Kelly Hill Cave on KI: Lisa goes caving in the Kangaroo Island region of South Australia

Welcome to the mysterious underworld of Kangaroo Island. When we descended into the Kelly Hill Cave we did so in the company of a knowledgeable National Parks guide like Nick Heath. We also got to explore this subterranean wonderland with the help of electric lights… but spare a thought for the first people who ventured in here.

The first person to stumble across this amazing network of underground chambers was a farmer who literally rode in having failed to spot one of the many sink-holes beneath the scrub on this part of the island.

Nick Heath, Cave Guide: "He got out of the cave, walked back, told everybody all about what he's discovered, decided he's not going to rescue the horse on his own, leaves it sitting in the bottom of the cave and they haven't seen anything of it since. Because the horse was Kate Kelly the area through here's been Kelly's Hill Cave ever since the 1880s."

It's an amazing world of passages, big chambers and strange rock formations that have been fascinating tourists and cavers ever since. The thing that strikes you down here is that things happen very slowly.

Nick Heath, Cave Guide: "Stalactites are the ones we get hanging off the roof. They form when the water drips from the top and each time it drips we get these tiny amounts of crystal left behind. And then where they're dripping off, it lands on the floor, stays in the same spot and you start to get that crystal building up as a stalagmite coming up off the floor."

All of this is actually a petrified sand dune which blew onto the Island when the surrounding sea level dropped during an ice age about 2 million years ago. For the past half a million years or so water has been washing through to form these amazing caverns.

Nick Heath, Cave Guide: "For the last 50 years they've been exploring in here, they've mapped bits and pieces around two kilometres square of where we're standing. And they think that it maybe goes all the way right through to the coast and if that's the case there could be another seven or eight kilometres of cave out to the south of us."

I'm happy to leave that to the professional cavers to explore. But if you are a bit more adventurous, you can do some adventure caving in here - the guides will take you beyond the well-lit show cave and into the darker depths of this ancient labyrinth. Booking are essential. Meanwhile, standard guided tours operate between 10.30 and 4.15 daily. The caves are off the South Coast Road in the Kelly Hill Conservation Park. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Kelly Hill Caves
South Coast Road
Kangaroo Island
Bookings 8553 4464

Published 5th September 2010