After remaining buried for 30 years, the rediscovery of this cave was a lot of fun.
The cave itself is set in a school grounds where previously it had been used for dumping rubbish!
There are now plans to get in and clean out the rubbish and put a manhole on top for future access.
An interesting cave with a few small challenges to negotiate. This Whale bone is left exposed in the stream way.
A short movie taken by Yann Pierre Montelle to Harwoods hole cave in April 2011. Although not the clearest movie, this will give you some idea of the 173 metre abseil into the cave and the sheer beauty once you are in the cave itself. Stunningly clear water and great formations are abundant. YP filmed this using his Scurion K for light, and I am sure you will agree that without the BBC backing you, it is not easy to film in caves. Thanks for your movie YP I look forward to seeing more.
Sleeping god canyon
After many trips down sleeping god canyon I thought it was about time to put a few pictures in place to show just how good this place really is.
This is a must do canyon with some great abseils including a 75 meter drop and plenty of jumps and swims.
Sleeping god canyon
A visit to fred cave via its 53 metre shaft, took us to the diamond mine and all its splendour.
Rangitoto Lava caves.
A jewel for all Aucklanders and travellers, is this great island 5 km off the coast of Auckland. At 260 metres high and only 600 years old, this place makes the mind wonder.
There are many lava caves on the tourist trail and I believe some to be found still, which makes this island a great visit for any caver. We have been hunting for caves on a few occasions now and have had success, with more possibilities on each visit.
New Zealand Speleology Society AGM hosted by Auckland this year went down a treat with around 80 cavers from New Zealand. We gained access to some great caving spots that had been closed for sometime, Burr being one of them and the truly awesome Rangitawa shaft at 86 meters with the addition of Blindmans used as an exit.
The AGM dinner was held at the waitomo caves hotel on the hill, a grand old building that has been recently taken over by new owners, the food was superb and the evening flowed like the beer and wine that was drunk on the evening.
Other great caves that were visited were Rumbling Gut, Hollow Hill, Gardeners Gut, Mathews and and Hippo’s.
ASG also hosted the next evenings BBQ where the kids had fun on a 70 metre flying fox.
Most of us also visited one of the many great tourist caves on offer such as Ruakuri, or the gloworm cave.
Fun was had by all.
After the event
My bags have been seen recently on a vanuatu volcano.
Used by Drew and Johno the mesh pod bag with shoulder straps is perfect for the expedition. Check out their crazy exploits http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUOmPdsoUtM
This time they made it to the crater rim!!!!
Geoff Mackley and his team take accessgear bags + custom made caving racks, into the centre of a volcano, and come home alive to tell the tale.
Sunday saw three of us visit a little known Waitakeries canyon. We did go of route slightly and add an extra couple of hours of bush bashing (shattering and slow) The canyon trip includes one of the biggest abseils around, about 65m.
This has the best exposure on top of the valley with well over two hundred meters of decent. including a 35m abseil and many smaller drops. One cool place to be.
This has been set up so purchases are easy online and showcase our latest product range – the SCURION LIGHTS, with all their brilliant options.
After using the Scurion caving light myself, I realised that, even if you think you know a cave well, you don’t! These open your eyes to a whole new level.
New Accessgear products include:
We encourage you to have fun. I know we do!