Lynds Cave, Tasmania

Vikki, Ray and Northern Caverneers Cathie, David & Peter

While travelling around Tasmania, Vikki & I thought it would be nice to have a look in some of the local caves. So, before leaving the UK, Vikki had made contact with Cathie P from the Northern Caverneers, who had promised to show us some caves around the Mole Creek area over a 2 day period. We were not to be disappointed!

So there we were outside the Mole Creek Hotel, bright and early on Sunday morning, not really sure what to expect, but very excited. Peter was first to arrive and say hello, soon followed by Cathie & David. After some introductions, we jumped in with Peter for the short drive up to the usual parking spot. There was some discussion about the best clothing to wear for Lynds. Vikki had come prepared for anything, with both dry caving suit and wetsuit. I had come only with my usual fleece undersuit and oversuit, but Cathie had very kindly brought several wetsuits for me to try on. The issue with this particular cave it seemed is that, while it is dry enough once underground, the Mersey River has to be crossed to get to the entrance. Sometimes this is a full on swim (my eyes widened considerably at this news!), but recent dry conditions meant it was more likely just to be a wade through deep water on this occasion (phew!). On balance, we all decided to dispense with wetsuits for this trip.

We set off on a rather vague path and soon reached the point at which the river had to be crossed, directly opposite the entrance. Cathie set off first, followed by Vikki, while I watched rather nervously from the bank. It didn’t seem too bad at all at first, but gradually more and more of Cathie & Vikki disappeared below water, until only their arms, shoulders and heads were visible. Thankfully, at that point they started to slowly reappear as they passed the worst and began to re-emerge on the far side. At this point I could no longer put it off, so began my own crossing. It all would have gone ok, apart from the coldness of the water, but in the deeper section the river bottom is very uneven, with lots of trip hazards – not ideal for an aquaphobe. Vikki noticed that I had almost ground to a halt in the middle so, wanting to actually get into the cave, plunged back in to hold my hand and gee me along. David and Peter must have been wondering what on earth was going on as they waited until I was across before entering the water themselves.

Once across the river, the bank has to be followed for a very short distance to the cave entrance, again through deep water, but with things to hold on to this time. The entrance itself is hidden behind a large block and, like the other caves we subsequently visited, is gated and locked. It starts as a nice walking-sized passage, but very quickly there is a deep pool to traverse around with a small (1.5m) waterfall to climb at the far side. Opinions seemed to differ on the best route to take around the pool. Either way, it involves climbing around the edge on small holds. Cathie preferred the long way round (to the right), which she thought was easier, while David recommended the more traditional and shorter route to the left. Vikki and Peter followed Cathie. I took David’s recommendation and set off to the left. To be honest, it was pretty easy, with lots of handholds, although considerably less for the feet. The waterfall was very easy indeed to climb, so no problems there.

The waterfall climb is almost like the true entrance to the cave. Above this, the passage is just festooned with stunning formations, almost wherever you look. Like us, Peter had never been into Lynds before, so he and I were stopping at almost every step to photograph some new formation, or even an old one from a different perspective. I hope his camera was better than mine as my cheap phone simply couldn’t do justice to the place.

As promised, water levels weren’t particularly high. There was also no mud, no crawling, no squeezing, no pitches… in fact, progress was very easy, with just the odd easy boulder obstacle to overcome. I can fully understand why a locked gate is necessary, given the delicate nature of the jewels behind it.

I believe we managed to get as far as the Ballroom, which isn’t very far at all. But we took a very long time to get there due to the photography and general looking around to attempt to take it all in. Along the way, we saw the full range of cave formations, including stals, very long straws, columns, curtains, stunning flowstone cascades, gour pools… you name it, we saw it… and all at a very high standard indeed. At one point we found ourselves climbing up the most stunning golden coloured flowstone cascade alongside a fabulous stepped calcite pillar. In several places, the calcite flows had been cracked in an earthquake in the 1990s (I believe?). This in itself was well worth seeing, to get a glimpse at the layering inside the cracks.

Alas, we had to turn around eventually. The pathetic distance we had covered became obvious as we reached the waterfall climb in no time at all and soon we were out in the heat of the Tasmanian afternoon. Vikki didn’t even bother to ask if I needed assistance to get back across the river – she more or less dragged me across. On the walk back, we came across a snake at the side of the path. Concensus among the experts was that it was a tiger snake, although there were some suggestions that it could also have been a copperhead. From a personal survival perspective, it made very little difference to me as they are both equally venomous.

After getting changed, we sat at a very conveniently-placed picnic table for a spot of afternoon snackage. All very civilised. Can’t imagine that on Leck Fell, at any time of year. We then bade goodbye to Cathie & David for the day and were promised a double trip the next day – see separate reports.

Peter drove us back to our car at the Mole Creel Hotel, where we obviously had to pop in for a beer. Despite my insistence that we should buy Peter a beer, he amply demonstrated Aussie hospitality by insisting even more that he should buy ours. We gave in gracefully. Cheers Peter.

We went to bed that night both stunned by what we had seen and excited about what tomorrow would bring.

Photos by Ray – apologies for the poor quality.