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Car parking is
available at:-
S 36° 53.462 E 174°
26.932 |
Sea caves also known as a littoral cave are formed
by the immense power of the ocean, the cave is usually formed by
the sea attacking a point of weakness in a coastal cliff. This
process is called Erosion and the cave is formed over a number of
years.
The weak zone can be a fault or a fractured zone
formed during slippage. A weak zone can be formed when different
types of rocks are inter blended and one is weaker that the other
one.
You may notice on your walk to the cave that the
sand is black as it contains quantities of black titanomagnetite
which comes from the volcanic rocks of Taranaki and carried north
by coastal currents.
This sand is used at the Glenbrook mill further
south to make iron and steel. The Glenbrook process is unique. No
other steel making operation in the world makes steel in the same
way.
This cave at Bethells is well known to locals and
has been used by film makers, recently the cave was used as
Callisto's Cave in "Return of Callisto" in Xena Princess
Warrior.
Sea Caves occur along coastlines all over the
world. The longest Sea Cave by length is located on California's
Santa Cruz Island called the Painted Cave. The cave is 1215 feet
long and is long enough to take a boat inside.
The Largest cave by volume called the Riko Riko
Cave located on New Zealand's very own Poor Knights Island. A great
spot for scuba diving.
The cave can be submerged at High Tide so it may
pay to check the tide before you visit the cache. Tide times for
Bethells can be found here:
Tides
Bethells Beach can be a very dangerous beach, so
please only swim in the patrolled areas and avoid the rocks at High
Tide and always wear a Life jacket.
In order to log this earth cache you need to do the
following things:-
(1) Measure the mouth of the Cave, at ground level
to the nearest metre.
(2) Take a photo of yourself with your GPS at the
mouth of the cave, bonus points for funny poses.
Some things you might see doing this cache (click
on the images to expand) :-
FTF honours, go to
YuGeo4 - 1 Jan
2009. |