World-class sinkholes attract divers to South Australian farms 🕳️ | Wild Rides Ep 4 | ABC Australia

Trevor Ashby's property south of Mount Gambier looks like a typical dairy farm from the roadside, but hidden among the cows is a tiny portal into a world-class dive site.

The hole in the ground is so small that equipment and divers have to be lowered in separately.

But below the humble entrance is a huge, seemingly bottomless chamber.

"We've had people who have dived all around the world and have come to here and they just couldn't believe the size of the room that we've got under our feet here in the middle of a cow paddock," cave diving instructor Gary Barclay said.

The Shaft, as it is known, is the darkest and deepest recorded sinkhole in the region, dropping more than 120 metres.

It was discovered by the owner's grandfather when he was ploughing a paddock and the horse put its hoof through the surface.

A pile of rubble 35 metres down was the family's unsuccessful attempt to fill it.

"We really didn't have a clue how big it was underneath. We had no hope of filling it up," Mr Ashby, a third generation farmer, said.

"It looks like an ant hill down there and we've tipped a thousand tonnes of stone down there."

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[Girrrrrrrr]

Knew exactly what this was within 1 second of randomly coming across it. Thanks Mr. Ballen!

[flyingflx]

5:02 "Caves don't kill people, it is people that make mistakes in them that causes the problem. When things go wrong, it is knowing how to cope and deal with issues underground that gets you back again."

[Isaiah]

If you are a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious..

[wjatube]

Amazing that hole in the pasture hasn't widened or eroded. If you fell into that hole at night it would be all over.

[davidk]

Incredible find. Absolutely ... can you imagine finding such a jewel in a farm field?

[rickadrian]

Fascinating story and beautiful caves. Unfortunately the doctor who delivered both of my children and was a very experienced cave diver died in the SA caves.

[pacific]

Makes me wonder how many more there are in this planet ..im sure the average person has walked over crazy abyss caves and been none the wiser

[KitKatToeBeans]

The pile of stones they tossed into the hole trying to fill it up....ty for the much needed laugh 👍🏽

[electricjoshaloo]

hahahaha...all those stones dropped in trying to fill it. Gotta give them respect for perseverance. I reckon after the first 10 tonnes of stones I'd be thinking maybe it's not working .

[MilitantMerican]

"This hole has killed 16 people "- Mr.Ballen on YouTube. Awesome channel to follow

[ooSpyderoo]

Just think, during some past droughts, no one knew there was plenty of water just below them.

[abbeycat]

I grew up 20km out of Mt Gambier and have never heard of these sinkholes!

[TreasureHuntingNana]

I would be terrified that the rest of the land will sink too :/

[gy]

The water below, and the pillars of the earth. Beautiful.

[rustyshackleford]

I’ve been a diver for a little while now and have always sworn off caves due to claustrophobia but this not this I’ll suffer for absolutely beautiful

[SuperSlothgaming]

Imagine being first in there and not knowing if something was living and swimming around

[gaylecheung]

It’s great to see grazing dairy cows on the field eating real grass

[hayleypaigereviews]

I live 25 minutes from this sinkhole and it’s awesome. I have to go and dive in it soon again.

[WalkTalkToursAdelaide]

That would be a truly amazing experience!

[chalupaman]

Damn, just knowing you could be walking over one of these wherever you may be is a pretty wild fact.