Cave at The Lost World

[mjdalessa]

In are past post and in other writings i've seen brief mentions of a cave at the lost world.
How deep is it?
All the rest of the caves on the mountain seem to be just overhangs.
It's not on maps so any advice on getting hear would be great!

[eggs]

Hi

I assume by the Lost World you are referring to the area which is a short walk from the road on the side of Mt Wellington.

This is a large jumble of fallen boulders below a cliff line with lots of passages underneath.
I know some people take rope ladders in order to explore down inside them, but I have only been to the top and gazed into some of the holes.

Someone has written up a bit of a description on this url: http://www.tastrek.org/main/?p=29

eggs

[Steve]

I've been wanting to explore The Lost World Caves for awhile now, never get around to it.

Thanks for the link!

[Son of a Beach]

That article suggests that the boulders are granite. Is that correct? I thought Mt Wellington was dolerite? (Charles Darwin apparently thought it was basalt).

[eggs]

Yes - the rock is definitely dolerite.
Though I can understand that some would consider the smooth hard rock faces as "granite".

It is a jumble of collapsed dolerite columns - with the cliff wall at the back being the same impressive columns that make up the entire mountain top.

This is a view down onto the Lost World from one of the lookout points near the top of Mt Wellington.
You can see the columns of the cliff wall with the rock jumble below.

View to Lost World

The article suggests there is a least one place which is easy to enter (no ropes) and go a little way in.
I don't know where that is, perhaps someone else has more details on the area?
- but one could spend a lot of time enjoyably exploring around the rock jumble.

eggs

[mjdalessa]

How do you get there exactly?
Is it in the main lost world ampitheatre or somewhere else?

[eggs]

The caves are under the Lost World Amphitheatre.
Many holes abound across the entire boulder field (but note that some warn of extreme care as the ground may give way in places due to it building up over gaps in the boulders)

Not sure if this is what you are after, but this site has a basic map with walking routes onto the boulder field, but without showing any cave entrances.
http://www.thesarvo.com/confluence/display/thesarvo/Lost+World+Area

eggs

[mjdalessa]

What's the best way to top rope the entrance or the part in the caves where you need rope?
Would a sling round a suitable rockformation be adequate?
Or would I need friends, pitons or some other camming device?