Buchan

Jun 7 -10, 2019

Facebook event:

Hey everyone, finished exams, or just want a break from it? Well, over the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend we’ll be going to Buchan Caves in eastern Victoria. The current plan is to drive via Bombala and Cann River. It’s a 5h drive, and we’ll probably stop a couple of times for dinner (probably in park somewhere), snacks and fuel. Current departure time is 3:30pm from ANU Sport on Friday, but I’ll advise people of any changes. If people want to avoid the whole parking-at-ANU issue, I can try and organise a lift in for you…

As it’s a long drive, we’ll probably get to Buchan between 9-10pm, so bring a pillow for the trip (unless you’re driving). We’ll be camping at the Caves Reserve. Usually we camp in the small area on the right as you enter the reserve (as it’s closest to the pub), but I’ll post the location once I know for sure. The campground is quite flash, with hot showers, flush toilets, tables, and a communal fireplace. Phone reception on this trip will be patchy at best, so don’t count on it if it’s your Mum’s birthday that weekend.

Buchan has a really excellent selection of caves, ranging from mud wallows (I’m thinking about you, Trogdip), fun crawls, excellent formation, underground rivers, and challenging squeezes that want to steal all your clothes. There should be options here for cavers of all experience levels. We’ll be caving with two Melbourne based clubs, ROC (RMIT Outdoors Club) and MUOC (Monash University Outdoors Club), so it should be a fantastic weekend. We may even watch some caving horror movies in one of the local caves on Sunday night, so bring something comfy to sit on for that. We’ll likely head back to Canberra about 4pm on Monday.

Cost: It’s about a 900km round trip, so expect fuel costs to be about $140 per a vehicle. If we have three people to a car, fuel will be $45 per person, with $5 equipment fee, and a (guesstimate) of $20 camping costs, for TOTAL COST of $70 each

What you’ll need to bring:

NUCC will provide any SRT equipment, helmets, headtorches, cavepacks, and maybe ladders. Bad jokes come free of charge, as per usual, but best to stock up and bring your own too.