We rose early, because we had to be on the road early.

We weren’t coming back to the cottage, so we packed up everything and loaded up the car as well.  Then we settled in for the long drive to Jenolan Caves.

Well, okay, it wasn’t really long, especially compared to the trip down, but it still took a while.  We travelled along a lot of small, winding roads, and even though the mountains seemed entirely isolated, we could spot a house here and there.

The entrance to Jenolan caves couldn’t be missed – you actually drive through a cave to get there!  I managed to snap a photo as we were going through:

There’s accommodation actually at the caves, which is certainly necessary as it takes somewhere around three days to do all the tours.  We were only doing two today, though – the Imperial Diamond tour and the Lucas tour.

But anyway, this is what the accommodation looks like:

Apparently that first storey in stone is the original building – everything else was added later.

The wind was still going, and it cut through our clothes like a paper shredder, so as soon as we parked we hurried to the little cafeteria building added onto the hotel.  We bought some drinks and a muffin just so we could be indoors.  But we couldn’t say in there forever – it was filling up too fast, so we had to brave the cold once more.

There some little wrens hopping around outside, and I took some video:

 

 

The camera shake is from the wind.

Compared to that, the caves were actually comfortable.  They hover at about a constant 15 Celsius year-round, so we’d dressed for that, and there’s no wind to cut through you.  The starting point for the tour we were going to do first was inside the tunnel we’d driven through:

It’s a pretty wide entrance, but it narrows very quickly:

Yeah, there’s a reason why there was a lot of signs warning drivers to keep a lookout for other cars and people – that’s barely a one-lane road.

Looking back at where we drove in:

Our first tour was called the Imperial Diamond, which you have to admit, sounds pretty cool.  Our guide was nice, too – informative and funny.

The entrance:

And the spectacular, castle-like formation above it (photo courtesy of Jonno):

This was actually the entrance for a few tours, which then branched off in various directions depending on what you wanted to see.  We’d chosen the Imperial Diamond because it was known for some spectacular formations.  One thing that stood out to me was the stalactites:

They were almost everywhere.

The first ‘proper’ cave we were in was called the woolshed, because of formations like this:

It does look like a pile of wool, doesn’t it? Apparently, all secondary formations in a cave – basically, stalactites, stalagmites, and anything else made by dripping calcium carbonate are called speleothems.  Which is unlikely to be relevant to anything in my life, but I just like the word.

The caves themselves were carved by an underground river, gradually wearing away path and channels through the rock.  Sometimes, on the ceiling, you could see swirls and ripples of rock, echoing the water that shaped it:

Looking at that stuff makes me feel a kind of awe, thinking of the immense time that takes.

Then there were places where the rock hadn’t worn away:

I’m not sure what water movement created that little bridge, but it wasn’t the only one we saw.  And in some places, the water had created boreholes that went down a very long way.  I took this picture looking into one of them:

We were going to be descending those stairs into the deeper parts of the cave, but not until much later.

Most of the formations we saw were stalactites and stalagmites, with some of the ‘woolly’ formations as well, but occasionally I’d see something like this:

And wonder how that happened.  It kind of looks like a crooked stalactite, or there was rock beneath it that broke away.

We went down a lot of stairs to reach the underground river, below all the caverns it had created (now making new ones that will be ready in a couple thousand years or so).  This was our first sight of the river:

Yes, that is actually water on top of the sand, just so clear and so still it’s quite hard to see.  These photos (courtesy of Jonno), show it better:

Pretty spectacular, huh?  This was looking up at the ceiling:

At the end of where we could see the river, there was water dripping from a stalactite and sending ripples through the water.  It was strangely hypnotising to watch:

 

 

Also, another shot of the ceiling in this part of the cave:

It looks prickly, like an echidna.

We had walked down a little, dead-end path to look at the river, and then it was time to turn back and ascend some stairs.  Jonno paused on the walkway to take a photo of the river:

So, I did too:

It looks kind of eerie, the river disappearing into darkness and rock like that.

Tours of these caves had actually run for a very long time (something in the realm of a hundred years), and occasionally we found remnants of those old tours.  Like what looks like an ancient switchboard:

There was a path cemented into the rock, but it took quite a few twists and turns around columns and the like:

Fossils have been discovered in the cave, and they even had some of them on display, like this jawbone from a Tasmanian Devil (indicating they used to be found on the mainland):

But in many places, the cave walls themselves were made out of fossils, full of tiny skeletons of animals we wouldn’t really recognise as such:

In one place, they’d obviously cleared away a lot of dirt to make the path, and had made little rock wall to keep it back:

Though it’s more of a dry rock wall.

Remember how I mentioned remnants of previous tours?  Well, this little spike in the wall was one:

Though that’s less a ‘tour’ thing, and more ‘someone climbed this wall at one point’, which is even crazier to think about.  Also, check out that crazy stalactite just next to it.

Another ceiling shot, mainly for the colours:

And a nearby ‘woolly’ formation:

There were a lot of places where the ceiling was very low, but when it was higher, I could often glimpses of formations way above our heads:

I think I can understand why people went climbing around it now, if it got you better looks at stuff like that.

From a different angle:

More wool:

Some of these stalactites were forming stalagmites beneath them:

It looks more like a mud pie than rock.

One of the remnants of previous tours was these stairs:

Crazy steep, huh?  See that little glimmer of light at the top?  That was the original entrance to this cave, and the original path people came down.  There had been a rockfall at some point, and some unstable parts were actually braced with metal bars:

And, for a bit more history, this is a photo of Jeremiah Wilson, credited with the discovery of the cave system in 1879:

Mum’s kindly holding it out for us.  He does look like the kind of guy who goes around discovering caves, doesn’t he?  There was even a place where writing had been burned into the wall:

Even behind clear plastic as it was, it’s kind of hard to make out, so we had to trust the guide when he said it was commemorating the discovery, a kind of historical graffiti.  Because how are you going to prove you discovered a cave unless you sign it, right?

Now, for some more pretty formations:

The one in the last photo is called a shawl – you’ll see more of them later.

Columns are basically where a stalactite and stalagmite joined up:

Looking up into a little pocket beside the path (photo courtesy of Jonno):

I told you there would be more shawls – this one was particularly colourful:

The chain link fence you can see in the pictures was basically to keep everyone on the path, because there were lots of intricate formations in this part, which you really don’t want to touch because then they’ll be ruined.  Check them out:

That last one is from Jonno.  A lot of this was glittering like it had been sprinkled with gems, which isn’t really showing up the photos so well, but you can see it in this video:

 

I also spotted a section where shawls were just starting to form:

It’s interesting to see the way the little shawls suddenly lengthen where the water trails join and lay much more deposits than they did previously.

There was also a formation called ‘rim pools’, laid down when pools of water leave deposits at the very edge, which slowly build up until you have something that looks like a meandering wall built for a miniature civilisation:

This was actually called a ‘crystal city’ (photo from Jonno):

I zoomed in on one of the ‘towns’:

It really does look like a miniature, spiky city, like from some sci-fi movie.

There were some sections were the cave wall itself was smooth, because the limestone had run through cracks in the rock rather than over it.  You can see that here:

Those white lines that look like mortar holding bricks together are actually the limestone, sealing up cracks like…well, like mortar, I guess.

A column:

The stalagmites often look bigger and lumpier than the stalactites, I guess because the stalactites are crated by dripping, while the stalagmites are created by splashing.

This one reminded me of a volcano:

I think because of the way the ‘stalagmite’ part is black, and the funny-coloured stalactite above it that could be an eruption in progress.

At this point, the tunnel started getting a lot narrower, but we were passing some spectacular formations:

Another dead-end path took us to the ‘queen’s jewels’ – a little, sparkling formation:

I took a video so you guys can watch it glitter:

 

Then there was this gigantic piece of flowstone:

And some more of the limestone filling in cracks in the rock:

It’s kind of hard to pick out the limestone amongst all the colours – I was surprised at how colourful the caves were.

A little line of stalactites running along a limestone seam:

Then there was another section of chain link to keep anyone from accidentally touching the gorgeous formations we saw:

Mum was having a giggle at a rather…suggestively shaped stalagmite, and I took a photo:

Just more proof that we never get out of the schoolyard, still snickering at dick jokes.

Some more flowstone:

You can actually see some of the shiny bits in this one:

Look at the way it shimmers as I move the camera back and forth:

 

We went past a section with so many rim pools they seem to be making a new floor of the cave:

And past some more flowstone:

I took a picture of this part just because it looks like two fingers about to pinch together:

Eventually, we came across the formation they called the ‘Gem of the West’:

Apparently, it used to be bigger, but some assholes threw a rock through it many years ago, and it’ll be another few thousand years before it gets back to the way it was.  It’s hard to see in that photo, but the top of the ‘Gem’, looked kind of…hairy:

After we’d finished staring at that, it was time to make our way out of the caves (it was still going to take us a while to actually reach the surface, though).  Our guide pointed out this unusual formation of rock above us:

See the lines running through it?  Apparently, it’s a bit of a mystery how and why the rock gets that way – they’re pretty sure it involves heat, but not much beyond that.

Mum and Jonno checking out some flowstone:

This is a formation they call ‘Lot’s Wife’:

And Mum, heading out the cave at last:

Those of you who know her in real life, will understand this shows you how low the cave roof was in places.

Then we went for some lunch in the restaurant:

Looks pretty fancy, huh?  It’s a part of the accommodation:

I had a cheeseburger, Jonno grabbed some chicken schnitzel, and Mum and Dad both had some disappointing pumpkin soup.

For our next tour, the guide wasn’t so good – there were a few kids in our group, and he kept telling long, rambling stories to them and it didn’t really work for me.  But the Lucas cave was still awesome to see.

When we were first stepping inside, we spotted a wallaby up in a corner:

The guide says this is actually a familiar wallaby – it’s often found in this spot, cooling off in summer or getting out of the wind in winter.  Mainly because this wasn’t really a ‘cave’ cave, just sort of a tunnel before we popped back into the open air for a few moments to enjoy the view:

We climbed a lot of stairs for that.  But that’s a gorgeous stone bridge we drove over to the caves, isn’t it?  You could even see the river (where it’s still above ground):

The water was a gorgeous shade of blue-green.  I zoomed in a bit so we can all enjoy it:

The stone bridge in the first pic spanned what looked like the remnants of a river path:

I’m not sure if the river got diverted somehow, or if it’s a floodway that only runs during the wet season.

But enough about that – let’s check out some more of the cave formations:

This was the path we were walking on, cut between those crazy columns and stalactites/stalagmites:

This formation looked like some kind of claw reaching down:

There were places where the ceiling was smooth, without any stalactites:

Our guide told us that marks the spot where a rock fall happened.  Basically, what he was saying is that the caves are so covered in stalactites that if you see a large, smooth section of rock above you, it means the ceiling with stalactites on it cracked off and fell down sometime in the near past.

Of course, the ‘near past’ in cave terms is a couple hundred years, but it’s still interesting to think about.

For a frame of reference, this is what some sections of the ceiling looked like:

After all that rock, it was kind of strange to see dirt in the cave:

I’m not sure why my brain thought it was weird – I bet lots of dirt gets carried in during rainfall and the like, but it seemed bizarre.

Our first big sight was the Cathedral, an enormous cavern that was dark when we first went in, and slowly lit up with dramatic music.  I filmed it:

 

In the corner of the cathedral was a set of stairs, another remnant from when the tours were much more…active:

Seriously, from some of the paths they used to take, you practically had to be a rock climber to take a tour.

Now, have some pictures of those amazing formations we saw in the video:

That last picture was me trying to give you some sense of how high the ceiling was.  It doesn’t really work, even in the video, but trust me it’s way the hell up there.  Fifty metres high in some places, which just sounds ridiculous.  There are skyscrapers shorter than that!

And the scariest ladder I’ve ever seen:

Yeah, it keeps going right up to the top.  It’s used for when they need to change the lightbulbs, which is probably some kind of hazing ritual.

Another scary ladder:

Then it was time to follow the path onwards:

In the next chamber, we paused to look at ‘the slip’:

Yes, those bits of metal are handrails – we are going to that level eventually.  Here’s another angle:

It just keeps going down.  I could just see the path we were going to take in the darkness:

After we’d finished looking at all those stairs and wondering why we hated our legs this much, it was time to descend.  This is Mum, going down into the caves (and blurred, because she has places to be and no time to hang around):

And some more formations.  I keep trying to think of ways to introduce these, but there’s so many of them, so just look and marvel with me:

I’m quite fond of that wavy-looking shawl.

This is just looking across a humongous rock fall that occurred a very long time ago:

Yeah, all those boulders just came off the ceiling at some point and crashed into the space below them.  I took a look back at where we’d come from:

That’s looking back up the slip (and at all the people on the tour with us.  This one was a popular one).

More of the rockfall:

A jut of rock on the far side of the fall had a very impressive shawl going on:

As you can see, it’s only just starting to get beyond the end of the rock itself.  And this fallen rock had obviously been dripped on by the rocks above:

And now, for a slew of amazing formations:

Check out the rock that looks like a triceratops:

Or a dragon.  Or another dinosaur.  Some enormous reptile-thing.

Apart from the Cathedral, Lucas Cave is also famous for the Broken Column:

The used to be one pillar, but the lower level shifted, just slipping sideways and dropping away slightly, snapping it in two.

At this point, we were past the rock fall, and the ceiling had gone back to bristling:

You might have noticed in the first picture that you can see the path forward in the background:

It’s not lit up yet – that’s how they managed the tours.  They’d light up one part and let everyone congregate in that area while the guide told us about it, and then when it was time to move on, they’d light up the next area.  It was a clever way to keep everyone together.

Looking back at the rockfall:

And the Broken Column:

The shawls here were in a range of colours:

I also spotted another column that got broken, but not in such a dramatic fashion:

Some more sparkling flowstone (actually, I lied – it’s not some, it’s a lot):

Watch it shimmer:

 

Lucas cave tour was considered more strenuous than our previous one, because it had a lot more climbs like this:

It doesn’t seem like much, but when you do it again, and again, and again, your legs start to ask you what they’ve done to deserve this.

Looking at the path past the staircase:

We passed a formation called the Bishop:

Named for that little bit on the top:

I’m not sure a ‘Bishop’ in the first thing that comes to mind, but I can see it.  Dad pointed out the miniature Three Sisters to me:

We also got a glimpse of a pocket of the cave that was bristling with stalactites:

No matter that I know they’re rock and fixed to the ceiling, it still makes me think of a James Bond-esque trap, where swords come out the ceiling and it’s lowered down onto you.

We crossed a metal bridge over a very long drop down to the river:

The blue-green tint makes it seem a little unearthly.  I took a video of the ripples:

 

Just as hypnotising as the last time.

Another little cave pocket, courtesy of Jonno:

There was a cast skeleton of a wombat in the next cave:

This is a regular, modern-day wombat, but they’ve also found fossils from what’s essentially a giant wombat – the diprotodon – in this cave.

In the next section, they lit up the formations with coloured lights, and while some of it wasn’t as impressive as I think they intended it to be, it was very pretty:

Then we were out of the caves, and it was time to drive Jonno back to Sydney.  We stopped at a little lookout on the way:

I love the colours of the cliffs:

Actually, the place was called a ‘lookdown’, which I thought was amusing.  I took a video to try to communicate just how dizzying the drop was:

 

You can also hear some bellbirds.

We’d had to drive off-road for a stretch to get there, and on our way into Sydney a fellow motorist alerted us to the fact that we had a flat tire.  Dad pulled over and changed it (we had to pull everything out of the back to get to the spare), then we loaded up again and set off.

We dropped Jonno off at his apartment with his new stuff and said our goodbyes.  Then we set off for the long drive home.

Dad got us into and then out of Sydney, but Mum did most of the driving through the night – she got into the zone, I guess – and then I brought us home early Monday morning.  And then we all had a nice, long nap.