Cave depths his happy place
The deepest, darkest depths of New Zealand’s underground is where Kieran McKay feels good.
He was six when he first caught the bug of that hidden world – he heard a waterfall upstream in Waitomo’s Ruakuri Cave and was captivated. But had to wait until his teens to get his first taste of caving.
‘‘I was about 14-years-old living up north of Auckland and there are caves quite close and mates of mine said we are going caving, you want to come? I said, okay, and that cemented it big time,’’ McKay said.
He’s now a master of the underground, someone who personifies excellence in outdoor leadership.
At least that’s what the judges thought this year when he received the Tall Totara award at the NZ Outdoor Instructors Association Excellence Awards.
‘‘Initially, it was because it was something different,’’ McKay said. ‘‘Nobody else was doing it and because we were young we kind of set our own rules, it was pretty exciting.’’
His passion snowballed into exploring and going places no-one had ever been before. It was only natural that he wound up sharing his knowledge.
‘‘I went to school and university, I didn’t like that. I was doing lots of caving and then [Waitomo black water rafting] started and I started working for them.
‘‘So that waterfall in Ruakuri cave I heard when I was six-years-old, 12 years later I was throwing people off it, which is quite hard case.’’
That was the ’80s. McKay moved on to become a caving instructor, a guide and working on caving documentaries.
In 2010 he was granted money from Sport NZ which set him and his team up for an expedition on Mt Arthur near Nelson (his home these days) where they discovered the Nettlebed-Stormy Pot system. The 10-kilometre passage drops 1200m, making it the deepest cave in NZ.
In his career, McKay has explored more than 120km of uncharted cave systems.
And he has the war wounds to prove it – the worst suffered during a 15m fall.
‘‘My kneecap was pretty stuffed, broken arm, smashed jaw and really badly sprained ankle and lots of quite serious bruising.
‘‘I had my fall in the Bulmer cave system, at the very back. Two guys were with me. We managed to get back to the camp which was a couple of kilometres underground. Normally, it would take an hour but that time it took seven.
‘‘Then one of my mates went out and got help. There was a big expedition on the surface so people came in to help and it took about three days to get out on one good arm and leg ... I could kind of hop to get myself out.’’
It didn’t put McKay off – he was back caving two months later, albeit a bit nervous on the ropes, but that soon went.
‘‘It made me realise whatever happens you would always get out.’’
Not that he’s planning to hang up his head lamp. At 51-years-old, he feels he has 20 years’ caving left in him.