Cocklebiddy Cave Diving History

Cocklebiddy Lake © Greg Bulling

1961: First dive in Cocklebiddy by 2 man team from Perth. Managed to establishthat there was a submerged tunnel, 200 metres from the cave entrance, butwere unable to swim much distance due to lake of gear.

1972: First large scale expedition. Adelaide divers were Ian Lewis, Phil Prust, DaveWarnes and Bob Turnbull while Bob Lea, and Ron and Denyse Doughton werefrom Sydney. Several hundred metres of line were laid in a northward direction.

1974: Keith Dekkers and Hugh Morrison from Perth headed a team and pushedCocklebiddy to 500 metres of under water passage.

1975: The Keith Deckers and Hugh Morrison team again tackled the cave but didnot extend the cave due to compressor problems.

1976: A joint West and South Australian team was organised with many of theprevious divers and the addition of Ron Allum and Peter Stace. R Beilby and HughMorrison push the cave to 1,000 metres and discovered the first air chamber nowknown as the “Rock Pile”, a long lake with a 20 metre high and 80 metre long pileof large loose rocks. Over the Rock Pile, the continuing submerged passage waspushed to 150 metres.

1977: In July, a South Australian team push an additional 350 meters into the

second sump making a total penetration of 500 metres past the Rock Pile.

Toad Hall © Steve Trewava

1977: In August, a Western Australian team including Morrison, Simon Jones andDekkers added another 500 meters. This was the first trip where an under water“sled” was used. The sled transported 15 dive cylinders in the first sump to theRock Pile and assisted in extending the second sump to over a kilometre in amammoth 11 hour dive. Cocklebiddy was starting to give up its secrets.

1979: In May, a Western Australian team of 9 divers led by Morrison, Jones andDekkers returned with two sleds and 40 dive cylinders. The method at that timewas to swim the sleds laden with cylinders to the Rock Pile and haul all full tanksover the rocky break to the second sump beyond. Three divers pushed thesecond sled out 1000m from the rock pile and then set off breathing triple tankson their backs. They made a further 1000 m before turning for the entrance.Disaster was narrowly avoided as the empty cylinders became so buoyant thedivers were pinned against the roof of the cave. Quick thinking enabled thedivers to put holes in the buoyant sled and by tying rocks to the cage they wereable to limp back to the Rock Pile their air supply desperately low. The threeexplorers were impossibly tired as they then faced four hours of carrying cylindersover the Rock Pile before they emerged exhausted but elated from a 16.5 hourtrip, seven of which were submerged. This set a world record at the time for apenetration into a water filled cave with a single entrance.

1979: Later in the same year, a South Australian team managed the samedistance with each diver carrying 5 tanks each with triples on their backs and atank under each arm. The 4,000 metre continuous swim from the rock plie to the2,000 metre mark and back lasted 4 hours.

Brown using the 'no-mount' sledto negotiate constrictedpassage © Stefan Eberhard

Brown after surfacing from his push divein the Third Sump © Stefan Eberhard

1982: In September, a team headed by Morrison including South Australians RonAllum and Peter Rogers, used the new sled technique manufactured from PVCpipe to carry additional dive cylinders and managed 2,500 meters past the RockPile in the second sump and emerged into a huge underground lake and dryrock chamber the likes of which had never been seen in Australia. The second dryrock pile, a chamber 10 metres high and 250 metres long was named “Toad Hall”by the divers. The naming of Toad Hall is a secret kept by those who haveventured there. “Many will wonder, but few will know”. A third sump wasdiscovered at the farthest end of the 250 metre long Toad Hall rock pile.

Diving Cocklebiddy Cave © SteveTrewavas

1983: In September, a five person team of French cave explorers headed bybrothers Frances and Eric Le Guen set a new world record for underwater

penetration. The French had bought with them two high powered GermanAquazepp underwater scooters and transported enough gear to Toad Hall tomount two separate attempts on the Australian 1982 record by diving solo intothe third sump. Eric Le Guen did the first dive and managed a 1460 metrespenetration into the third sump from Toad Hall and his brother Frances, on a laterdive, managed to push the cave another 90 metres by squeezing through arestriction but was stopped by a second restriction too tight for him to pass withhis back mounted tanks. A total of 1550 metres of line was laid in the 3rd sump.On the second dive, the brothers broke the entrance lake surface of the firstsump 47 hours after their initial departure.

1983: Early in the year before the French divers enter the scene, Ron Allumdesigned a purpose made sled to mount a dive past Toad Hall, into the thirdsump of Cocklebiddy. The sled was designed to carry 14 dive cylinders, sleepinggear, food and drinking water, included twin adjustable buoyancy systems thatcould be controlled by a single diver to maintain the sled at neutral buoyancy.(Note: Drinking water has to be taken on extended trips into Cocklebiddy as thesalt content of the cave water is too high for human consumption.) The firstprototype sled was manufactured in his shed and had its first trial run in ThorndonPark Reservoir in the outer suburbs of Adelaide and proved to be a success. Afterthe first trial, another 3 sleds were made and plans were made for the nextattempt on Cocklebiddy. In October, after the French raid on our cave, acombined Western and South Australian Team made an all out Australian assaulton Cocklebiddy to regain their rightful status of being the kings of Cocklebiddy.New comers to the South Australian team were Paul Arbon, Chris Brown, LesterJerman, George Navas and Dennis Thamm. The plan was for 16 divers with fourgear laden sleds to traverse the 1,000 metres in the first sump from the caveentrance lake to the Rock Pile, a 45 minute to one hour swim pushing the sled.Then carry three sleds and gear over the Rock Pile and reassemble. Six divers topush three sleds in the second sump for the 2,500 metre trip from the Rock Pile toToad Hall, a two and a half to three hour swim. At Toad Hall carry one sled andgear to the third sump and reassemble. Three divers (Hugh Morrison, Ron Allumand Peter Rogers) then to push the sled in the third sump to the restriction at 1,460metres first reached by French diver Frances Le Guen one month earlier. Leavethe sled and swim ahead with each diver wearing three back mounted tanks. Atthe 1,550 metre mark, Morrison removed his three back mounted tanks, left histwo buddies and pushed on ahead solo with a single tank pushed in front of him.He negotiated the restriction at 1,550 metres that stopped the French team, andafter passing through a second restriction, managed to push the third sump anadditional 240 metres. This point was 1,790 metres under water from Toad Hall anda distance of 5,290 meters of under water passage and a total of 6,240 metresfrom the cave entrance. A world record dive with a return underwater distanceof 10,580 metres. The underground time was 55 hours and the entire expeditionwas achieved within a space of seven days.

Craig Challen before his 2008 push© Geoff Paynter

1986: A 5 man team including Paul Arbon, Chris Brown and Dennis Thamm, threeof the back up divers from the 1983 Australians expedition, and with theassistance by Brenton Woolcock and Ulrich Hofner, used one of the 1983expedition sleds and demonstrated that a small team could make the dive toToad Hall.

1995: An Australian team headed by Chris Brown made an attempt to extend theknown length of Cocklebiddy Cave. Team members included Dennis Thamm andStefan Eberhard, both members of the 1983 expedition, David Doolette, PeterGirdler, Richard McDonald, Tim Payne, Wolf Seidal and Brenton Woolcock. AChannel Nine documentary film crew accompanied the expedition. Fromprevious experience gained from the 1988 Pannikin Plains expedition, the diveplan involved towing sleds with underwater scooters. With one Aquazepp scooter(as used by the French divers in 1983) and two Aquamacks (copies of theAquazepps made by McDonald), three sleds were towed through the first sumpto the Rock Pile accompanied by eight divers. Two sleds, three scooters and alarge amount of gear was transported over the Rock Pile. Five divers continued inthe second sump and traversed the 2,500 metres to Toad Hall towing the sleds in1.5 hours, a full hour shorter than swimming a sled. Base camp was set up in ToadHall for a two day stay. The Aquazepp, eight tanks and a specially designed “nomount” sled were ferried across Toad Hall to the third sump. The no mount sledconsisted of an aluminium frame with two tanks strapped inside, two torchesmounted at the front, and an inflatable buoyancy bag to make the sled neutrallybuoyant and easy to push in front of the diver. The idea of the no mount sled wasto negotiate tight restrictions at the end of the cave without the burden of backmounted tanks. After assembling the equipment, Brown with three backmounted, one side mounted and four dive cylinders attached to the Aquazep,took a solo dive into the third sump. At the 1,200 metre mark from Toad Hall, thecave became too low to safely negotiate whilst riding the Aquazepp. The scooterwas parked on the floor of the cave and Brown removed the no mount with the 2tanks inside and continued into the cave whilst breathing off his back tanks. Atthe 1,550 mark, the furthest point reached by the 1983 French team due to a tight

restriction and the point where Hugh Morrison left his buddies and continued onalone with a single tank, Brown removed his three back mounted tanks andcontinued on through the restriction with his no mount sled and a single sidemounted tank. After negotiating two tighter restrictions, he came across theabandoned line reel left by Morrison at the 1,790 metre mark, the furthest point ofhis penetration on the 1983 expedition. Brown tied one of his two line reels ontoMorrisons line reel and continued on into the cave. The tunnel was about 1 metrein diameter and continued on for 20 metres and then the roof slopped down andmet the floor and the tunnel abruptly ended. With enough air and 300 metres ofline on his two reels this was very frustrating to Brown. He had reached 1,810metres from Toad Hall and 6,260 metres from the cave entrance of which 5,310metres was under water. He tied his line off on a rock on the cave floor andlooked around. The only continuing passage was on the left going down at asteep grade and was very low and tight about 400mm high and one to one anda half metres wide. Brown dropped his no mount sled, unfastened his side mounttank and continued down this passage for a short distance (approximately fivemetres) with the single tank. As the passage was not getting any larger hedecided to concede and terminate the dive reeling back the five metres of lineto the tie off rock. 188 minutes after leaving Toad Hall, Brown arrived back at thethird sump lake and completed 60 minutes of decompression obligations beforerelaying his news to his waiting crew.Read the full report here.

10 scooters, 40 cylinders, 4additional scooter battery packs,plus personal dive gear ready togo into the cave for the 2008mapping expedition © TonyRichardson

1997: Tim Payne and Stefan Eberhard conduct an “alpine style” approach toCocklebiddy: two divers armed with six cylinders and two scooters each and “anattitude”. They dive to Toad Hall and Tim Payne scooters much of the knowncave in Sump 3 and explores a couple of side passages on his way back. Theteam were on site for only one week.Read the full report here.

2003: An attempt to extend the cave by a team including push divers Karl Halland Craig Challen, and support divers Paul Hosie, Paul Boler, and Dave Apperleydiffered from previous attempts in that rebreathers were now utilised, along with anumber of underwater scooters. At approximately the 1,460 metre mark in thethird sump beyond Toad Hall, diver Karl Hall removed his rebreather then pushedon with side mount open circuit equipment. During the 52 minutes while Hall wasgone, Challen’s rebreather began to malfunction and he endured a nervewracking wait. Hall also had some buoyancy and gas problems and while hereached the end of Brown’s tied off line from 1995 he could also only addanother five metres. The push divers later claimed no credit for extending thecave and acknowledged all the hard work done in previous dives by Morrisonand Brown.

2005: An Australian team of divers including George Yarra, Tania Yarra, Chris Ross,Dean Laffan and Ben Hoskin set up the cave with a large number of scooters andcylinders and conduct multiple runs to Toad Hall. This includes a record whenTania Yarra becomes the first woman to reach Toad Hall and the longest cavedive in Australia by a female.

2006: A small team of divers – Tim Payne, George Yarra, and Stefan Eberhard –utilizing underwater scooters tow sleds (modified originals from the 1983expedition) of cylinders, scooter batteries, food etc. to Toad Hall where theycamp for three days and commence the task of mapping Sump 3.

2007: The mapping of Cocklebiddy continues with another four day camp atToad Hall. Tim Payne and George Yarra are joined by Cocklebiddy veteran ChrisBrown, Dean Johnson and Mick Quillinan. Much of the mapping of Sump 3 iscompleted, some new line is laid in side passages, and about one third of Sump 2is mapped.

2008: In August Craig Challen and Richard Harris and a support team of sevendivers break new ground by extending Browns 1995 line. Using modifiedrebreathers which could provide 8-10 hours underwater duration, and high techlithium ion battery packs to extend the running duration of standard one hourscooters to three hours, the two push divers employed a similar dive plan to Halland Challen in 2003. With Harris waiting it out at the 1460 metre restriction in thethird sump, Challen removed his rebreather and forged on with two sidemounted cylinders. After breathing down one cylinder, it was also removed andChallen continued on through the tightest parts of the route with one cylinder(fitted with a dual H-valve and its own buoyancy device) pushed in front of him.After tying off his reel to the end of Browns line, Challen continued on for another120 metres before he was forced to turn back as he reached his gas reserves. Thetight twisting tunnel continues. Also of note on this expedition was the set up forthe push dive. Divers placed scooters and cylinders through the cave to the lakeat the start of Sump 3, allowing Challen and Harris to undertake the push dive as

one major effort involving some 18 hours underground but no camping at ToadHall. As part of the push dive into Sump 3, three radiolocation “pingers” wereplaced in the sump allowing points in the cave to be found from above groundthereby assisting with the three year ongoing mapping project.

George Yarra and Tim Paynepreparing a sled for the 2008mapping expedition © TonyRichardson

2008: In September the mapping of the third sump of Cocklebiddy to the start ofBrowns 1995 line is completed with a three day camp at Toad Hall. Tim Payne andGeorge Yarra are joined on this trip by Tony Richardson and Mick Quillinan. Sledsare again towed to Toad Hall to transport gas, food, water and sleeping gear.Most of the remainder of Sump 2 is surveyed, but disappointingly the map falls afew hundred metres short of being complete in this 2.5 kilometre long sump. Thedry chamber Toad Hall is also mapped.

2009:In a full frontal assault on Cocklebiddy, 14 divers descended on the caveincluding UK divers Rick Stanton and Leigh Bishop. Four teams conducted dives inSump 3 including the first two women to dive this sump: Sandy Varin and AgnesMilowka. Sandy reached the 1460m restriction with buddy Dave Bardi. Agnesreached the mid point of Craig Challen’s 2008 line (approx 1900m into Sump 3)giving her the record for the longest cave dive in Australia for a female. RickStanton reached the end of Craig Challen’s 2008 line and continued on for only afew metres. The passage here is very narrow and silty. Eleven divers in the teamreached Toad Hall. Craig Challen (approx. 1800m), John Dalla-Zuanna (1460m)and Richard Harris (approx. 1800m) also made long dives in the third sump. Aswith the 2008 expedition the lightweight approach with long-range rebreathersand long range lithium powered scooters were pivotal to the success of the dives.Again, as part of the dives into Sump 3, radiolocation “pingers” were placed inthe sump allowing more points in the cave to be found from above groundthereby assisting with the ongoing mapping project.

Note: There have been numerous other expeditions into Cocklebiddy Cave overthe years, some reaching Toad Hall and beyond. Only those which the authorsconsider to be significant in the history and exploration of Cocklebiddy havebeen included above.