DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CUTTA CUTTA CAVE, NORTHERN TERRITORY
The Northern Territory Reserves Board has recently carried out intensive development and instituted new management practices on the Sixteen Mile Caves Reserve, south of Katherine. The first stage of the programme included rewiring and lighting five caverns of the Cutta Cutta Cave, the construction of an interpretive self-guiding surface walking track from a new car park area to the cave entrance, road construction, the building of a ranger's house, public toilets and a park service area. The reserve is managed by a full time resident ranger and a guide is employed over the dry season when tours are conducted daily.
The Cutta Cutta Cave was initially developed for tourist use by a concessionaire who was both undercapitalised and followed old management/development practices. He ignored the interesting karst features and associated flora and fauna on the reserve, constructed substandard corrugated iron buildings and car parking facilities as close as possible to the cave entrance and liberally used white paint on limestone outcrops for track and parking markers. Lighting of the cave was provided by coloured fluorescent lighting, strung from the ceiling with standard flex leads. The switchboards were crude, the wiring was unsafe and it was fortunate that no serious accidents occurred. Whilst the concessionaire and his staff developed a good knowledge of the cave and area, tours generally consisted of a parrot fashion spiel with emphasis on imagination rather than facts.
As the concessionaire was unable to operate tours and manage the park to the standards considered acceptable, the Board decided to engage the Australian Speleological Federation to investigate and recommend what action should be taken. A team led by the Australian Speleological Federation President, Mr Elery Harnilton-Smith carried out a study of the area and prepared a report on the "Cave Reserves of the Katherine Area". Most of the recommendations in this report have been adopted by the Board; a number were varied to conform with the policy and development on other national parks and reserves in the Northern Territory. Approximately $100,000 has been spent on the first stage of the redevelopment programme. A plan was developed and implemented by a planning team consisting of the Board's planning officer, Field Supervisor responsible for the "Top End" Reserves, and the resident ranger, an experienced speleologist.
The key elements of the development programme included:
- Minimum construction of structures on the reserve; those that are necessary to be sited and to blend with the landscape.
- Minimum disturbance to vegetation by facilities including road, tracks and a parking area.
- The provision of a low speed gravel access road and associated drainage work to a point within reasonable walking distance of the Cutta Cutta Cave.
- The provision of a narrow self-guiding walking track to the cave entrance, encompassing a wide variety of karst features.
- The provision of a sophisticated lighting system using low bollard track lights, a limited number of spotlights and one kilowatt quartz iodine flood-lights, a series of small switchboards with handheld quartz iodine spotlights and concealed pyrotenax MIMS mains.
- Construction of a ranger's residence, small service and equipment storage area, office, power station and public toilet on the reserve.
The prime management functions consist of:
- Guided tours of the Cutta Cutta Cave, provision of information on other reserves in the Northern Territory and local information with particular emphasis on caves and associated subjects, maintenance of equipment, cleaning, litter collection and disposal off the reserve,
- Monitoring seasonal changes in the flora and fauna on the reserve and the effect of visitation on the Cutta Cutta Cave,
- Collection of base reserve resource data,
- Control and eradication of feral pests, noxious weeds, exotics,
- Fire control and maintenance of the pre-European plant regime.
In developing the reserve for public use, minimum interference by buildings from the public viewing and access areas has been considered to be of paramount importance. The servicing structures including the Ranger 5 residence and office are obscured by vegetation though all vehicles on the roads and parking areas are under surveillance from both these localities. Only three structures are readily apparent to the average visitor. The public toilet which has been faced with natural rock, a large information board at the commencement of the Cutta Cutta Interpretive Walk and a temporary power house on the return walk from the cave entrance. Directional informative and interpretive signs have been kept to a minimum and mainly consist of routed timber. An interesting feature of the wording is that negative, "NO, NOT PERMITTED" messages etc, have been avoided in favour of advising the visitor what he may do and where he may go.
The main gravel access road has been formed but the tall savannah grasses have been allowed to regenerate to the road edges concealing the drainage works. This road meanders through the sub-tropical karst landscape to the informal gravel parking area.
The walking track from the car park to the cave entrance (approximately 650 metres - see Figure 2) passes a variety of limestone outcrops including tower karst, several collapsed dolines, outcrop with vertical pitches, ruling and other interesting features. A number of termite mounds up to a metre high can also be seen adjacent to the tracks (off the reserve some of these mounds are over four metres high). Descriptive routed timber signs have been temporarily placed along the walk but are proposed to be replaced by markers associated with booklets providing the visitor with a more comprehensive description of the flora, fauna, geology and other information on this area.
Due to financial considerations the Cutta Cutta Cave is to be developed over several years. The completed first stage covered the removal of the unsatisfactory electrical system and the installation of pyrotenax MIMS mains cable, buried below the walking surface linking small Klockner-Moeller Ci series totally insulated, lighting contact control panels. Thirty-six Luminaire bollard lights were mounted on short stanchions at approximately five metre intervals. These footlights are wired to the control panel in each cavern so that they may be switched off in sections and hence provide greater control over tour groups. Feature lighting is provided primarily by hand held spotlights, specific areas being floorlit by Chalmit 469 lights with wide angle reflectors and one kilowatt quartz iodine lamps and 150 watt para flood lamps. Only nine floodlights are installed at this time. During the last season the hand lamps consisted of standard photographic flood units with an open reflector and a one kilowatt quartz iodine lamp. The units are susceptible to moisture, vibration and over-heating. They are being replaced with JAN 500 "Eye" lamps.
The second stage is planned to be commenced this financial year and consists of provision of a central power station in the service area with underground mains servicing all power outlets. This will significantly reduce noise pollution. It is expected that during daylight the generating sets will be barely audible by the general public. Twin generating sets are to be installed in the power station with appropriate switchboards to reduce breakdown and maintenance problems. With this stage, measures are to be implemented to stabilise dusty sections that develop in some of the caverns. The third stage involves the installation of the equipment to convert the 240 volt AC supply to 100 volt DC.
The first stage of surface development covered works previously mentioned including a three bedroom log cabin homestead ranger's residence.
Whilst it is the intention to manage the reserve as efficiently as possible for the enjoyment and education of visitors, the Reserves Board is also charged with the responsibility of protecting the park resources. A fee of $1.50 per adult is levied for inspections of the Cutta Cutta Cave enabling a portion of the operating expenses to be recouped. The reserve is a valuable tourist attraction in the region but the Board does not promote or directly encourage visitors to the park although visitor information on cave inspection times is displayed in road houses south of the reserve and in Katherine to the north. A free general information sheet is available at regional Board offices (appended to this paper).
The reserve is available for day use activities only but unlike other reserves in the area picnic facilities are not provided. Additional nature walks are to be provided to enable visitors to view other karst features, plants and wildlife in the area. These walks should also assist in handling large groups. Around twenty persons is the desirable maximum of a single group underground; this creates problems as a coach may carry up to forty-five persons
A series of free brochures is to be produced to provide a wide range of information. In most of these publications it is planned to subtly include various messages in an attempt to reduce vandalism, littering, bushfires and other problems. The entry ticket to the cave was produced in brochure form primarily for this purpose (copy appended to this paper).
At present scheduled tours are conducted three times a day on weekdays and once on Saturday and Sunday. Additional pre-booked tours are conducted as required. The guide spiel covers the factual elements of cave development, the environment and its preservation. The tour speech is not stereotyped but it is varied each tour; encounters with snakes in the caves often assist in this regard.
Apart from the usual technical problems associated with cave development and management two major problems have arisen. Firstly the natural underground walking track dries out rapidly during the dry season resulting in considerable dust which detracts from the appearance of the formations, could affect the fragile ecosystem and may result in deterioration of some of the decorations. Although the problem is not new it is now more evident with the improved 'white' lighting.
The second problem is associated with the unusually high rainfall this wet season of over 60 inches (normal 40 inches) resulting in serious flooding of the developed section. All switchboards were submerged for various periods, the water level being between one metre and five metres above the floor. This previously unknown phenomenon has caused a few headaches.
It is proposed that the small Sixteen Mile Cave Reserve of 258.9 hectares be extended to encompass an extensive area forming the Katherine Karst National Park. Several field trips have been carried out in this virtually unexplored area over the past twelve months and all participants have been particularly impressed with the finds. Further studies in this valuable area are planned for this dry season.
We commend a visit to the Reserve and region.