Saturday - Millenium Cave.
This is a full day's expedition. It's awesome and it's physical. It's like a 5 hour workout with breaks. The bit I was looking forward to was the "relaxing drift down the river" at the end. It was a cool day, so this was more like a "chill out" which I think were actually their words.. Clever!
Here's a sample of descriptions from the web.
Pure Epic Insanity!
This tour is so off the hook. It's likely not even legal in most countries. No other way to put it, this is a TRUE jungle adventure. It's insane....
Here's a review that tackles the touchy subject of risk assessment-
"It's only a matter of time until someone is killed at Millenium Caves.... There are many unnecessary risks and incorrect caving equipment."
To read more of this review go here...
Here's what the company says on their website.
Safety & Risk
Millennium Cave Tours is a physically demanding adventurous activity that involves risk. These risks could lead to accidents, injury or in extreme cases death. Millennium Cave Tours have undergone an extensive process to identify all of the hazards and risks associated with the activity. They have also implemented safety management plans and procedures to increase the safety of their guests and personnel. Despite best efforts, Millennium Cave Tours cannot absolutely guarantee your safety due to unforeseen circumstances or events. To ensure your greatest level of safety and enjoyment on the Millennium Cave Tour, it is imperative that you follow the instructions of your guides. SEE MORE> http://millenniumcavetour.weebly.com/cave-tour.html
Both risk assessments are accurate. The operators have taken some safety measures that are visible... Ladders are reasonably maintained and generally strong, but being wood in a wet environment they are slippery as anything and some rungs are making their way out, pulling out the nails that secure them. A failure of a rung will happen one day and the potential for a fatal fall is absolutely there.
Our guides were fantastic, but they hadn't updated CPR training for 5 years. It would also be good in the introduction (this happens in Luganville) to make sure everyone can swim. An attempt to do this was made..."can everyone swim?" ...... "Yes" (comes the reply from about 8 of the 19 in our group)..... "Good!.. Has anyone got asthma? (answer- "mildly")... "OK. Now sign here". One of our members didn't hear about signing, so didn't. If we lost dear Pete on the trip, would his life insurance have covered him? Would the company be exonerated? Was he even there? So many questions!
Add to that the fact that the transport to the tour site was in the back of a ute! This is their prime tourist attraction and they didn't even have enough buses to get us there!
Anyhow, as I said it was awesome. There's a little walk to the village from which the tour departs, and life jackets are fitted in the local hall.
Without going through the whole day in detail (you can find the general itinerary at the official site here http://millenniumcavetour.weebly.com/cave-tour.html) I'll cover some of the highlights and hopefully one day upload some pictures.
The walk in is awesome... It's a slip sliding walk in the jungle, then a pretty steep descent way down to the river where the cave commences. The ladders are a challenge if you are not wearing grippy shoes. I really enjoyed the challenge of balance and maintaining a safe rate of progress.. It's really a 40 minute balance challenge test.
The company- we had three locals from Ambai (who spoke French) Rod and Karen from Medical Santo (Rod confessed he might be in trouble for under-representing the degree of challenge to get Karen along!) and a huge group of French footballers who didn't really interact with us at all. There were four guides in total.
The face painting. It was fun. I suspect it had some ritual basis but our guides avoided questions about this. When I asked explicitly about the cave having a Kustom story the answer was a halfhearted but vocalised "no". Only later did I realise that a guide from Tanna probably wasn't the best person to answer this question.
The cave- It's a great cave if you like cavey sort of experiences. For me the sculpted rock was a highlight (ironically the only thing I didn't really photograph). I also enjoyed the light show provided by flailing hand held torches we were provided. The light cascade of bat guano from above and the greasy film on the surface of the water is a reminder of all things Lyssa-like that we might catch so I was a bit pleased that we eventually could see light as promise of our rebirth into the illuminated tropical forest.
The canyon was a bit of fun.. Once again not devoid of fear of death. (In fact the only respite from this was lunchtime- unless you include the risk of falling off your rock seat). There's a lot of clambering but a surprising amount of work has been done to provide footholds and handgrips. Nearly all of these are adequate, but it didn't get 100% from me owing to some frayed ropes and one handhold where the cement anchor had failed.
Next was the relaxing bit. I don't find shivering very relaxing so my drift down the river was more like a pathetic attempt to get warm in the water by being active. In and out of the water like teabags, the 40 minute "drift" was soon over and we were ready for an ascent, a dawdle through some plantations of fruit and vegetables and eventually our village reappeared. A layout awaited us.. Lots of fruit and even some coffee! Some French tourists blasted the village with their ghetto blaster in a demonstration of what we thought was cultural insensitivity. We changed, ate and wandered out of the village towards the utility. As mosquitoes spiralled around us, there was a moment's excitement when a bus appeared. It filled with the French audiophiles and our hopes dropped as we realised we were in for the bumpy ride home. Bettine and Trevor drew the shortest straws and were given the buttock piledriver massage from below, all the way home.
Bang! Amanda and Michael had created a fantastic meal (this wasn't the rest day they deserved I suspect) and after a reasonably quick turnaround, our guests arrived for dinner. Ingrid the Dr from the Netherlands, Midwives Sophie and Georgie, and Lyn arrived. Despite our tiredness, we all enjoyed a good few hours of chatting. The little light in my brain went out at 10pm.
This is a full day's expedition. It's awesome and it's physical. It's like a 5 hour workout with breaks. The bit I was looking forward to was the "relaxing drift down the river" at the end. It was a cool day, so this was more like a "chill out" which I think were actually their words.. Clever!
Here's a sample of descriptions from the web.
Pure Epic Insanity!
This tour is so off the hook. It's likely not even legal in most countries. No other way to put it, this is a TRUE jungle adventure. It's insane....
Here's a review that tackles the touchy subject of risk assessment-
"It's only a matter of time until someone is killed at Millenium Caves.... There are many unnecessary risks and incorrect caving equipment."
To read more of this review go here...
Here's what the company says on their website.
Safety & Risk
Millennium Cave Tours is a physically demanding adventurous activity that involves risk. These risks could lead to accidents, injury or in extreme cases death. Millennium Cave Tours have undergone an extensive process to identify all of the hazards and risks associated with the activity. They have also implemented safety management plans and procedures to increase the safety of their guests and personnel. Despite best efforts, Millennium Cave Tours cannot absolutely guarantee your safety due to unforeseen circumstances or events. To ensure your greatest level of safety and enjoyment on the Millennium Cave Tour, it is imperative that you follow the instructions of your guides. SEE MORE> http://millenniumcavetour.weebly.com/cave-tour.html
Both risk assessments are accurate. The operators have taken some safety measures that are visible... Ladders are reasonably maintained and generally strong, but being wood in a wet environment they are slippery as anything and some rungs are making their way out, pulling out the nails that secure them. A failure of a rung will happen one day and the potential for a fatal fall is absolutely there.
Our guides were fantastic, but they hadn't updated CPR training for 5 years. It would also be good in the introduction (this happens in Luganville) to make sure everyone can swim. An attempt to do this was made..."can everyone swim?" ...... "Yes" (comes the reply from about 8 of the 19 in our group)..... "Good!.. Has anyone got asthma? (answer- "mildly")... "OK. Now sign here". One of our members didn't hear about signing, so didn't. If we lost dear Pete on the trip, would his life insurance have covered him? Would the company be exonerated? Was he even there? So many questions!
Add to that the fact that the transport to the tour site was in the back of a ute! This is their prime tourist attraction and they didn't even have enough buses to get us there!
Anyhow, as I said it was awesome. There's a little walk to the village from which the tour departs, and life jackets are fitted in the local hall.
Without going through the whole day in detail (you can find the general itinerary at the official site here http://millenniumcavetour.weebly.com/cave-tour.html) I'll cover some of the highlights and hopefully one day upload some pictures.
The walk in is awesome... It's a slip sliding walk in the jungle, then a pretty steep descent way down to the river where the cave commences. The ladders are a challenge if you are not wearing grippy shoes. I really enjoyed the challenge of balance and maintaining a safe rate of progress.. It's really a 40 minute balance challenge test.
The company- we had three locals from Ambai (who spoke French) Rod and Karen from Medical Santo (Rod confessed he might be in trouble for under-representing the degree of challenge to get Karen along!) and a huge group of French footballers who didn't really interact with us at all. There were four guides in total.
The face painting. It was fun. I suspect it had some ritual basis but our guides avoided questions about this. When I asked explicitly about the cave having a Kustom story the answer was a halfhearted but vocalised "no". Only later did I realise that a guide from Tanna probably wasn't the best person to answer this question.
The cave- It's a great cave if you like cavey sort of experiences. For me the sculpted rock was a highlight (ironically the only thing I didn't really photograph). I also enjoyed the light show provided by flailing hand held torches we were provided. The light cascade of bat guano from above and the greasy film on the surface of the water is a reminder of all things Lyssa-like that we might catch so I was a bit pleased that we eventually could see light as promise of our rebirth into the illuminated tropical forest.
The canyon was a bit of fun.. Once again not devoid of fear of death. (In fact the only respite from this was lunchtime- unless you include the risk of falling off your rock seat). There's a lot of clambering but a surprising amount of work has been done to provide footholds and handgrips. Nearly all of these are adequate, but it didn't get 100% from me owing to some frayed ropes and one handhold where the cement anchor had failed.
Next was the relaxing bit. I don't find shivering very relaxing so my drift down the river was more like a pathetic attempt to get warm in the water by being active. In and out of the water like teabags, the 40 minute "drift" was soon over and we were ready for an ascent, a dawdle through some plantations of fruit and vegetables and eventually our village reappeared. A layout awaited us.. Lots of fruit and even some coffee! Some French tourists blasted the village with their ghetto blaster in a demonstration of what we thought was cultural insensitivity. We changed, ate and wandered out of the village towards the utility. As mosquitoes spiralled around us, there was a moment's excitement when a bus appeared. It filled with the French audiophiles and our hopes dropped as we realised we were in for the bumpy ride home. Bettine and Trevor drew the shortest straws and were given the buttock piledriver massage from below, all the way home.
Bang! Amanda and Michael had created a fantastic meal (this wasn't the rest day they deserved I suspect) and after a reasonably quick turnaround, our guests arrived for dinner. Ingrid the Dr from the Netherlands, Midwives Sophie and Georgie, and Lyn arrived. Despite our tiredness, we all enjoyed a good few hours of chatting. The little light in my brain went out at 10pm.
Comments
Post a Comment