Off Topic The coolest thing ever

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Ok, so

This morning I was at my parents' house for breakfast. They also had some plumbers coming over to take a look at a depression in the back yard they thought had something to do with a leaky sewage pipe. So the plumbers did some digging, and discovered that my parents have a giant cavern and a network of tunnels under their yard, and it stretches into the neighbors' yard as well.

The cavern is at least 20 feet in diameter, and at least 7 feet deep. We have no idea how long the tunnels are, or where they go, or whether there are other caverns, or what. BUT HOLY MONKEY THIS IS SO COOL!

 

[Where's the beach?]

Crazy! That IS so cool. Are they man made or natural? If they need $$ for retirement, they could charge for admission
Please post pictures, if you get some!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

As far as we can tell, it's natural, but we've only been able to see a very small part of it in any detail.

I want to go down and explore the whole thing -- anybody know where one could find the necessary expertise and equipment necessary to do such a thing safely?

 

[MaryA]

We have a spelunking club in our area... Not sure if it's associated with the university or what. Something like that would be a good starting place.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Oh, and here's the best part -- my mom writes children's books. So even if there's nothing actually down there, I'd be able to come out with some metaphorical gold.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

that is really neat !!!

 

[All Chalked Up]

That is insane! I wish we had caverns in our back yard!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The entrance:

The cave (to the extent a camera does it justice from the surface:

 

[gymgurl]

That is so cool! That would have been my dream as a kid! When I was a kid we had a bamboo forest that me and the neighbourhood kids called our fort and an underground tunnel system would have made the whole thing so much more awesome! me and my neighbours always wanted to build a secret tunnel system between houses!

 

[MaryA]

1st picture looks like the eyes of some crazy Jim Henson creature!

What does one DO with a cavern in their back yard? I mean, I get the coolness factor, but it seems that it would make things like backyard bbq's and mowing the lawn a bit of a challenge.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

My parents are still trying to figure out what to do with it.

In the meantime, we've got some experts coming in to take a look tomorrow.

 

[gymgurl]

I could see an episode of criminal minds using caverns but maybe thats just me fangirling Might use this for the setting of my english assessment hmmm the things one could do with a secret cavern

 

[Faith]

In this part of the world they're quite common- WW2 bunkers . A friend of mine has hers still intact and the children love playing in it. My neighbour tells me we have/had one under the raised area at the bottom of the garden...I sometimes think I should go dig for it, but if it's not there I'll have dug up the garden for nothing

A natural one though I'd be worried might not be so structurally stable. Very cool thing though.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

So it turns out the caves aren't as extensive as previously thought. Bummer.

 

[gymnut1]

Perhaps you could just have a small grotto in your garden. You could do neighbourhood santa at Christmas. LOL>

 

[Shanoy2012]

That’s totally awesome, a cavern in a back yard is really unbelievable.

 

[marie83]

What a shame they weren't as extensive as you'd thought/hoped!
There are caves in the village I live in. Our neighbour's house is actually built into one of them and the pub next door used to serve meals in some further up the road! We also have tunnels where people go on ghost hunts and stuff! Love it!