I was leading the way down a set of stairs that may well have induced vertigo in a mountain goat.
Hughesy doesn't like heights, prefers not to look down when faced with them, and wasn't keen on being there in the first place.
Retreating wasn't an option, so on I went.
Despite all the reservations, I must admit the cave was spectacular.
Reducing the sense of time reduced to the drip, drip, drip of calcite was mildly mind-blowing: a calcite straw with soot from a candle from fifty years before had grown about an inch.
Had I been a photographer I'd probably have been in seventh heaven. Still, having now seen two limestone caves I won't be queueing up to look at any more, thank you very much.
Back on the surface, I had to wait a while longer before hitting the tasting trail, and things didn't look promising when we arrived at Leeuwin Estate and sighted a tour bus.