SIX MILE TUNNEL

Our excursion to 6 mile tunnel in July 2006 was not successful as the water level at the entrance was up to the ceiling of the cave. This was due to the damming of the pond in front of the cave by Sunway. We informed Sunway of this problem and asked them to lower the water level of the pond to make the cave accessible again. This they have done and we were able to enter the cave on Dec 3rd after swimming across the pond. No more wading across thick mud and water lilies as this is now buried under the earth dumped into the pond to reduce its size.

Waiting for permission to enter the restricted area

Inside the cave we came across an abundance of fauna. There were some fish in the stream flowing through the cave but we could not get a good look at them as they swam away on our approach. In some parts of the cave we found small caterpillars which suspend fragile webs from the ceiling. The slender inch-long caterpillars can be seen crawling along the web, presumably in search of prey getting trapped in the fine threads. Whip spiders and mite-like insects were also found on the walls of the cave. There were also tiny flying insects in the cave.
The walls of rocks neatly stacked along the side of the cave by the miners who used to work this cave are still intact after all these years. Thankfully, the flooding of the cave has not caused them to collapse. Adam's shower at the center of the cave length is still a sight to behold as the water streams down in a shower from the roof about 25 metres above us. Delicate helictites, straws and curtains are still seen growing throughout this water filled environment.

The beautiful Adam's shower pouring from the ceiling

In another cave there is a stream that twists and turns as it carves its way through the limestone, creating passages that are barely wide enough to squeeze through at many places. The narrow passages and rushing water make crawling through this cave an exciting adventure. The limestone here is built up in alternate white and black layers. The rushing water has carved out beautiful patterns of white and black on the walls and floor of this cave. There are two waterfalls to climb over as we traverse the cave until the passage becomes too narrow to proceed about 300 metres inside. We had to end our exploration and turn back as this was as far as we could go.

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