PHOTO GALLERY
Caves can be remarkably beautiful and spectacular places. This is a selection of images from some of New Zealand's most impressive caves.
Armageddon Cave, Fox River, Buller District
Armageddon Cave, near Punakaiki on the West Coast, is a cave about two kilometres long which captures the water from Cave Creek North and funnels it toward the Fox River. Despite 50 years of effort, cavers have failed to connect Armageddon Cave to Fox River Cave, only a few hundred metres away. Photos by Mark Wareing.
Bulmer Cavern, Mt Owen, Tasman District
Bulmer Cavern on Mt Owen is the longest cave in New Zealand, with 74 kilometres of surveyed passage. It also has a depth range of 748 metres, and eight entrances. The cave features enormous passages, huge canyons, vast shafts and large chambers, as well as narrow rifts.
Bulmer Cavern is also known as a cave of incredibly beautiful formations, although, perversely, very extensive sections of the cave have virtually no formations, and the usual flowstone and typical stalactites are largely absent. This cave specialises in bizarrely shaped and unusual formations.
Large entrances and passages
Many people have an impression of caves being small restricted spaces and are concerned about squeezes and claustrophobia. While those tight places certainly exist, caves also have gigantic open spaces - vast chambers and galleries that are almost too large to comprehend. Some are shown from various caves in the Tasman District.
NZSS Photographic competition 2023
NZSS runs a photographic competition each year in conjunction with its Annual General Meeting. Below are a selection of images from the 2023 competition taken in a range of caves, from photographers Paul Rowe, Gavin Holden, Emma Ironmonger, and Vivienne Hanley.
NZSS Photographic competition 2021
Each year's photographic competition produces a range of remarkably varied cave photographs. Here are some images from Eugene Yeo and Peter Baxter that featured in the 2021 photographic competition.
