One of the last days of the WCG Megamania expedition in January 2011, Justin and I spent a day checking out a little known and seldom visited cave named Beyond Words. The cave is hard to get to and protected by thick vegetation so at the time the best way to get to the cave was to commute through Megamania Cave. At the time the cave had about 400m of surveyed passage, but there were several intriguing "?"s marked on the map including a 20m pitch down a waterfall in the cave's main streamway. The upper level of the cave was very confusing- we traveled from room to room, frequently unsure of whether the walls and ceiling were bedrock or large blocks. We came to the impressive Scallop Room- a 20m-wide passage with stunning formations and well-preserved scallop fossils in the limestone. We then rigged the pitch and explored down the sporty streamway for what we guessed was 250m. Eventually we had to begin belly crawling in the stream between stretches of passage we could stand in. Further on the passage reached its smallest dimensions yet- lack of a draft and foam on the ceiling were tell-tale signs we were nearing a sump so we turned back.
While I was waiting for Justin back in the more comfortable passage I happened to look up into a muddy alcove on the side of the stream. To my surprise the passage seemed to continue in a steep spiral above the streamway passage. Up the spiral about 20m I found myself in very comfortable sandy-floored running passage. I slid my way back down to lead Justin back up the spiral and off we ran. We explored about 400m of really impressive passages as we passed junction after junction and even a large chamber. Unfortunately the day wore on and we still had a long way back to camp so we made our way out. The potential of this cave wore on me for the better part of two years since.
Then at the end of 2011 I found out Michael and several others had resurveyed Beyond Words on another Megamania expedition. Looking at the map it was obvious they missed or did not have time to get to most of what Justin and I saw on our trip. After more talking, it was decided we should organize a small expedition of keen folk intent on further surveying and exploring Beyond Words Cave- to my knowledge the first expedition to be focused on the cave. We would helicopter much of the gear in, but elect to carry it all out- probably also a first!
December 2012. Michael volunteered me for the early walk in with him to set up camp while the rest of the team slept-in soundly in Karamea. Luckily there are rarely gaps in conversation when Michael is around and the walk in on the Heaphy track went by very fast (and scenically). We arrived at the Gunner campsite hours before the helicopter was scheduled to land. I got all of 10 minutes of napping in my boxers in the sun on the riverbank before Michael appeared out of the bush with the aim of training me up to use the digital surveying PDA and laser disto. Luckily it was surprisingly intuitive and I caught on pretty quickly while we were closely watched by a tweeting and bouncing robin. Curiosity took hold of me so I shined the laser at the bird's feet. To my great amusement the bird pecked at the red dot and bounced after it whereever I shined it! After several minutes of great entertainment, Michael reminded me that we had limited battery and that calibrating new batteries is a complex process involving imagining you are trapped in an invisible cube so I stopped. The helicopter arrived and we set up camp. The kitchen was set up in a dry creekbed...on the West Coast (this comes into play later). Just when I thought I was finally going to get a nap in the sun, Michael suggested we hike up the hill to do an overland survey between Megamania and Beyond Words since we had a couple hours before dinner. Somewhat reluctantly I agreed. Michael sure is keen! We surveyed a somewhat circuitous transit between the two entrances after some navigational follies. I was declared captain of the B team and given my license to use "Pocket Topo" on Michael and Bruce's treasured baby "Nomad" (the PDA). Michael threatened a very early start the next day, but groans from the rest of the cavers quickly brought him back to reality.
Day 2. Everyone heads to Beyond Words via Megamania. B team: Nic, Geoff, Justin and Travis head down the main streamway to survey up the spiral staircase and into the good stuff Justin and I were previously in. Leads, leads, leads! Travis and Justin appear to have a glorious time running down holes only to occasionally return to report on their seemingly endless finds. Meanwhile I am bound to the Nomad strapped to my wrist, a slave of technology (and surveying). Geoff seems to take disto-ing in good stride. We found a new streamway and closed off a loop. For every lead we killed, we made two more. We found an easier commuting way back into the streamway via what would later be called Poseidon Hall. It was a great first day and we seemed to have a week's worth of things to do. Geoff talked us into climbing up the waterfall rather than the steep chute we came down on. It was...refreshing? We were thoroughly wet by the time we reached the entrance. We did not climb that waterfall again that week!
Day 3. B team: Nic, Geoff, Travis and Simon begin survey in the Gypsum Maze section of the cave that Travis found on the first day. Carefully we made our way through gypsum encrusted passage, laying taped paths where necessary. All the junctions were daunting! A highlight was the Great Wall of Gypsum, a rift passage where an entire wall was coated in white sparkling gypsum including large sheets and flowers. We closed a couple large loops and were on our way to a productive survey day when the disto battery went flat. We exited the cave via yet another new route, a large chamber Travis dubbed "The Wrath of the Gods" after the large amount of ceiling collapse and broken formations. The rain...had begun.
The Wrath of the Gods Chamber
Day 4. B team: Nic, Geoff, Travis, and Justin head up South Stream. Here we surveyed a long way up the stream until we reached the Icing Room (frontispiece and below) where formation choke blocked forward progress. After a pleasant lunch, Travis and Justin explored up a rift while Geoff and I survey-explored up the other branch of the stream. We went a considerable distance up a wide and sinuous stream passage to some stunning formations. We switched into boots and suits off mode to survey over some pristine rimstone pools. Towards the end we got to the Bowling Alley where meter-wide granite chockstones were wedged in the narrow ceiling at perfect distances such that we could use them as giant steps to climb to the top of the passage. Unfortunately this passage had a convincing formation choke (but fortunate for the passage remaining pristine). Once reunited with the other two, they excitedly told us of their endless finds, in the end deciding there was too much to do here and we were better to head out a bit early and try to tackle the area fresh the next day. We decided to tie off a sporty rift lead that Simon partially explored the day before. In places the walls were solid beds of fossil oysters which led the passage to acquire the name Seafood Buffet. After surveying through the top of the 10m-high rift for a while a floor finally appeared. A few short survey lengths later we reached a formation-rich junction in the passage with impressive calcite crystal pools, flowstone and stals. Travis recognized this as an area he and Justin had been exploring earlier in the day, which meant another day's worth of surveying. We emerged from the cave in heavy rain.
Icing Room
Day 5. The grim mountain radio forecast and thorough rain through the night led to an unanimous rest day. I slept in, periodically wake to listen for the sound of people stirring in the kitchen before drifting back to sleep. I got up at some civilized time like 10am and socialized over a late breakfast. Some peoples tents and sleeping bags were casualties of the rain. The main activity of the day was watching the water levels in the formerly dry creek bed slowly rise towards the kitchen. Despite admirable civil engineering efforts, the water still reached the kitchen and gum boots came into style. The Gunner River was a speedy brown torrent stretching from bush edge to bush edge. It was not the gravel bank-lined ankle-biter of the first couple days. Inevitably we discussed the cave, leads, and where to survey next. Travis seemed very excited by the passages he and Justin climbed into the day before and was keen to get back. From Travis's description Sarah remarked that Travis must have felt like Alice in Wonderland. "It is like a wonderland up there," Travis replied. The name for the passage stuck: Travis in Wonderland. The day's inaction spurred grand plans of caving the next day.
Day 6. B Team: Nic, Geoff, Travis and Kevin surveyed Travis in Wonderland from Seafood Buffet towards the Icing Room. Surveying was initially slow due to the need to take delicate steps. Most of the passage was pleasant and typically 4-6m-wide. We surveyed through a belly crawl to where the main trunk passage continued onwards in a southwesterly direction away from the rest of the known cave. Abruptly the great trunk passage runs into a large breakdown area without a floor. Travis did some sketchy climbing traverses over loose boulders to scout the area. Geoff and I surveyed through a small rift that got within 10m of the Bowling Alley before formation choking. Travis' initial report was not encouraging. The way on was not completely obvious, but this part of the cave remains very enticing. We ended the day surveying the Wrath of the Gods chamber, which as it turned out, had been surveyed by the A Team hours before. The weather sank the team's enthusiasm and there seemed to be a general consensus to pack up and head out the next day. We felt satisfied with what we were able to accomplish, no thanks to the weather!
Day 7. Retreat! Most of the team got an early start packing up the gear. Between my heavy tent, camping, gear, caving gear and group gear (all rain-soaked), my pack was as heavy as it had ever been. The slog out was brutal and unrelenting. At Kohaihai Shelter my feet were screaming mutiny and I couldn't possibly see how I could carry on. Then the cloud of sandflies came to give me some unsubtle encouragement so I carried on the Ketetahi roadend. Salvation lay in taking my boots off and remaining barefoot the rest of the day.
We surveyed Beyond Words to a length of 4.5 km with many promising leads remaining. It is a fantastic cave well worth its name. The amount of intersecting passages present in such a small area is pretty unusual (especially without needing SRT gear). Chambers, rifts, streams, formations- the cave has a bit of it all. In several locations the cave overlaps or comes within 100m of Megamania Cave, yet a connection eludes us for now. Overall, it was one of my most enjoyable cave expeditions to date. Thanks to Michael, Sarah and the rest of the team.
