Fictional caver rescued from Kahurangi cave system

Squeezing through tight spaces and wading through freezing cold cave water is not everyone’s idea of a fun weekend, but for 66 of New Zealand and Australia’s most experienced cavers that’s exactly what they did.

Sixty Kiwis and six Australian cavers worked together to rescue a fictional injured caver from Bulmer Cave in Kahurangi National Park– a 74.3km long cave system that runs through Mount Owen.

The triennial New Zealand Deep Cave Search and Rescue (SAR) training exercise began at 7am last Friday and ran through till midday Sunday.

The National Park has three long cave systems, with Bulmer Cave being 74.3 km long and 750 metres deep.

Volunteers took eight months to plan the training, which saw the fictional caver fall six to seven metres down a seven-metre pitch about a three to four hour walk into the cave.

Organisers say it’s a fitting place to stage the rescue, having been the site of an incident in the 90s where a caver fell and injured themselves.

The rescue saw Fire and Emergency NZ, LandSAR, Cave SAR, and NZ Police SAR team up to bring the caver home.

Nelson Fire and Emergency and the catering team brought their incident command vehicle to help manage communications. There was a 24-hour incident management team (IMT) set up with the base a short walk from the cave’s entrance, to allow the rescue tea to have a lie down, refuel, and recover between their times in the cave itself.

One of the incident controllers, senior constable Sarah Cook, says it was great to see experienced cavers and emergency personnel work together to practice and prepare for a potential real-life event.

“We know from experience that cave rescues can present many challenges for responders, so having a cohort of trained and equipped search and rescue cavers ready to respond is vital,” she says.

“While caving is an undeniably exhilarating excursion there is always going to be a risk of falls, flash flooding, injuries or cave-ins, especially for inexperienced or unprepared cavers.

All explorers should bring a companion, dress appropriately, and watch for weather changes.

“We would like to thank the local community in the Owen Valley area for their support of this exercise and their ongoing support for the cavers who come to explore Bulmer Cave,” Sarah says. “Despite being ready to jump into action, we want cavers to enjoy the experience and be able to walk out on their own.”