The children were up at the crack of dawn so we all huddled onto the main bed of our camper trailer watching the sun rise out the window and listening to the wind shake the canvas. The weather always sounds worse from inside a tent however we knew that we would not be spending the entire day on the beach at Sandy Cape like we had done the previous day.

Plans were being made to head out to Stockyard Gully Cave which is only accessible by four-wheel drive. After a rather bumpy ride we followed the walking track along the riverbed to the cave. Normally I would read all the tourist signs but I was on a mission to get there as the baby was due for a sleep shortly and I knew that our little adventure could quickly turn sour if his routine was not kept. In some ways it was great that I had no idea what to expect as we explored the cave.

There was only one torch between the four of us and JJ our 3 year old was leading the way. The cave was pitch black and she showed no fear negotiating the path for us to take, unlike her mother who was waiting for the bats to fly down from the ceiling and attack me. I was ready to run out of the cave screaming rabies, just like a scene from my favourite childhood move The Goonies.

It is a 300 metre walk in the dark which feels like a long way when you have no idea what to expect. Don’t think I will make it as a great explorer, I might leave that up to my daughter.