Monday, April 16, 2012

Naracoorte Caves

There were only two clubs I joined at university: the chocolate club and the spelunking club. Spelunking is cave exploring--not on a guided tour, but with hard hats, ropes, and overalls. I remember squeezing through tunnels so low and narrow that I had to take my hard hat off to get through. Best fun ever!

I didn’t take my camera while spelunking, but I did take it on a tour through the Naracoorte Caves in South Australia. I’m not a fan of flash photography so I tried longer film exposures while trying to hold the camera still. Not an easy task without a tripod, lol.



A reflection in a still pool


Do you get claustrophobic? How have you released the adventurer within?


For more inspiration on the sights, smells, tastes etc within caves, go here to the Bookshelf Muse.


Note: For the month of April during the A-Z Challenge I am pausing from my usual blogging theme of writing and social media tips. Instead I hope to share with you my photography. Much of it is inspired by the fabulous and helpful site, The Bookshelf Muse. Please check it out and enjoy.


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43 comments:

Old Kitty said...

You had a chocolate club at your uni?!?! Not fair!!

Oh wow! Thank you for introducing me to this new word "spelunking"!

Take care
x

Unknown said...

I have been to some of the caves in Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales but I haven't visited any in South Australia. They look fantastic.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Those images are amazing! I couldn't do the spelunking, but I could handle a guided tour.

Jemi Fraser said...

Gorgeous! I'm not terrified of small spaces, but they do make me uncomfortable. Wish they didn't - these are beautiful :)

Susan Fields said...

Those pictures are beautiful! But I'd still like to hear about that chocolate club. :)

Laura Pauling said...

That is so awesome! I would love to do something like that. And it would depend on how small the space!

DEZMOND said...

you had a chocolate club at university? Which college was that? :)

Meradeth Houston said...

I don't know if I could do this--I am not terribly claustrophobic, but squeezing through narrow tunnels is probably not my think. A chocolate club, on the other hand, sounds right up my alley!

Nick Wilford said...

Those make for some stunning images. A reflection in the last picture? Amazing! I did cave diving in New Zealand - going through caves with underground streams. That was fun!

Sara Hill said...

I've always wanted to try spelunking, but only in shallow caves. No deep Mordor holes for me!

Leovi said...

Wonderful photos of this beautiful cave, I love the frames, with delicious light, textures and exquisite colors, I love it.

Bish Denham said...

Beautiful photos! I've been in some big caves, like Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and some smaller ones here in Texas, but I've never gone spelunking. I'm not sure I'd feel all that comfortable although I don't think of myself as claustrophobic. A chocolate club, hmmmm? I could definitely get into that!

Luanne G. Smith said...

Beautiful photos, but no way would I do that. I'd freak out if I was in a tiny space I couldn't easily get out of.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Those pictures are fabulous! This is a club I would have loved to be apart of. Nature is beauty.

Oh, and YAY! for the chocolate club.

Mary Aalgaard said...

I liked the few cave tours that I've been on, but I do get a little scared, feeling closed in and worrying about cave ins.

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Rosalind Adam said...

Amazing photos but that's the nearest you'll get me to a cave!

Donna K. Weaver said...

Love the pictures. My former boss (she's retired now) would sometimes go spelunking with her hubby. He's quite the caver and we've got some great ones locally.

Unknown said...

Caves are not my thing because I'm claustrophobic. But, I must admit, it's beautiful.

Suze said...

'I’m not a fan of flash photography so I tried longer film exposures while trying to hold the camera still. Not an easy task without a tripod, lol.'

No!

Lyn, I've enjoyed this series so much because I feel like I've learned a lot about your impeccable sensibility and attention to detail which I always admire when I detect. The images in today's post are just as impressive as the ones in the macrophotography post.

Sarah Allen said...

Wow, absolutely gorgeous! Your photos are making me jealous of all your exciting adventures :)

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

KC Kendricks said...

Thanks for sharing the Naracoorte Caves with those who may never get to see it. Beautiful picutes! Stopping by as part of the 2012 A-Z Blogging Challenge.

S. L. Hennessy said...

I definitely get claustrophobic. But those caves sure are pretty!

Loree Huebner said...

I do get claustrophobic at times. I had to wear a mask during an MRI on my back...lol!

I just love caves. Such rare and natural beauty...a treasure to discover inside each one. Thanks for sharing the Naracoorte Caves.

Sara said...

I don't get claustrophobic as long as I can move and I'm not surrounded by people...which I guess makes me more Angorophobic than Claustrophobic.

Fairview said...

Great photos! I toured some underground caves recently in Mexico and I couldn't help being nervous the entire time. Mainly because I'm from California and I kept thinking "what if there's an earthquake?"

Morgan said...

I'm married to a professional rock climber so I've been Spelunking many a time! What lovely photos, Lynda :D

Joanne said...

You've taken some neat photos! I get a bit claustrophobic, it depends how small the cave is.

Jay Noel said...

Dang! That cave is gorgeous. How cool is that?

I'm not claustrophoic, but caves kinda creep me out.

Anonymous said...

Hello Lynda! Those pictures are awesome! A chocolate club in college? What a sweet club to join. : ) The cave exploring club sounds interesting.

Susanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER

Cynthia said...

I wish they had a chocolate club and cave exploring club back when I was in school. In your chocolate club, did members just sit around eating chocolate?

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

It was at the Univerity of New South Wales. We had chocolate parties. Lovers of chocolate got together and we danced, had fun and ate so much chocolate it was the first time in my life I realised there was such a thing as eating too much chocolate, lol!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

I believe that's the most dangerous type of diving you can do. It would've been awesome though!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Thank you so much, Suze.
You are seeing the better shots. There were an awful lot of fuzzy shots when I moved or was in too much of a hurry because of the tour, lol.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

hehe, pretty much. Some parties included loud music and dancing, but most of us focussed on the chocolate ;)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Yep, I'm not surprised. I got myself into some holes that would test anyone's claustrophobia. ;)

M Pax said...

Caves are so otherworldly. Great photos. I was in a big one in Virginia some where. Forget the name of it ... I do get claustrophobia, but am OK if the space is big enough.

Nancy Thompson said...

That is so totally cool! And beautiful!! I could NEVER go down into a cave. EVER!! *shivers*

Tracy said...

In Ohio there are quite a few caverns and it was great going and exploring but as I got older, I became more claustrophobic and well, still took my son but not as 'happily'...great N word!

Anonymous said...

I haven't been in caves since I was a kid, but I've never forgotten how beautiful they were. Nice pics Lynda.

Denise Covey said...

I love caves, but I don't like caving. That's a bit scary, especially for the claustrophobic. My favourite so far is the Jenolan Caves (wrong spelling?)This one looks specko!

Denise

Rachna Chhabria said...

Chocolate club, Lynda, I am super jealous. I would love to visit caves, I don't think I have ever visited them.

Jarm Del Boccio said...

I've always wondered what spelunking was all about...it is an adventure! I have stretched myself by trekking up Mt Sinai by camel, walking through Hezikiah's tunnels in Jerusalem (in the dark...talk about claustrophobic) and climbing Ayers Rock. And I have a fear of heights!

Betty Alark said...

Well to answer your question - I use to get panic attacks just being inside the catscan machine- haha! Not so much anymore; I have to really control my emotions and not let them control me.

Caves- I think I could handle it as long as I knew I could get out if I had an overwhelming need to leave in a hurry; however, I'd pull it together if I had to!

Beautiful photography! I would like to call forth my courage and go inside.

http://bettyalark.blogspot.com