Caves under the Nullarbor Plains

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Separating our great state of Western Australia from the rest of the continent is the Nullarbor Plain. This is not a desert as such but vegetation is sparse and the climate is not conducive to human habitation. The vegetation doesn’t support much at all. Under the Nullarbor is a vast system of limestone caves; a wondrous land of intricate caverns and formations, including one of the largest tunnels in the world. The Weebubbie and Cocklebiddy caves house underground cathedrals and beautiful limestone formations. They can only be explored by experienced cave-divers. Cave-diving in these areas is strictly regulated and, following a roof collapse in 1996 the Weebubbie cave is now closed to the public. At the rise of ruining my eyesight, I’ve copied this from a poster I photographed on the Nullarbor Plains. I thought it was interesting. All caves breathe to a certain extent and for a variety of reasons. Nullarbor caves are renowned for their sometimes violent breathing. The breathing of these caves is caused by changes in surface barometric pressure. When there is high barometric pressure in the caves and a low surface pressure, the caves will breathe out until a balance is reached – this may take several hours. When there is high surface pressure and low cave pressure, the action reverses with a strong draught flowing into the caves. The photo shows some rocks which we found just off the side of the road. It’s quite likely that the hole leads to caves too.