Peacock Springs - A First Taste

On Saturday we entered Peacock Springs. It was a full 5 weeks since the last time, when we visited to take an above water peak after the flooding. There was a huge difference in both the water level and colour since our last visit. You can see from the two pics I've shown here. The last time, in the pic with me, the water was up 4 steps and you can see the red tannic colour visible over the steps. Whereas, in the pic with Kev, only two steps and the lower platform are submerged and you can see through the water which is a greenish colour instead of red. It's not perfect, but it's worlds better. So we were excited!

Peacock Springs 2 weeks after the flooding, tannic and closed for diving

 

Peacock Springs 7 weeks after the flooding, clearer and open for diving

First off we had to check that our new DUI suits were waterproof. So we donned them and jumped in at the steps for a test run :) 

Me at Peacock I kit-up area, proud and happy in my new DUI suit

Me in Peacock I testing out if my new DUI leaks

Kev at Peacock I testing his new DUI for leaks

Our Hammerhead rebreathers ready for diving at Peacock I kit up area

Leak proofed, it was time to take the suits and ourselves into the caves of Peacock Springs! We had been told by a guide called Tony at the Dive Outpost that there were two gold lines leading from the cavern entrance at Peacock I, which is right below those steps. If you're facing the steps, then the line on the left would lead along the Peanut Line, and the line on the right would lead up to Olsen Sink. Tony told us that the left-hand side of the caves (Peanut and Peacock to Olsen) was pretty much free of tannic water, but that the right-hand side along to Cisteen and The Wishbone still had walls of tannic water. So we decided that for our first dive we would go along the Peanut Line and aim to make the jump to the line in The Crossover. Later that afternoon we would try to do the main right-hand line up towards Olsen Sink, and then make the jump from that side into The Crossover passage and try to complete our circuit.

Peacock I Peanut Line to The Crossover jump

I was leading this dive. As far as we could tell, we were the first people into the water at Peacock although one other team was setting up right behind us. We descended into the cavern entrance and quickly saw the two main lines, there was no need to run our own reel. So in we went onto the Peanut Line. The passage starts off quite wide and has lots of rocks and no silt. This passage is only about 7-10m deep.

Start of the Peanut Line from Peacock I

Peanut Line just before the passage narrows over a lip at about 250'

Then after a while the passage narrowed over a lip at about 250' into a flat tube where my feet were brushing the roof and I was pulling myself forward instead of finning because there was no silt and finning disturbed more water than gently pulling along. The current was negligible. We dropped from about 7m to 12m and then started to climb again.

At about 400' (120m), the passage opens out into a huge breakdown that bends down and to the right. At the start of the breakdown the floor is about 5m deep. Then you drop through this huge wide boulder-strewn opening all the way down to about 17m. After that you bend left again and the passage is wide and high with a silty bottom and beautiful white limestone walls and structures. We passed a few passages to the left and then after about 1200' (365m) I saw the jump to The Crossover on the right. I made the jump and left our named cookies on the line so that we'd be sure to recognise it when we returned from the other direction.

Then we headed back to complete an easy 60min dive. The visibility certainly wasn't perfect, but Peanut was small enough that the decreased visibility wasn't too noticeable and we were both really happy with our first dive into Peacock.

The new dry suits are a wonder! I can't say it enough or be eloquent enough to explain how awesome they are. I was properly dry for the first time in at least 3 years as my Otter suit has been leaking through the seals for ages. But I was also comfortable. The squeeze on the suit isn't like a plastic bag trying to rip your skin or strangle you, but more like a gentle pressure reminding you to add gas as you descend. When I put on the Otter, there is so much bulk around the bends in my arms that I can't reach anything close to me, whereas in the DUI I have almost as much flexibility as a wetsuit. The differences are just incredible. Thank you Alan and thank you DUI :)

We went back past Dive Outpost to The Luraville Country Store to grab a sandwich, which is apparently a famous lunch in cave diving country - even Jill Heinerth mentions this in her book. 

Luraville Country Store

Luraville Country Store Windchime

Springs of Luraville painting

Then we set up for dive number two. This time we planned to head from Peacock to Olsen Sink, and then backtrack and make the jump into The Crossover and hopefully meet up with the jump reel I'd laid this morning.

Peacock to Olsen Line, planning for the jump to The Crossover

This route drops directly from the cavern entrance down through a narrow crack all the way down to 20m. Kev was leading this dive. As you pass through the bottom of the chimney the cave really opens up and now the decreased visibility from the tannic flooding became obvious. It was difficult to see the walls and the cave seemed darker because of it. But from what we could see, the rooms were vast and there were lots of offshoots and passages along left and right as we followed the main line towards Pothole Sink.

Narrow chimney leading down from Peacock on the right main line

Just after the chimney at the bottom of Peacock main line to Olsen

Route along Peacock to Olsen

The vertical size of the rooms reminded me a bit of Hole-In-The-Wall and I can only imagine how beautiful this cave passage must be when it's clear. The passage also had a lot of river debris in the form of tree branches and mounds of silt. The main line markers counted up to 250' where we hit an arrow marking back towards Peacock and another arrow marking forward towards Pothole Sink. We've never seen this double marking where the arrows change direction always pointing to the nearest escape to air.

We continued on until we hit a right-angle bend to the right and a line going up vertically from the main line that had a white slate with the words "Emergency Exit Only" written on it.

Pothole Sink exit line marking

We tried to go up a little and find light entering from the sink, but all we saw was a dark ceiling so we continued on our way until about 600' which must have been about where the Nicholson Tunnel jump is. Then we turned and exited because Kev was wearing his new thick inner and was getting really uncomfortable. We'd have to find our reel in The Crossover another day. Total dive time was 41 minutes with a max depth of 21m.