Exploring Nelson’s underworld
A new book documenting New Zealand’s mysterious underworld aims to challenge the public perception of caving.
The book, Caves: Exploring New Zealand’s Subterranean Wilderness, takes readers on a journey through the country’s longest, deepest and most dangerous caves. Photographer and co-author Neil Silverwood said caves were misunderstood as dark, dirty, claustrophobic places.
‘‘The theme behind the book was to try and change that percep- tion just to show that caves can be really beautiful, really interesting environments.’’
Silverwood first started caving when he was 15 and was captivated by the sense of exploration and discovery of unknown worlds. He started photographing caves in 2013 during the exploration of the Stormy Pot system on Mount Arthur in Kahurangi National Park.
Silverwood’s stunning photographs of some of New Zealand’s least explored places provide a rare look inside these ‘‘completely different worlds’’.
‘‘It just opens up that world and shows them something they wouldn’t see in everyday life,’’ he said. ‘‘Everything about the underworld is completely different.’’
He said caves acted as ‘‘time capsules’’.
‘‘Everything that happens on the surface eventually falls down into the cave system. Pretty much any life that’s lived in New Zealand in the last 10-15,000 years will have some sort of fossil in the caves.’’
The book, co-authored by Wellington-based writer and graphic designer Marcus Thomas, documents some of the most significant caving discoveries in recent history.
About 70 per cent of the book is based on caves found in the Nelson region, including Mount Owen in Kahurangi National Park and Harwood’s Hole on the Takaka Hill.
Silverwood said the book project took about two years to complete. It’s the first book of its kind in New Zealand.
‘‘It’s a nice feeling being able to hold that book and think I put two years of my life into this.’’
The book is being launched at Fairfield House in Nelson on Saturday. It will be available from bookstores on Monday.