Friday, April 17, 2009

Princess Margaret Rose Cave


While a youth on his family farm in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Keith McEachern frequently came across what is known as a runaway hole. He tended sheep and other livestock over the several hundred acres his family owned.

One day, when in his early 20s, he gathered a few friends to help him explore the "sinkhole" that had caught his attention for several years.

He tied a strong rope to a few sapling gum trees nearby, and armed only with a few candles and matches, lowered himself about 31 feet down the hole until he reached bottom.

He bellowed up to his friends that he'd found a cave, and disappeared for two hours while his friends anxously waited for him.

When McEachern returned to the earth's surface, he exclaimed that he'd found Aladdin's cave.

In 1936 he took a few others with him and carved out an access point which took several months.

In the 1940s they were granted permission to name the cave after Princess Margaret Rose, the sister of soon-to-be Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

While on a five-day trip on the Glenelg River, this cave is a popular stopping off point, about halfway up from the mouth of the river from the Bass Strait on the Tasman Sea.

I have to say that I have seen photos of stalactites and stalagmites from a famous cave in Arizona, but because such sights can only be seen via spelunking (exploring caves) I thought, "oh well, I'll never see those." I don't like confined spaces, and the thought of crawling on my belly with a flashlight did not appeal to me. The beauty of this cave is that it is "walk-in." So I went along for the walk.

I'm so glad I did. I don't know how to explain what I saw. It is so much more colorful, ethereal, and strange than pictures can do justice.

The Glenelg River, especially further downstream toward its mouth is bordered by huge cliffs of limestone and caves carved by high water. This is the only cave that has been made accessible to people.


The long walk down below the surface.


This is looking toward the entrance where Keith McEachern lowered himself into the cave. The blue sky is a distant dot.


Stalactites.


"Cape" formation on the brownish stalactite. See the water drip on the end of the white spear.


The wall is blanketed in formations.



Where stalactites and stalagmites try to meet.



From the "ceiling."

The "chandelier" in background.




"Bat wing" formation.



The "wedding cake," and "engagement" formations. They call it engagement, because they barely touch. There is another formation nearby where both ends meet, and they call it the marriage. There is also one nearby where they have broken apart and it's named, "the divorce."

A "cape" formation.



Notice fine stratches on the wall. Those are from animals, likely kangaroos and wallabies, that fell through the runaway hole and tried to escape. No vegetation and not much water lead to their horrible deaths.

McEachern said he had to climb over several bones and carcasses of animals who had fallen in over decades.

When our group of tourist spelunkers reached the end, our guide asked us to stand on the stairs or other stable footing.

She turned off all the spotlights and we were blanketed in darkness. I literally could not see my hand in front of my face, even with my palm touching my nose.

I've never been in darkness so intense, so complete.

The guide reminded us that this is the darkness that Keith McEachern lowered himself into.

Armed only with one candle at a time, he found what we had just seen lit up with spotlights.

My creative mind went crazy...putting myself there with him...exploring hauntingly beautiful formations by ghostly candlelight, surrounded by bones of dead animals.

It was quite an experience. It haunts me still.

2 comments:

  1. One of your best posts by far, mom! Really intriguing open and the imagery and details in both the photos and verbiage kept me reading seamlessly.

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  2. Wow...awesome pics and must have been a great experience. I can understand as I have been to the famous caves you stated but they were in New Mexico (Carlesbad Caverns). Not to be believed. Thanks for the great story and visuals.

    Dude From Oman

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