Kōrero: Caving

On 4 January 1960 New Zealand had its first caving fatality. Peter Lambert was being winched out of Harwoods Hole on Tākaka Hill when a rock was dislodged from the top and struck him. The tragedy overshadowed the cavers’ achievement – they had successfully winched into the Harwoods Hole. A party of four had also gone up The Gorge Creek and seen the dye that other cavers had placed in the stream at the bottom of the hole – proving that the systems were linked.