Photographer Neil Silverwood is one of New Zealand’s keenest cavers who enjoys life the most when he’s underground. What drives him to keep on caving is the feeling of being away from stress every time he’s down under. “In NZ you can still be the first person into a cave, caving offers the only true exploration left. I also enjoy leaving behind all the stresses of life, caving’s very simple and offer’s an environment which is as isolated as you can find in NZ”.
Far away from sunlight, 36-year-old Neil Silverwood traveled with an extreme cave exploration team to witness the 1,200-meter-deep natural marvel and captured the never-seen-before cave formations on camera on South Island, New Zealand. “I was motivated by the idea of showing people how amazing the caves can be. At the same time, I wanted to show how hard people work to discover new caves for exploration.”
This is where it all started – the entrance to the Stormy Pot cave system. It took Neil three years of exploratory trips and innumerable hours of underground walking to apprehend the beauty lying beneath the ground.
This figure looks like a monster from underneath.
Upon going down, cave explorers roped each other to be ready just in case something happens.
Neil was able to catch a glimpse of the stalactites – a formation descending from the roof of the cave…
a stalagmite – a rock formation that ascends from the ground of the cave…
and a drop of water drips on to a stalagmite.
Cavers walked through massive tunnels originally created beneath the water table in Nettlebed.
Hundreds of meters below the ground, the team worked its way through tiny cracks and massive caverns.
They also faced dangers and difficulties such as extreme cold and pitch-black conditions in the interior of the cave.
The cave explorers had to go through tight spaces which made the exploration painstakingly slow.
But the struggle was worth it to discover the depths of what is now know as the deepest ave in the southern hemisphere and the second-deepest cave in the world. Caver Kieran Mckay – the leader of the team – squeezed in to this spot named the Gates of Troy.
Now on to the brighter side… “The colours are intense, everything’s just so bright. You can really see the beauty,” Neil said…
encapsulating the beauty that is lying beneath the ground.
They also found a pool down under…
and a running river signifying the possibility that he Nettlebed and Stormy Pot cave systems shared a physical connection.
Having been exhausted by the exploration (mostly takes 18 hours to accomplish), cavers took some rest and spent time living underground.
The Cavers Team – Troy Watson, Chris Whitehouse, Aaron Gillespie, Neil Silverwood and Kieran Mckay – as they gave their all out smiles.
These Kiwi cavers have been successful in their expedition, discovering something small, but significant – a connection between two massive cave systems in the Arthur Mountain range of the South Island of New Zealand.
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Wonderful