Photos reveal surprising Aussie secret

But Trevor Ashby’s farm near Mount Gambier, South Australia, holds a remarkable secret.Many Australians would be stunned to find out the otherworldly sight that’s hidden deep underneath, which has been described as being the closest we can get to venturing into space without actually leaving the Earth.Welcome to the Shaft – a “bottomless pit” of water which was a very popular diving hole during the late 1960s and early 1970s before it was closed in 1973 when tragedy struck and four divers died. The public outcry that followed sparked the formation of the Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA), which sought to self-regulate cave diving instead of it being banned.The Shaft, which is estimated to be at least 120 metres deep, was discovered when Ashby’s grandfather was ploughing a paddock and a horse put its hoof through the surface. The family tried to fill it by sending a flurry of stones down, but it was so vast they quickly realised they had no hope of success.To this day, the only way to access the huge cave underneath is via the tiny hole hidden among the grass.It is the darkest and deepest recorded sinkhole in the region, and is even used by South Australia Police Water Operations – including as recently as last weekend – to help them practice searching for people or objects in underwater locations. An otherworldly siteKelvyn Ball, site director and guide at The Shaft for 15 years, told news.com.au the site is remarkable.“It’s a unique hole in the middle of a paddock, when they ploughed the paddocks the horse put its foot through it,” Mr Ball said.“It’s quite spectacular. We’ve had a lot of people say it’s like going to space … It’s unique, it’s a very large volume of water, you wouldn’t even know it’s there.”Describing the descent into the region’s deepest and darkest sinkhole, he said: “The hole itself is only about a metre round. The water itself is about 7 metres down till you hit water and the water’s about the size of a tennis court. “The lake at the top, that’s where we put gear on. “When you do down, it’s about the size of a SCG footy oval underneath … Two tunnels go off either end but following the deaths they don’t really let us dive them.”Mr Ball said that most dives are done to a 40 metre limit, which is a requirement from land owners.He said the introduction of rules around cave diving in Australia following the 1973 tragedy has slashed the numbers of lives lost. They include such measures as enhanced training, backups for air supply and a continuous line that runs to the surface which provides orientation for divers to get back up if their vision is obstructed by silt.“Six deaths in 47 years, it does make a huge difference,” Mr Ball said.He said there are currently approximately 660 members of the CDAA who are fairly active. The most amazing sight that cave divers could experience inside only happens in some months of the year.“It’s not called The Shaft because of the round hole you get in, it’s called The Shaft because the sun at certain times of the year, between November and February, at about midday a brilliant blue stream of light goes down and hits the wall.“It’s quite fascinating when you’re in there, all the divers go to the light. That is quite spectacular when that happens.”A deadly diveOn May 28, 1973, eight divers entered The Shaft but only four came out.Those who lost their lives were siblings Stephen and Christine M. Millott, Gordon G. Roberts, and John H. Bockerman, The Border Watch reported at the time. They had not used a guide line and had ventured further than planned, become lost, ran out of air and drowned. None of them were experienced sinkhole divers.The bodies of Christine and Gordon were found together, according to a report by Wallace B Budd, former Chief Superintendent, South Australia, with reports suggesting they held each other in their final moments as they knew their deaths were imminent. Surviving diver Larry Reynolds told of how he last saw them looking “frightened”, they had swum the wrong direction into a dome in the ceiling which had no exit.Their torch lights had been seen frantically searching for an exit. John was believed to have been under the effects of nitrogen narcosis, and unaware he was swimming further into the cave to his doom. Not much is known about Stephen’s final moments, it’s believed he had been lost beneath the cave ceiling. It took around a year to recover their bodies.

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April 16, 2022 at 10:57PM
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But Trevor Ashby’s farm near Mount Gambier, South Australia, holds a remarkable secret.Many Australians would be stunned to find out the otherworldly sight that’s hidden deep underneath, which has been described as being the closest we can get to venturing into space without actually leaving the Earth.Welcome to the Shaft – a “bottomless pit” of water which was a very popular diving hole during the late 1960s and early 1970s before it was closed in 1973 when tragedy struck and four divers died. The public outcry that followed sparked the formation of the Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA), which sought to self-regulate cave diving instead of it being banned.The Shaft, which is estimated to be at least 120 metres deep, was discovered when Ashby’s grandfather was ploughing a paddock and a horse put its hoof through the surface. The family tried to fill it by sending a flurry of stones down, but it was so vast they quickly realised they had no hope of success.To this day, the only way to access the huge cave underneath is via the tiny hole hidden among the grass.It is the darkest and deepest recorded sinkhole in the region, and is even used by South Australia Police Water Operations – including as recently as last weekend – to help them practice searching for people or objects in underwater locations. An otherworldly siteKelvyn Ball, site director and guide at The Shaft for 15 years, told news.com.au the site is remarkable.“It’s a unique hole in the middle of a paddock, when they ploughed the paddocks the horse put its foot through it,” Mr Ball said.“It’s quite spectacular. We’ve had a lot of people say it’s like going to space … It’s unique, it’s a very large volume of water, you wouldn’t even know it’s there.”Describing the descent into the region’s deepest and darkest sinkhole, he said: “The hole itself is only about a metre round. The water itself is about 7 metres down till you hit water and the water’s about the size of a tennis court. “The lake at the top, that’s where we put gear on. “When you do down, it’s about the size of a SCG footy oval underneath … Two tunnels go off either end but following the deaths they don’t really let us dive them.”Mr Ball said that most dives are done to a 40 metre limit, which is a requirement from land owners.He said the introduction of rules around cave diving in Australia following the 1973 tragedy has slashed the numbers of lives lost. They include such measures as enhanced training, backups for air supply and a continuous line that runs to the surface which provides orientation for divers to get back up if their vision is obstructed by silt.“Six deaths in 47 years, it does make a huge difference,” Mr Ball said.He said there are currently approximately 660 members of the CDAA who are fairly active. The most amazing sight that cave divers could experience inside only happens in some months of the year.“It’s not called The Shaft because of the round hole you get in, it’s called The Shaft because the sun at certain times of the year, between November and February, at about midday a brilliant blue stream of light goes down and hits the wall.“It’s quite fascinating when you’re in there, all the divers go to the light. That is quite spectacular when that happens.”A deadly diveOn May 28, 1973, eight divers entered The Shaft but only four came out.Those who lost their lives were siblings Stephen and Christine M. Millott, Gordon G. Roberts, and John H. Bockerman, The Border Watch reported at the time. They had not used a guide line and had ventured further than planned, become lost, ran out of air and drowned. None of them were experienced sinkhole divers.The bodies of Christine and Gordon were found together, according to a report by Wallace B Budd, former Chief Superintendent, South Australia, with reports suggesting they held each other in their final moments as they knew their deaths were imminent. Surviving diver Larry Reynolds told of how he last saw them looking “frightened”, they had swum the wrong direction into a dome in the ceiling which had no exit.Their torch lights had been seen frantically searching for an exit. John was believed to have been under the effects of nitrogen narcosis, and unaware he was swimming further into the cave to his doom. Not much is known about Stephen’s final moments, it’s believed he had been lost beneath the cave ceiling. It took around a year to recover their bodies.