Loading Docs 2017 - Luckie Strike

This Loading Doc short follows cavers Dave Ellacott and Mike Allen on their mission to connect Luckie Strike and Junior Mudball, two vastly different cave systems at Waitomo. Luckie Strike features extraordinary rock formations, waterfalls, and vast caverns. Junior Mudball is as its name suggests, mostly mud. The short sees them at work, galavanting through streams, abseiling down crevasses and scraping through mud — and reflecting on what they love about it. Luckie Strike was picked by National Geographic for its Short Film Showcase. A longer version is in the works.

...if Junior and Luckie Strike could be connected, this would create a magnificent through trip. Cavers could visit the back of Luckie and exit through Junior, minutes from the road, instead of undergoing a taxing four-hour journey back the way they came. This idea has inspired people to spend time digging in the claustrophobic Junior over last few years.

– Director Melissa Nickerson on the mission to connect the two cave systems, NZ Geographic

Key Cast & Crew

Will Prosor

Cinematographer

Melissa Nickerson

Director, Editor

Craig Gainsborough

Producer

Andrew Brown

Colourist

Al McKay

Post-Production Producer

Sandani Wijetunge

Production Manager