Jenolin Caves

JENOLAN CAVES

This is one of the amazing views you see as you roll into the Jenolan Caves. The entrance to the town and tours for the Jenolan Caves is through this big cave passageway in the picture below! Curtis and I both have a real fascination for caves! My parents took me to The Mammoth Caves, in Kentucky when I was younger. More and more it amazes me all the beauty we have in America, but look at this drive in Cave!!

If you are worried about tight spaces, don't be! As a kid spelunking the most narrow of narrow caves in Wisconsin, on school field trips, was an easy, loved, exciting adventure for me. BUT As I've grown wiser, and less narrow as an Adult I enjoy caves with wide open paths, long walks on a beach, a good massage....this is just what you will experience here. At least the wide open paths.

Out of all the cave tours available, the guide suggested the River when we told her we were looking for beauty and adventure. She said it seems to attract the majority of their guests.

So we did the River Cave, which I highly suggest.  The exertion is minimal and it is one of their more active caves. The beginning, first 50 feet, was difficult for a few people due to some stairs, but then it was smooth sailing. This was the only cave we explored, but I did hear that you can attend a performance in the Lucas Cave, which was connected to the River cave.

George Mertens-Mousa apparently performs a cello recital. You don't know him???? What??...I don't either, but with a name like that he is bound to be good. He has been performing at Jenolan Caves since 1997. Each month he also performs a cello recital in the near by Cathedral. He even has a monthly performance with Gustaw Szelski appearing as the Paganini Duo. Say that ten times fast. Gustaw Szelski as Paganini Duo X 10. Anyway....

The River Cave

Tour Length : 2 hourshours

Number of Steps : 1298

Tour Size : About 25 people

 This tour has one of the largest numbers of steps of all the show caves. Fortunately they tend to be evenly spread throughout the tour and the guides do not expect visitors to sprint. This cave does require a near vertical ladder to be descended so take this into account. There was a girl about 13 that was having the hardest time. 

Sometimes when her mom would stop mentioning that there were huge drop offs everywhere she would suddenly forget and really enjoy the tour. We came to the opening of a steep stare case, where we stood on a false floor, the mom mentioned the frightful situation and the poor girl started freaking out! 

Normally my actions would have been ridiculous, but something inside me told me to do them, and it worked out for everyone! I started jumping up and down and briefly discussed what a false floor was, explained delicately how and why we were safe, I then further assured and entertained about the adventures of caving and told of when I was their age. " When I was younger I was taken on field trips and forced to cave during the winter." I shared a small story about what winters are like in Wisconsin, and how it takes walking up hill both ways through the snow to get anywhere there. I continue.. "I was put at the front of the line for all tight squeezes because of my size. All amuse my teachers and fellow students of average heights curiosity about what was on the other side." Then I went on to explain how easy their generation has it with wider path, rails, and built in lighting, all said while jumping. ( Some of these statements were not completely accurate.)

For some reason, I imagine the comical relief of me jumping and telling them it was ok, the two kids were aided into feeling fine for the rest of the trip. It took a second attempt including a cave-drawing, diagramming the cave structures safe housing, an interpretive troglodyte dance performed by Curtis, and some help from the guide, to help sooth the mom out of making the foreboding comments of doom and gloom. All in all we as a group had a blast.

Trip tips: Some women may get embarrassed if they are wearing skirts, so it is best to wear slacks or shorts if intending to visit this cave. I won't mention any names, eh-hem. Co-julie-ugh.  Just kidding, even with a skirt on it was not a big deal, it would have to be a short skirt, but there is more comfort in shorts!

A large canopy of flowstone extends out from the wall. At one time a bank of mud stood in this area and water flowed over the surface depositing a layer of flowstone. Later the mud was washed from below the flowstone leaving the canopy suspended above the floor.

This is an offshoot of the main passageway. A very tall chamber, it is very well decorated.

"For many people this is the highlight of the tour. A large pool of water is illuminated from a variety of directions, casting a multitude of reflections, culminating in illumination from below water level to show the blue coloring of the water."-said guide. What makes this awesome is the built in lighting system that allows you to see the pool from several different perspectives.

Another Perspective.

Hand prints at the bottom of the reflecting pool from several years past.

Awesome fossils in the ceiling.

These are hundreds of years old!

A false floor!!

 The cave was discovered in 1903 by James Carvosso Wiburd.....and his friend. Someone Edward, but as the story goes. Someone Edward after just making a name for himself got drunk one night and walked off a cliff ending his could-of-been great carrier as a cave founder. However, Widburd went on to discover many a cave and is well known in that community.

Us at the climatic point of the cave!

Whoa!

This is funny. Here lie the bones of..... a plastic replica of what could've died and been down in this cave for sometime. I believe made in China.

Blue Lake Loop
The simplest of the walks at Jenolan, this takes you alongside the Blue Lake and gives a number of beautiful views of the Grand Arch and Carlotta Arch.

This my friends is where they told us we would SPOT...the Euclid Platypus, and mentioned 3 live in this pond. Stephen Lindsay... I waited at that pond forEVER trying to get a picture for you...., and this is what happened.

I realized that my only recollection of a Platypus was Perry from Phineas and Ferb a.k.a Agent P ( Highly Recommend this show)....,

which actually does nothing for real life platypus sitings. Perry is cute and turquoise! His beak is Orange and he stands while wearing a hat. He lives indoors and has secret entrances to his lair located all over the Tri-state area. He is constantly acting like a ninja and keeps Dufenshmirtz under wraps.

They are VERY different: If you are feeling sad about this discovery that Perry is not what you will find in real life..YOU are NOT alone. We can go through this together. I discovered it's ok...

I looked up the real deal, and look how cute this guy is. He's no Perry, but still cute. So now that we have a good idea of what platypus really look like, it is back to the picture-hunt.

Also, aside, by this Wikipedia definition:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus...... they are venomous creatures. It's like Perry's secret agent weapons and skills but naturally made.

True or False??? Comment Below please. I am curious.

So, there I was standing a few feet away from the water near a rock, WHEN...I looked right and this crazy looking LIZARD was sitting next to me. So I took a picture. We were only 15 minutes in at this point!!!

The excitement was building. We had seen a cool lizard, and just knew Perry's cousin was somewhere close. We searched out the perfect spot for a Platypus home. We were told they like shallow water were they can make burrows on the shores. 

Perfect Platypus siting spot!!!

If you look at the trail on the left of the picture above, right next to the first tree on the right, there is a sitting stone where I first spotted the lizard. Several groups came and left, but we were in it to win it.

People would pass asking have you seen one yet? No, but ANY moment Curtis would say. Soon, I found myself asking are they even real??? We had waited so long... I began to doubt their VERY
existence. I had seen it happen to other people and assured myself that wouldn't be me, but the longer we waited staring at our own reflections mocking our gullible ways I could not fight it.

I stood up, and...I felt a rain drop...?? BUT there was no rain. Could IT BE??... a splash from our elucid platypus friends? I looked down imagining a brown cute-but-no-perry platypus nuzzling up close to me... but FOUND a LEACH~! He had crawled out of the water, over the leachy woods, through the rock crevas, and up onto my heal. I flung him off of me, and headed out of there screaming.

We will never know if the platypus is real. There will be people who will go on and on about where and when they saw them. Even those who say they have spotted whole families in Tasmania. We found the sitings are often noted in tourist traps...., but please, even Curtis has started to speak as if they were only a story. I don't want to go out this way.... DOUBTING their very existence. We are holding on to the hope that something will renew our faith that they really do exist, and we trust you dear readers, so send us pictures, or a platypus we can have as a pet!!! Either will do to renew our belief in the Platypus. 

GoodBye for now!!