The light at the end of the tunnel

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Fish Rock Cave off South West Rocks didn't appear in any of the Australia Top 10 dive site listings that I looked at, but after speaking with various divers along the coast and doing some Internet research, it seemed to be a very highly regarded site. In fact, several experienced divers went so far as to say it was one of the best in the world, let alone just Australia.

There were a couple of logistical problems in that the Greyhound only stopped at Kempsey, about half an hour's drive from South West Rocks, plus there was no backpacker accommodation in South West Rocks, but the main dive shop in South West Rocks solved both these problems at a stroke by offering a free pick-up from Kempsey as well as having dorms directly above the dive shop. In fact the facilities were excellent, with a fully-equipped kitchen including free brekkie items, a TV/video, and free pool table.

The other person disembarking at Kempsey was Junko-san, another diver but considerably more experienced (~230 dives) than me. (In fact, most people would be hard-pressed to name a reason to get off at Kempsey, which was reflected in the puzzled looks we received from our fellow Greyhounders when getting off and then getting on again the next day. Even the Rough Guide doesn't mention Fish Rock Cave). Our lift appeared seconds later and I wasn't enormously overjoyed to hear that conditions the next day might be a bit "interesting" courtesy of a northeasterly expected to put in an appearance circa midday.

I found myself sharing a dorm with a guy leading a team from New South Wales Fisheries who were catching and tagging grey nurse sharks up and down the NSW coast. The catching was done with the assistance of local dive centres, via the improbable method of lassoing their tail. The shark is then hauled into a stretcher beside the boat, and 1 or 2 tags inserted near the dorsal fin. A network of listening stations has recently been completed along the coast so one type of tag can be picked up by those sensors. The other tag collects all sorts of data over a period of time, after which its fastening to the shark dissolves away, it floats to the surface, and can be detected by satellite. It's hoped to learn more about the migratory patterns of this endangered species via this tagging program. One of the other members of the team was apparently Australia's top expert in the field of shark reproduction.

Given my previous chundering exploits, I had simply some water and a Kwell for breakfast the next morning. The 3rd member of the dive group was Roger, an English guy who was spending his retirement diving around the world. He had ~4,000 dives under his belt, making me yet again the greenest member of the group. (Though there was a spare dive shop employee in the group to potentially buddy whoever ran out of air first, the protocol was for the diver at the threshold to do their safety stop and ascent solo - not sure how normal this is).

The boat was the best one I've been on since my course. It had metal benches, a comprehensive superstructure, and cover from the sun - all of which were needed given the 25 minute journey to Fish Rock. We had to don lifejackets when going through the surf, which comfortingly had "May not be suitable for all conditions" emblazoned across them. It was quite a rough trip out, and we all got soaked. For whatever reason, I didn't feel nauseous at all during the day, so I'm no closer to understanding what gets my chunder reflex going.

We moored close to where the NSW Fisheries team was conducting their tagging, so were able to see the epic struggles required to position the uncooperative shark in the stretcher. We found out later that they'd been able to tag 5, which had exceeded their expectations.

The first dive was led by Ashley, who must have still been in his teens. The spare dive shop guy - who seemed determined not to crack his face the entire time - also come with us. We descended into the Shark Gutters where we immediately saw a grey nurse. We then progressed across a ridge against the current. The trick here was to stay low and then, when the current abated, crawl your way over the ridge by holding on to bits of rock. This was fine for people with gloves (note that gloves are rarely included in full gear hire), but a combination of not finding a handhold due to being in a sea urchin minefield, and unerringly finding pieces of rock that came away in my hands, I had 3 unsuccessful attempts to get over the ridge and eventually Ashley had to drag me over. It was probably this part of the dive that depleted my air as well as inflicted a number of cuts on my hands, a couple of which bled like crazy once I was back on the boat.

We saw a couple of rays then made a foray into the "easy" end of Fish Rock Cave itself. The cave is more like a tunnel, and the 124m swim-through is what makes the site so unique - it's this that people come to do. We all had torches and the tunnel wasn't particularly narrow, but as my buoyancy still isn't the greatest, there was a bit of wall/roof bumping on my part as we penetrated the darkness. There were tens of thousands of fish in there, and I was able to enjoy short periods of looking around while my brain suggested to me that maybe I didn't have the technical skills to do the full swim-through.

I got to the air threshold first and Ashley led me to the mooring line, where I did my safety stop clinging on to the rope as it bucked and heaved under the pull of the boat in the surface swell. A school of batfish circled me curiously as I peered around.

Once I was back on the boat, and the skipper Kev had kindly pointed out an enormous booger dangling from my left nostril, my hand cuts started bleeding freely. Even a good dousing in Dettol and the application of an Elastoplast did nothing to stem the flow, and the the thought did cross my mind that re-entering the water in a known shark area with an open wound might not be the sanest option. I must admit I hadn't felt comfortable in the cave, but it turned out we'd actually done 75% of the entire swim-through before turning back. This boosted my confidence that I'd be able to do the whole thing even though the other 25% was the hardest part.

Kev led the 2nd dive and we entered the cave from the "hard" end. There appeared to be a fish traffic jam at the entrance, such was the density of sealife there. Just inside the entrance Kev pointed up one of the "bubble caves" (chimneys at the top of which are air pockets that you can breathe) at a black cod swimming around. There were also rays and wobbegongs in the sand on the cave floor. This bit of the dive was the most difficult for me, as the cave went up then along then down, which required good buoyancy control. I ended up glued to the roof until it finally registered that Kev was signalling me to (of course) let air out of my BCD. I think I'd been loth to risk dropping in on an unsuspecting wobbegong. I began to feel rather claustrophobic, which seeing some lobsters waving their claws at me did nothing to relieve.

Seconds later I recognised where we were, and could discern the light-blue water that spoke of the exit. My anxiety disappeared and it was magical swimming out of the darkness into a cloud of fish, a feeling which was magnified by the relief at having accomplished the swim-through safely. This would have to rank as the most exciting dive of my brief career so far.

The journey back to shore, as promised, was rough and had added discomfort value because my bladder was close to bursting (if you need to take a leak when the boat is stationary, you need to do it off the back of the boat - not so easy when i) there's another boat nearby that will get a good view of the act, and ii) you're having enough trouble keeping your footing let alone aiming at sea rather than boat). Back on land there was time for a shower and some food then we were whizzed off to Kempsey to catch the hour-late Greyhound to Sydney.

Many thanks to Junko-san for allowing me to use her excellent photos in this blog entry.

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Photos

Wobbegong aka carpet shark
Copyright Junko Ichikawa

Me exiting Fish Rock Cave
Copyright Junko Ichikawa

Grey nurse shark
Copyright Junko Ichikawa

Turtle
Copyright Junko Ichikawa

Comments

[Sharon(Syd, NSW)]

Great Entry
Hey, just read your blog - very entertaining and so informative - thank you! I was just trying to find out some info on SWR and you provided excellent commentary - as a nearly new diver myself I shared your bouyancy issues, excellent,thanks!