On Friday the 9th May four Rovers, the cave leader and our cook set off from my house for a weekend of fun underground. We would stay at the cave hunt just outside of Margaret River. It was a very cold night so both cars had there heaters on to keep warm. Alan the cave leader had Tom a bit confused when he stopped in the middle of nowhere and walked into the bush. Tom found out when we got to the hunt that Alan was just picking up the keys for the caves we were going in. We arrived at ten thirty and was setup and in bed by twelve.

On Saturday we got up at eight and had a cup of vanilla tea that Venita our cook brought with her. Once breakfast was finished it was time to get ready for are first cave. We arrived at Mill cave and got into our overalls but we had a problem Terry's didn't fit so he had to swap with Carol because hers were too big. Once the swap had been made we put on are harnesses so we could abseil into the cave. Alan set all the ropes up and Terry was first one in and was bottom belay for the rest of us. The carbon dioxide level in the cave was very high so it was hard to breath. We looked at all the different formations e.g. the stalagmites and stalactites. We came to the end of the cave where we sat down and turned are torches off so we could experience what its like in the cave without any light. We discussed how hard it was to breath in the cave and Alan told us that the level can be normal sometimes and other times it can be very high. Once we got sick of sitting in the dark we turned are torches back on and started to head back to the entrance of the cave. When everyone was there it was time to climb out of the by the ladder that Alan had setup before we entered the cave. Tom was first up then everyone else followed. While Alan was packing the ropes up, Tom and Terry packed the ladder up. We headed back to the car and then back to the hunt for lunch that Venita had organized for us.
After lunch we all headed to Giants Cave for more abseiling and fun underground. Tom abseiled in first and then took photos of the rest of are backsides because that's all he could see. Once everyone had arrived at the flat form it was time to head into the cave. When we got the bottom of the stairs Tom took same photos of the formations in the cave. Once he had finished we continued on. As we went through the cave Alan explained some of the history of the cave to us. We got to a part of the cave which is called the ballroom because of the size of it. We spent a while in the ballroom while Tom took photos. We continued on once Tom had all the photos he wanted. But it didn't take long and we stopped again for Tom to take more photos. We were up and going again and got to the end of the cave without Tom stopping again. Everyone was out of the cave except Tom so we shut the gate so he looked like a caged animal. It took him six attempts to get the gate open. On the sixth attempt he got it open. The gate was locked and we headed back to the cave entrance. Once everyone got back we had a group photo with all are gear on. It was then time to go to the next cave. We got to Golgotha, put are helmets on and grabbed are torches and headed to the entrance. We went into the cave and looked at the stalagmites and Alan told us how old they were. Tom couldn't take any photos because he left his camera in the car. We went to the end of the cave and sat in the dark and play with the sand. Once all the fun was over we headed back to the front of the cave. It was then back to the cars and back to the hut for a night of relaxing by the fire. Tom built the fire and kept it going while dinner was being cooked. We had dinner then sat around the fire and talked before have dessert. We all went to bed except Tom because he fell asleep next to the fire. It woke up cold so he comes inside to sleep.

Sunday it was time to back up and head to the last cave for the weekend. The last cave was Calgardup. We abseiled into the cave and Tom took photos of everyone before they descended. Tom and Sam had two goes and Terry and I had three goes. When everyone had finished abseiling we had a look at the right side of the cave and Tom took some photos of the hanging table which is a formation in the cave. We then headed to the left side of the cave. We stopped for Tom to take a photo. Once he had finished we went on the back of the cave. We looked at how low the water level was at the back of the cave. It was very low. Alan then took Tom, Terry and Sam into the window which is a section which the public aren't aloud to see without a cave leader. While in the window Tom and Terry went in the poo hole. It's called that because when you came out your all brown. Venita and I waited at the car for them to come out. Once they had finished in the window Tom and Terry did same prucing. After they finish and the ropes got backed away it was time for lunch. We went to Lake Cave for giant hamburgers and an ice- cream before the long drive home.

So that is the end of our adventure.

By Carol Poore
Fremantle Rover