Cave tragedy family 'warned of dangers'

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX South Island correspondent

The last photo ever taken of Noelleen O'Brien shows her standing with her young son, Julian, and estranged husband, Peter, at the entrance to a picturesque limestone cave.

The picture, taken by teenage daughter Jude, is distant and blurred but shows the three standing on the edge of the creek flowing out of the dark cave that looms behind.

Mrs O'Brien is wearing a black hat and a tracksuit, her back to the camera.

The weekend jaunt to stay at Castle Hill village - 100km west of Christchurch on State Highway 73 - and the subsequent cave trip were supposed to be an act of healing for the family, stricken by Noelleen and Peter's separation.

Mrs O'Brien had joined the Destiny Church after seeing a service on early morning television.

Friends at the Maori Women's Business Resource and Employment Information Centre, where she was operations manager, said Mrs O'Brien was upbeat about her life going in a new direction.

The Cave Stream walk is described as one of the most outstanding natural features in Canterbury. Its difficulty level is moderate, although heavy rain can raise water levels and increase the dangers.

But the trip became a tragedy as the ill-prepared Noelleen - a heavy smoker who weighed just 46kg, and was suffering from emphysema and chronic asthma - succumbed to hypothermia.

The 40-year-old died in the dark, wet depths of the cave on June 21 last year, as her estranged husband clambered along the slippery limestone walls for help and her frightened children huddled on a ledge, singing songs and rationing their chocolate.

The final part of the inquest into her death was heard in Christchurch yesterday, nine months after coroner Richard McElrea took the unusual step of convening part of the hearing early to stop "public conjecture".

Last July, he concluded Mrs O'Brien died of misadventure.

Yesterday, he added a further finding, that the family had been adequately warned of the dangers of the cold, wet cave - which Peter O'Brien had earlier rejected.

The Department of Conservation's Waimakariri area manager, Brian Jensen, gave evidence yesterday that potential cave walkers were advised in many ways about precautions they needed to take before attempting the trip.

He said the cave was relatively safe provided the walkers were properly equipped and had assessed the risks based on their capabilities.

Advice included a large 'Going Caving' panel which described the innards of the cave and expressed the need for walkers to have a torch each, warm woollen or polypropylene clothing and hats.

On the day of the tragedy, the O'Brien family entered the cave with only two torches between them - both were later dropped in the water - and wearing unsuitable clothing.

The track into the cave was closed for the day and the family had seen the DoC signs which clearly said so, but continued anyway.

They had encountered DoC worker and outdoor safety expert Ray Goldring, who was working on the track, and who told them the cave had chest-deep water.

Mr McElrea said yesterday that conversation showed the family were "clearly warned that the cave was very cold and wet", despite Mr O'Brien's earlier evidence that Mr Goldring had said only "you're brave" and that the cave was cold at that time of year.

Inside the cave the water was only 5.5 degrees and the air temperature even lower.

Mrs O'Brien's clothes proved useless for insulation, and she lost her shoes. After negotiating a waist-deep pool of water and climbing up a waterfall, signs of hypothermia became obvious to her husband.

She suffered two seizures and he knew she was dying.

Mr O'Brien left the children on a ledge out of the water and his wife lying on a rock as he turned in the darkness to go for help.

He eventually emerged and found Mr Goldring, telling him : "I've screwed up - my wife's dead and the kids are on a ledge."

On the recommendation of the coroner and with consultation from Mr O'Brien, DoC will install further warning signs at Cave Stream within a month.

Coroner's findings

* Noelleen O'Brien died of misadventure on her family's Canterbury caving trip

* The family were adequately warned of the dangers that lay ahead

* However, more warning signs should be installed at Cave Stream within a month.