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Friday, May 25, 2012

Cocklebiddy



Cocklebiddy is a small roadhouse community located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia.


It is the third stop east of Norseman on the long journey east across the Nullarbor Plain


Like other locations in the Nullarbor Plain area, the area consists of little more than a roadhouse. The current business name of the roadhouse is the Wedgetail Inn and like most other Nullabor establishments has access to satellite television, as well as providing caravan park, and hotel motel facilities.


The Cocklebiddy area is noted for its underground caves, the most notable of which is Cocklebiddy cave - a single passage more than 6 km long, of which around 90% is underwater and only accessible via cave diving. 


In August 1983, a French team set a world record here for the longest cave dive in the world. In October that year, the French record was beaten by an Australian team when Hugh Morrison of Western Australia pushed another 280 metres beyond where the French had tied off. In 1995 South Australian cave diver Christopher Brown went another 20 metres further again, and in late 2008 much of the cave's more distant regions were explored, mapped (using radio-location "pingers" designed and operated by Ken Smith) and videotaped by Craig Challen and Dr Richard ("Harry") Harris et al. using hi-tech rebreather technologies. 

The guys in the 2008 video above wrote:
"By car, Cocklebiddy Cave is 1068 Km east of where I live in Western Australia. Everything about diving there was an adventure. My buddy and I swam about a kilometer in and surfaced up through an underground lake into a huge chamber. There were shells and sea-urchins embedded in the walls. Western Australia is bloody magic."

Cocklebiddy Cave Diving History.pdf 

Outside the Wedgetail Inn is a 'blackboard' sign:

Welcome
to
Cocklebiddy
Population         80
Budgies           25
Quails               7
Dogs                 1
Kangaroos         1,234,567

Temperature :
Outside 45C
Inside 16C
Beer 2C

Suit yourself where
you'd rather be!

9 comments:

joeh said...

Cool. Who knew?

Cro Magnon said...

Personally I'm more of an 'open water diver'; underground gives me the creeps' especially when there are tiny openings to squeeze through.

My youngest son visited many such small roadhouses. At one he became involved in a fight, and was locked-up in the outside wooden 'dunny' over night. But I'm sure the previous night's cool beer made it all worth while.

JohnD said...

They dispense their own form of 'rough justice' in the outback - even if it is to just confine a feisty kid overnight in isolation, very sobering treatment in more way than one! lol!

John Going Gently said...

only in Australia!
cracking!

JohnD said...

lol! Yes! I think you could fit Wales in the horizons of the picture of Cocklebiddy, above!

Elephant's Child said...

I am a tad claustrophobic. Caving in the dark strikes me as hell. I would be happy to stay above ground and watch the wild life (humans included).

JohnD said...

Well, you'ld never get me down one of those caves even if they were dry! lol!

Doc said...

I don't even like to swim in the lake near our summer cabin, the un-known gives me the creeps

AstridsSoapbox said...

Thankfully this is not 'the pub with no beer.' As to the caves...nah..I'll try the sunshine no matter what the temp. might be :)