My New Zealand Jobs

Caving Indecision

Did my first real caving this week, somewhere north of here. We spent several hours at PT-17 (unofficially known as Indecision), and briefly dropped into Crash and Famous Five. I had gone underground at two of the most famous caves in the world, Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave, both in the United States. Those caves are large, beautiful, and, well, touristy. I longed to do some real caving, with cavers (many cavers don’t like being called spelunkers by the way), in a cave that I could see, feel, touch, experience. Walter (from the local caving grotto) and I went through PT-17 and I quite enjoyed it. One has to wonder, what is so exciting about walking through knee deep water, crawling through mud, and being cold in the dark. Well, that part isn’t exciting. Exploring new places, stretching one’s limits, climbing across a rock face where falling isn’t an option, finding new rooms where one wouldn’t expect. THAT is what it is about. I learned a lot about my limits and fears this weekend. It was quite exhilirating to realize I am capable of more than I previously thought. Cheers…