Ngilgi Cave

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Ngilgi Cave
Ngilgi Cave SMC 2008.jpg
Inside Ngilgi Cave
Ngilgi Cave
Location Yallingup, Western Australia
Coordinates 33°38′32″S115°02′03″E / 33.6422°S 115.0342°E / -33.6422; 115.0342
Depth39 m (128 ft) [1]
Length730 m (2,400 ft) [1]
Discovery10 October 1899 [2] (European)
Geology Karst cave
AccessDaily tours, closed 25 December
Registry6YA-1 [1]

Ngilgi Cave, previously known as Yallingup Cave, is a karst cave to the northeast of Yallingup, in the southwest of Western Australia.

Contents

In many sections of the cave a red layer of soil can be seen; this is called paleosol.

Discovery

The local Wardandi people have long known of the existence of the Ngilgi cave. [3] The Wardandi believe the caves to be their passage to the afterlife. [4]

Edward Dawson was the first European to enter the cave when he went searching for stray horses in 1899. [2] He acted as a guide to the cave from December 1900 to November 1937.

It was frequently promoted and was highlighted in early twentieth century tourism promotion materials. [5] [6] [7] [8]

In 1963 there were two record-breaking cave "sit ins" by Wyndham Rendell (87 days) and Dorothy Williams (90 days). [9]

1963 cave sit

Williams from a 1963 issue of Australian Women's Weekly Dorothy Williams (cave sitter).png
Williams from a 1963 issue of Australian Women's Weekly

Dorothy Williams (1928 – ?) held the "world's endurance record for time spent alone beneath the earth's surface", after living in Ngilgi Cave for 90 days in 1963. [10] She was the first woman to set a "lone cave sitting" record. [11] While in the cave she discovered several fossils that had not previously been found in Western Australia. [9]

At the time of her record-breaking cave sit Williams was living in Victoria Park, Perth. Her jobs up until that point had included hairdresser, shearers' cook and teashop owner. [9]

While talking with friends about Wyndham Rendell's recent record-breaking 87-days spent in Ngilgi Cave, Williams was dared to beat it. Upon accepting the challenge, she travelled to Yallingup and began her sit on 30 May 1963. [9] Williams set up in a "corner" of the cave, with a table, chair and bed. She cooked breakfast on a small oil stove and had all other meals and drinking water passed down to her from a local hotel. [10]

She left the cave on 28 August 1963, having beaten Wyndham Rendell's record by three days. [12] Of her feat she said, "I have proved that women can endure solitude as much as men. I would have stayed down another three months were it necessary to break the record." [13] She was greeted by about 200 people when she left the cave. [14]

Her record was broken on 30 September by Jeffrey Workman, an English potholer, who spent 105 days in Stump Cross Caverns, Yorkshire. [15]

Discoveries

At the request of Western Australian Museum, Williams dug in the sandy areas of the cave and discovered many bones, including the skeleton of a seven-foot-tall megafauna kangaroo, [16] a Tasmanian tiger and several other "rare marsupials" which were not known to have existed in Western Australia until that point. Her research and finds, including 20 bags of fossils, were donated to the museum. She also befriended four cave-dwelling possums and wrote a paper on their habits, which she also gave to the museum. [9]

Naming

It was originally named for the nearby town of Yallingup but renamed in 2000 [17] to acknowledge the cave's part in Australian Aboriginal mythology. Ngilgi (pronounced Neelgee) [18] was a good spirit who triumphed in battle against an evil spirit Wolgine. [2]

The story is part of the heritage of the Wardandi people who are the custodians of the caves in the area. [4]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Australian Karst Index Database". Australian Speleological Federation. 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Jochen Duckeck (2014). "Ngilgi Cave". Show Caves of the World. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Marisa Quinn-Haisu (18 November 2017). "Ngilgi Cave, Yallingup". Weekend Notes. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 Hall, Susan (Summer 2007). Harding, Alison (ed.). "Wardan Aboriginal Centre" (PDF). Transwa In-service magazine. West Perth: Countrywide Publications. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  5. ↑ The Caves of Western Australia. Perth: A.E. Forsaith. 1905. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  6. ↑ The caves of Western Australia, A.E. Forsaith, 1910, retrieved 7 September 2018
  7. ↑ "BEAUTIFUL FOLDED SHAWLS IN THE YALINGUP CAVE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 1287. Western Australia. 13 August 1922. p. 9. Retrieved 7 September 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "The WONDERLAND of the WEST". Sunday Times (Perth) . No. 780. Western Australia. 15 December 1912. p. 3 (First Section). Retrieved 7 September 2018– via National Library of Australia.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cavewoman of 1963". Australian Women's Weekly (Vol. 31 No. 11 ed.). Sydney, Australia: Australian Women's Weekly. 14 August 1963. p. 3.
  10. 1 2 "Australian gal sets new mark in cave living". The Record. New Jersey, USA. 23 September 1963. p. 33.
  11. ↑ "Woman ends first week cave sitting". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 6 June 1963. p. 8.
  12. ↑ "People and things". Victoria Daily Times. Victoria, Australia. 27 August 1963. p. 2.
  13. ↑ "Girl 90 days in a cave". Birmingham Daily Post. Birmingham, England. 29 August 1963. p. 18.
  14. ↑ "Cave record". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. 29 August 1963. p. 10.
  15. ↑ "Potholer's 105 days in cave". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland. 30 September 1963. p. 9.
  16. ↑ Hill, Robert H (1964). Junior Year Book 1964. London, UK: Everybody Publications. p. 290.
  17. ↑ Display panel "Ngilgi once more" at the cave, 5 February 2024
  18. ↑ "A dry day in wine country". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 February 2005. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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