Jenolan Caves is about 2.5 hours west of Sydney, in a valley on the edge of the Blue Mountains. The drive was pleasant… except for the last 9 kilometers.
The last stretch of the road was extremely narrow with many blind turns and perilous falls. Oncoming drivers were rarely considerate and somehow we shared the road with massive tour busses. It was quite an experience! Eventually we arrived here:
This is ‘the great arch’ under which all traffic much drive to reach…
Caves House, which was built in 1896. This was to be our accommodation for the night, but first we had a scheduled spelunk ahead of us.
The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves estimated at 340 million years old. There are 11 main caves in the system, in addition to dozens of smaller caves and many more believed to be undiscovered. Jenolan Caves have been a popular tourist destination in Australia for well over 100 years.
In a small group of nine, we took a 90 minute tour through ‘the ribbon cave’. It was beautiful and unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
There were a lot of stairs in the cave, and even an ancient metal ladder bolted to a steep incline. The chambers ranged from tight with low ceilings to massive with cathedral ceilings and meters-tall stalagmites.
Visiting the cave was a remarkable experience. I’ve wanted to visit since I was a child and I’m very happy I finally did.
Afterward we explored the immediate vicinity of Caves House, and headed down to see the Blue Lake.
The colour is from the limestone suspended in the water. A bit further along the path we found a waterfall:
Lovely isn’t it? I thought so, and as I approached by walking down a steep gravel slope I fell and grazed both palms badly.
It hurt a lot! Even worse, my entire left arm was in agony and I was deeply fearful I had injured it. Happily – since I am writing this the next day – I can reveal all is now fine. But those cuts will take a while to heal!
After an intensely relaxing evening (no TV, Internet or even phones) we overloaded on an abundant breakfast before the next days activity. But that’s the topic of my next post… 🙂