave and Babylon Cave permits. In the afternoon Carl and Kieran went out into the Tigers area to drop a no go-pit while I took the others on a tourist trip through Metro Cave. When I go to Metro it is hard for me to overlook the extensive digging and "improvement" that has gone into making this a guided tourist cave, but happily everyone else was able to enjoy the cave and appreciated the plentiful formations and large rear entrance, someone even mentioning they thought it was the best tourist cave they had been to. It was a nice enough way to kill a few hours and to try to rally motivation for another day out in the bush the following day.
For the fourth day we all headed into the Tigers area, an exciting new system discovered near West Coast classic Golf Course Cave. Carl and Jed surveyed a pit cave called Maestro Tiger. Carol and Joel partially surveyed Upper Tiger. Mark and I ticked off various leads including a few handline and rappel pits, but nothing that amounted to anything. Nearly every photo I took this day had a curious robin in it watching us closely.
For the fifth day most of us surveyed in Venturer Cave, a classic well visited cave near the end of the Nile River rainforest train. I mapped in the back of the cave with Carol and Mark while Carl led the front with Jed. This was only the third survey I got to do on this trip (typically deferring the sketcher position to Carl who is undoubtedly more efficient at it than I am) so I enjoyed the mental engagement even if it took about an hour to break free of the large breakdown room towards the back of the cave. For the sixth day Carl and I got an early start to finish off survey at the Fenian Caves while the others had a semi-botched trip into Babylon. The seventh day Carl and I mapped the "a bit shit" streamway extensions in Venturer Cave, completing to currently known cave at 853m. There were some exceptionally unpleasant squeezed through rockfall in this section, an appropriately miserable final day to wrap up the expedition. For the eighth day there was not much else to do other than clean up the hut, get rid of trash, and make a detour to Maruia Falls on the drive back to Nelson/Richmond. We met David for a nice group dinner at Sprig & Fern and I found us a nice vacation rental to stay in, certainly the swankiest place we stayed by a large margin. For the final day I shuttled the AM crew to the airport, had a brief catchup with Oz and Debs, then had a couple hours to tour around with Carol. We drove through Motueka to check out the blue waters of the Riwaka Resurgence, then had my favorite NZ fish & chips at The Smokehouse at Mapua. It was absolutely mint weather, classic kiwi summer vibes all around. Then I dropped Carol off at the airport, then myself shortly after. And that was it.
It was a long trip. Great weather. Nobody got sick or injured. Yet years of planning built high expectations that were not matched in luck or enthusiasm and so I came away disappointed. I still have a mountain of survey data to go through and cave maps to draft (work!). I hope everyone else had a good time. I'm no less enthused to spend more time finding caves in NZ, but perhaps the next trip will be solo so I can go at my own pace. Thanks to all the participants for joining the effort.
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