Australian underground drains
| Type | Aerial view | Country | Date | Status | Rating | |
Underground | Here ! | ![]() Australia | 2005-10-01 | Active | **** |
|

The great stairway
The famous Australian Drains!
Rare in Europe, these drains are everywhere under the australian cities. These underground drains carry out the canalization of rain water, completely separated from sewer networks.
Many of these drains are present below each city, each one having its nickname, story and features. Different shapes, sizes, entry & exit...
They are popular meeting, expression and exploration places for the Australian Cave Clan, THE urban exploration organization. The photos shown here depict the variety of these underground canalizations.
Explored drains:
City |
Name |
Comment |
| Sydney | Swoo | A strong slope gave this drain its name. When you slip, Swoooooo! |
| Sydney | Drainstation | A Train Station can be seen from this drain |
| Adelaide | Adelaide Darkie | Adelaide's classic |
| Adelaide | Zorga's Tomb | Zorga's fiund |
| Adelaide | Saint Peter's Twins | Twin tunnels |
| Adelaide | Eli's Tomb | In the country, this drain is shaped in natural rocks. |
| Melbourne | The 10th | Huge cavity. This drain was the tenth found below Melbourne |
| Melbourne | The Great Stairway | A long stairway with mini waterfalls. |
| Melbourne | ANZAC | THE meeting place under Melbourne |
| Melbourne | The Maze | Complex and large drain |
| Melbourne | The Slide | Slippy slopes! |
| Melbourne | G.O.D. | Great Oversized Darkie! |
Thanks to my Cave Clan underground guides from Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide: Doug, Curly, Eli, Al, Rogue, Drac... Big big thanks to you guys and... Go In Drains ! ! !
Hi guys. where abouts is the entrance to the drainstation in sydney?
Cheers
yeah, true that...
having said that, cave clan are much better than us, so go with them
Before you run off with random loons from the internet and join their crappy groups, take a minute to learn more about the true original legends of draining and exploring in Australia, the Cave Clan...
jaimie nicole, email me if your intrested
james.a.buckle@hotmail.com 
yo jesse hook me with piccys if you have them
james.a.buckle@hotmail.com.
Alternitivly, is anyone intrested in a bash in the Deathstar?
have been to Hercules pillars, is there anything in Gobbledox?
is there a abandoned part of NSST in willoughby? 
I dont think its a smart idea to give out exact information on drain locations. I do know of the drains that are mentioned below and found them on my own. But anybody under 18 who reads this is now going to know as well. As for urbanadventure.org it is an excellent site when it was readily available, I've just signed up so I can access it again, cause I thought it was gone for good.
hey
i found this very intresting area that youd might wanna look at. its this huge basin right next to a pumping station and there a whole heap of drains there
its madd as and i can send you photos of it
Ahh, so that's why I am getting so many sign ups from this site. Yep, indeed UrbanAdventurte.org has LOTS of photos from drains. And yes it also does have a Google Earth file of drains all over Australia. But the site is not just for any air head who would wander down a drain and get themselves drowned. Urban Exploraation is dangerous folks. I've compiled a small Google Earh file showing the names dates and locations where Urban Explorers have died and I have 15 already. Don't think it can't happen to you. Always check the weather forcast before going into drains. Never trust wooden, rusted, or burnt floors in buildings. Always treat wires like they are live. ALWAYS tell a RESPONSIBLE person where you are going, when you expect to be back, and when to send an emergency team to search. If you change your plans, let tthat person know.
I'm not saying don't have an adventure, but there are risks, and you need to know about them. Do your research.
Hey there.
I only just discovered this website when a friend told me about the drains.
I'm a photography student, and really interested in the different drain locations + how to go about getting inside.
I'm from Bentleigh, and wondering where some of the easiest access areas to the drains are.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Lol, you might want to wait for the weather to clear up a bit more before heading down there.
The caveclan website is down.
How can I get in contact with this group? I really really want to start exploring the storm drains in Melbourne
heya guys
just a quick one
anyone know the drain near doncaster park and ride?
if not, you do now!!!!
need help getting to The Maze, ANZAC and The Great Stairway
I used to frequent the urbanadventure web site. It is still around but you have to sign up to be a member. See www.urbanadventure.org.
They have lots of drain pictures, maps and best of all, an up to date Google Earth file of drains and tunnels all around the world.
has anyone got any pics of the camberwell drains?
im interseted in meeting up and going exploring in Melb sometime
any one from brisbane looking to go exploring sometime soon? newbie looking to get out and about and get started, meet people ect?
hey i went into the maze today and enterd the small red brick drain that devides off from the open part, is there anything of note in that drain if i were to go deeper( i got up to the blustone chamer area) also how far do you maze to go to get to the waterfall?
alex is gay lol 
Hey does anyone know any websites or librarys with blueprints to the entire drain network underneath Melbourne?
Hey firey, im from Adelaide and looking for some peeps to go exploring with, both because i could use a partner and i dont really know where to go either, let me know if ya interested on mudg0038@live.com
hi i actually live like 50m away from sloths drain's at the cornel street side, and apparently the drain labeled great stairwell is actually sloths. how far do you have to go to get to the stairs.
does anyody know where the great stairway leads too? some frineds and i yesterday walked through it, entering behind dennisons dry cleaners on camberwell road, and walked up the stairs, does anybody know where it ends and comes out? and how long it takes to walk the whole thing, if anybody has actually done it, and is there any exits along the way without having to go back the whole way? every ladder we climbed lead to a concreted down cap that was impossible to push up
Yes St Peters Twins has a guest book like Adelaide Darkie.
The Adelaide guestbook is in the Adelaide Darkie... i didn't see one in the St. Peter's Twins >.>
hi folks, is the adelaide guest book still there in St Peter's twins?
visiting in Feb 09, I'd love to be able to add to it!
today some friends and i went exploring to the great stairway which is very close to my house, we got to the bit where you end up under the pond in the park, and you can either go left or right, we chose right and walked for a ages,but didnt see the stairs, where we supposed to go left or just walk longer?
to get to the camberwell drains you can take the 75 tram and then get off at the stop where you see fordham park and a toyota shop,
its behind the toyota shop
To contact Cave Clan go to their site (link in further up this page) and check out the contact page for details of your local area.
anyone know how to become part of cave clan and would liek to know locations of these drains not just the names
Me and my mate ar planning to go for our first exploration in the birk... just wondering if there are any brisbane people out there?
By the looks of it, the photo displayed isn't Great Stairway, but the smaller stairway in Sloth's drain. Which is part of the same system, just further around the corner along the creek.
There's four really quality drains in Camberwell, you just have to find them.
Hey Guys,
I was wondering if anyone knew of any accessable entrances to the Adelaide Darkie?
Thanks,
Firey
The Cave Clan of Melbourne closely guards the locations of these drains. Requiring your own adventuring spirit to get you there, or by having a tour with them. Look up Cave clan in the Google Earth Community and you will see what I mean about gaurding locations.
I would love to get to these locations, as I believe that with the right lighting and cameras, I could get some amazing work done.
However I am a little intimidated by the "Cave Clan" as they haven't seemed to embrace the internets as much as I would have thought. And from the stories I have read recently, it has heavy ties to squatters, which just freaks me out.
yeah locations maps would be appreciated
Can you post links to the location of these drains on google maps
Hey bro.. I dont mean to be a shit, but that photo labeled "The great stairway"
It looks a hell of a lot like the entrance to GOD.
The stairs in great stairway are much larger and not set in a RCP.
Just thought I'd let you know..
cacth!
Try to get in touch with the Melbourne Cave Clan?
Hi i was reading this article and found it quite interesting, could any readers or explorers please point me in the direction of where these underground tunnels are, where exactly under melbourne they are, i really need to know, coz me and a couple of mates are thinking of doing some explorations here..., i have some pictures of werribee since thats in the west of melbourne towards of geelong, email me if u want them, thanx in advance for any help.

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