The topic for the meeting presentation:

David Salter will present “Lava Caves of the Stony Rises at Pomborneit”.

Synopsis : An amateur overview of historical and current explanations for the existence of the pyroducts, lava blisters and tectonic fissure caves produced by the lava flows of Mt. Porndon, along with details of discoveries made by the VSA and surveys carried out during recent field trips. 

David is a development engineer in the plastics industry. His weekends are often spent in the Stony Rises that have been his adventure playground for sixty years. David’s journey to the VSA stemmed from a desire to learn how Mt. Porndon produced the caves we know of and how to read the landscape to find others.

4 for 4! Our latest Potholes Dig Project has continued the trend—producing not just one, but two substantial, undescended pitches.

If you’d like to be among the first to see this brand-new cave, get in touch!

• Friday’s plan is to install an entrance tube to ensure that neither wildlife nor tourists accidentally fall into our very impressively sized hole. At this stage, we believe there are two separate pitches forming the cave, and one of these may be dropped on Friday—plenty of motivation to join us and help with surface work.
• Saturday will focus on descending one or both pitches and beginning exploration. Depending on what we find, we’ll continue on Sunday with either exploration or some gardening to make the pitches safer.

If you’re interested, reach out to Tom Aberdeen or Tom Elms.

SRT skills are required.

Wayne Revell is running an SRT Training afternoon at Whipstick Gully Quarry in Warrandyte.
The training will take place from 12:30, with ropes being set up from 12:00. Club SRT harnesses will be provided and shared between attendees.

This is a fantastic opportunity to learn how to ascend and descend ropes, or just brush up on some rusty skills! All are invited to come Location link

We look forward to seeing everyone for the VSA’s 58th Annual
General Meeting!

Held on Sunday, 25th May at the 13th Malvern Scout Group Hall, 3 Oak Grove, Malvern
East, from 11am to 2pm.

Please bring a plate of food to share!

In person at Kathleen Syme Library – General Purpose room 1

Also via Zoom

Presentation:  Nigel will present an update of the M3 survey project.

Parks Victoria has granted permission for the VSA to commence a new excavation project at the base of a large doline located in the northern part of the potholes reserve, Buchan.
The doline in question had no obvious leads and was covered with blackberry until a recent burn-off. Since heavy rain in February, a small opening has revealed itself that appears to continue down. There is a good chance that this doline shares a common drainage point with Fathers cave, the previous VSA dig project in Potholes.
Contact Tom Elms or Tom Aberdeen if interested

Over this weekend I will run a trip to the back of the cave to continue the new survey.

The trip is closed. I have a full team for the survey this time around. Anyone wanting to go on the waiting list in case someone drops out can contact me via email.

Email, nigel.cooke@bigpond.com

VSA Christmas Party

Join us to celebrate the festive season at the VSA Christmas Party!

When: Wednesday, 4th December, from 6:30 PM

Where: All Nations Park, Northcote (near the playground) https://maps.app.goo.gl/d4UfnErrpfRtGCDL8

Bring along your holiday cheer and a plate of food or drinks to share as we gather to enjoy a wonderful evening of laughter, good company, and festive fun in the beautiful outdoors.

We can’t wait to see you there! ✨