The Cave Clan

I spent the day getting over my sickness.  The swine has finally been conquers I think.  I went to the library to post a few blog updates and try to upload pictures. The blog updates were success but the photos failed to get onto the server.  

I came back to the squat with the idea of having dinner, but by the time I got back I was feeling too sick to eat.  The mates taught me a new card game, and I played some chess. After a bit, a friend dropped by to ask for help with a new camera.  

I gave him a quick tutorial and he asked if I wanted to go draining.  Always up for adventure, I said yes and another housemate asked if he could join.  The more the marier!

We donned flashlights and hoodies and made our way down to the drain.  Hoping a fence and sneaking 20 feet along a 5 inch ledge, along people backyards, we were pursued by a little yappy dog kept away by a thin wood fence.  If the dog's people would have known we were out here they would be glad the dog was doing it's job and alerting them an intruder's presence, but like most people, they just yelled for the dog to be quiet.  This didnt phase the dogs barking but did let us know they were busy - absorbed in the glow of the idiot box.

We dropped off the ledge and made our way into the storm drain's opening.  It was a huge drain,  12 feet tall by 15 feet wide, concrete all around.  A drizzle of water about four inches wide ran down the middle.  It immediately smelled of poo.  The expert explorer assured us it wasn't a sewer drain, "just storm water... well, maybe a little sewer runoff". 





How comforting.


We tromped through the concrete tunnel gawking at the long, thin stalagtites and amazed by how much warmer it was down here compared to out in the winter night.  Finally the ceiling opened up to bedrock.  The mineral deposits were thick and alive with vibrant colors.  The stalagtites grew huge and thick once they were coming off natural rock.  They made formations that our guide pointed out: "here's a cabdalabra"; finger extended towards a red multiple-pointed one.  



We came up to a stretch of concrete wall that was stained with runoff from the high-mineral content water drips.  There were all kinds of colors blending beautifully; "we call this the art gallery, it looks like modern art."

We hungout for an hour doing an improvised photoshoot.  I was testing out my flash, experimenting with lighting.  After one of the cameras ran out of juice we went deeper inthe drain.  The water got wider.  Before long there were little eels swimmingin it.  Eels! Crazy!




We found a pool that our guide had lost a flashlight in the night before.  He figured out a way to drain it and pulled the light out from the bottom, where it rested amidst bloated rat carcasses.  We were all amazed to find the light was still working after being submerged all day.

We kept going for as far as we could without having to swim then turned around and came out.  

All in all, a great adventure underneath the city.