Thinking about coming caving with us? Awesome!
Here’s a quick checklist of what you’ll need to bring, plus some useful info about transport, costs, and gear.
If you have your own overalls (non-greasy, please!) or a personal headtorch, feel free to bring them.
NUCC provides helmets, headtorches, and other specialised caving gear.
For overnight trips, you’ll need to bring your own camping gear — tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and cooking gear.
If you don’t have these, don’t worry! Many club members have extra gear (it seems to multiply like bacteria) and are often happy to lend items.
You’ll also need to bring your own breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
We usually carpool from ANU Sport to and from caving trips.
Fuel costs are shared fairly among drivers, and this is included in the trip fee.
When you register for a trip, please let the trip leader know:
Remember: you must register to come on a trip!
You can do this by:
NUCC keeps costs as low as possible — we know most of us are broke uni students!
Typically, costs include:
That usually adds up to about:
Considering that commercial “adventure” caving tours can cost $150–200 for just half a day, our trips are excellent value — and (in our totally unbiased opinion) the caves are often much better too! 3. A non-squishy, non-crumbly lunch and snacks for underground 4. A small waterbottle (500-750ml is best) 5. 4xAA batteries to for the club headtorches 6. Clean clothes for the trip home If you have overalls (not greasy!) and a personal headtorch, by all means bring them. NUCC provides caving helmets, headtorches and any other specialised caving gear. On overnight trips, you will need your own camping gear (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, cooking gear, etc). Some club members have extra camping gear (I think the stuff undergoes binary fission), and may be happy to lend camping equipment if you don’t have your own. You will also need to bring your own breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Transport: To get to and from caving trips, we generally car-pool from ANU Sport. Passengers generally contribute fuel money towards transport costs, and this is built into the trip fee. This money is split equitably amongst car-owners who carry people or gear for the trip. When you register for a trip, please let the trip leader know if you have a car, can give passengers a lift, or if you need a lift yourself. Remember, you need to register for caving trips. Best ways are to either register on Facebook, tell the trip leader you want to come at SRT, or send an email to whoever is coordinating the trip. Costs: NUCC tries to keep costs to a minimum - most of us are poor, broke uni students anyway! Generally, there’ll be four potential cost components on a trip: - Equipment maintenance (generally $5 or $10, depending on the trip) - Fuel money - Camping/accommodation fees, where charged - Park access fees, where charged Usually this adds up to $10-20 for a day trip, and $25-50 for an overnight (or longer) trip, depending on where and how far away a caving location is. Compared to cost of commercial ‘adventure’ caving tour ($150-200 for a half day trip only), this is extraordinarily good value, and many of the caves we visit are better anyway (in the author’s utterly biased opinion).