the australian way march · aladdin’s cave begins with a bushwalk up through mckeowns valley....

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NSW JENOLAN

Calcite gives the Blue Lake its vivid colour

Pool of Reflections, River Cave (opposite page) underworld connections

Searching for your inner caveman? Find it in the limestone livery of Jenolan’s subterranean wonderland.

WORDS PAUL ROBINSON PHOTOGRAPHY MICHAEL WEE

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THEY SAY ANY day above ground is a good day. This anecdotal rule does not apply at Jenolan, where subterranean wonders have been wowing visitors for 150 years.

Gazetted as a reserve in 1866, the caves at Jenolan are possibly Australia’s first tourist attraction – and one of the country’s most magnificent. A two-and-a-half-hour drive from Sydney through the relentlessly scenic Blue Mountains, these limestone caverns are thought to be among the world’s most ancient caves, about 340 million years old.

The action of water on the limestone over millennia has filled this underworld with astounding speleotherms, crystal-lised formations such as stalagmites, stalactites, canopies, shawls and columns – sometimes milky white, but frequently coloured by the presence of iron oxides in reds, yellows, oranges and browns. The array of shapes is even more diverse, while the sheer vastness of scale only adds to their impact.

Jenolan now offers 10 guided “show cave” experiences, graded to various durations and degrees of fitness. With some 300 known cave entrances, more than 40km of multi-level passageways and seemingly limitless underground spectacles, this is the real Middle Earth.

JENOLAN NEW SOUTH WALES

Stalactites just hanging around, River Cave

‘‘ With seemingly limitless underground spectacles, this is the real Middle Earth

Beware Hobbits: River Cave (also above and below)

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JENOLAN NSW

52 QANTAS MARCH 2008

Almost a kilometre underground... intruding on Seven Dwarfs’ turf‘‘

Carlotta Arch

Minaret, River Cave

Down in the Devil’s

Coachhouse

Led by guide Margaret Commins, the extended Temple of Baal tour retraces the steps of James Wiburd (caretaker of the Caves, 1903-1932) and his discovery of the Baal, Orient and River Caves, and the Pool of Cerberus. (Mythological references abound in this underworld, for obvious reasons.)

In such a place, the visual experience becomes almost too overwhelming to process, as one indelible image follows another. It is not cold, the caves are a constant temperature. Coloured lights along the path give a fantasyland feel, but the guide carries candles in case they go out. Passing strange shapes and formations, one resembling a horse’s head, we trudge towards the River Styx. Above, the steady drip of water. It has taken 100 years to trickle through the rock. Narrow side passageways, no longer used, hint at the presence of hobbits. There are huge slabs of fallen rock. It’s a world where much defies gravity – and the imagination.

The pool below is so perfectly still it reflects the bridge above, and the cave roof above that, in minute detail. In this upside-down land there is no sense of depth at all – it turns perception on its head. The pool is about 4m deep, but there’s a hole where cave divers can descend to about 25m. There used to be a boat here to ferry people across; the boatman was called Charon.

The cave ceiling looks like a vaulted cathedral. Shawls hang from above. Lights dramatise already dramatic features – and can be synchronised for maximum impact. In some caves the ripples in the limestone cascade from the ceiling like a frozen waterfall. Squeezing through mud tunnels almost a kilometre underground, we’re intruding on Seven Dwarfs’ turf. Bands of crystal decorate the roof of this dungeon, iron oxides bring-ing vibrant slashes of colour. In another chamber the crystals drip from the roof like icicles.

The Temple of Baal is astounding. The ceiling soars 42m above, colours by Michelangelo. The atmosphere is grand, solemn, spiritual. How intense it must have been for early visitors who saw these wonders by the light of magnesium flares. Our guide replicates this by plunging us into darkness as we enter, then hitting the lights. A nine-metre-long shawl, almost pure white, plummets from the ceiling. It is, quite simply, breathtaking. There are two huge domes in this cham-ber – and Gabriel’s Wing with its lustrous colours. It’s a crazy cake shop, overflowing with sparkle. In every direction another amazing crystalline formation. It’s almost hallucina-tory – a hobbit encounter would surprise no-one.

Lucas Cave, discovered in 1860, is even bigger, with massive chambers and giant ceilings. An old iron ladder remains from the days when cave exploration was a sight more challenging than it is today. The most cavernous chamber, the Cathedral, often hosts musical concerts because of its superb acoustics; the Vienna Boys’ Choir and Dame Joan Sutherland have sung here. Appropriately religious shapes abound – a belfry, pulpit, mitre-clad bishop, rather a lot of gargoyles. Amen, indeed.

River Cave



JENOLAN NSW

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Caves House

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On the way out, we pass the fossilised remains of some unlucky ancient marsupial, shrouded in glittering crystal. No-one lags behind.

Nettle Cave is a self-guided surface cave option, with infor-mation points every 50m or so. It’s named after the profusion of stinging nettles at its base. Again, the rock formations are gothic, almost religious. It’s obvious where medieval archi-tects got their inspiration. The sun shining through a shaft high above illuminates different facets of the cave, enhancing the church-like ambience. Stalagmites rise from the cave floor like tombstones. Stalactites dangle menacingly overhead. Cunning backlighting gives them a spooky feel. Every now and then you spy entrances to other caves, some only a few feet deep, others perhaps a tunnel to somewhere else.

The eerie cry of a sooty owl echoes throughout the cata-comb. These caves have been home to the region’s top predator for 16,000 years or so, judging by the remains of regurgitated hair and bone of extinct creatures. It’s a lethal killing machine and we’re trespassing.

To complement their eerie beauty, the Jenolan caves have an equally rich history. Known to the Gundungurra people as Binomil, or Dark Places, legend has it that the caves were once the refuge of bushranger James McKeown. After being bailed up and robbed, local farmer James Whalan decided to find McKeown’s hideout. In 1838, following the escaped con-vict’s tracks into unexplored mountain country, Whalan discovered a secret valley behind a giant rock arch he named the Devil’s Coachhouse. Further exploration revealed several surface caves. The place was a limestone Swiss cheese.

Thanks to the prevailing interest in science and natural history, tourism wasn’t far behind Whalan. Adventurers would journey by train to Tarana, walk or ride to the caves and camp out in the Grand Arch, where dances were often held. Bedecked in their Sunday best and guided by Jeremiah Wilson, keeper of the caves from 1866 to 1897, these society daredevils would explore the subterranean passages by can-dlelight or magnesium flare. The men would have to drag the women through difficult passages on bolts of canvas.

The infrastructure both above and below ground has improved considerably since those pioneering days. Wilson explored, mapped and developed the caves, built guest accom-modation and discovered the Mammoth, Chifley, Imperial and Jubilee caves. His successor, Wiburd, found many more. More importantly, he brought an early environmental aware-ness to the care and maintenance of the caves, ensuring there would be plenty left for future generations to marvel at.

The modern explorer descends into this hidden valley through thick eucalypt forest. In rapid succession appear the vivid Blue Lake, the majesty of the Grand and Carlotta Arches, and finally the old-world Elizabethan grandeur of Caves House, built in 1889. The cliffs overshadow the lake, cave

The stately old lodge is dwarfed by the sheer, tree-clad rock looming above

Trails Bistro at Caves House


‘‘It’s not all subterranean, Jenolan has numerous bushwalking trails

McKeowns Valley track

Chisholms restaurant in the grand dining room, Caves House

JENOLAN NSW

mouths gaping like jaws flaunting jagged teeth. Inserted in a narrow cleft in the valley, the stately old lodge is dwarfed by the sheer, tree-clad rock looming above.

There’s an extreme side to Jenolan Caves. Courtesy of the networks of rivers and lakes that can reach 100m below the surface down into the limestone, the mountains are a spelio-logical paradise. And the region is still yielding its treasures: the week before our arrival, new caves were discovered when exploring university students moved a rock and found a hole leading to an uncharted 700m-long system. The finder gets to name the new realm.

Jenolan can accommodate the casual thrillseeker with a range of adventure cave experiences. Suited up in overalls and hardhat, and after an intensive safety briefing, those who dare can venture down the Plughole. This involves abseiling into a sinkhole, and then crawling and squirming through the twists and turns of the Elder Cave’s challenging S-Bend.

Aladdin’s Cave begins with a bushwalk up through McKeowns Valley. Then a crawl through a narrow opening and down inside the mountain. After much sliding and squeezing, the reward is a chamber adorned with exquisite formations and the remnants of infrastructure dating back to the 1890s. After enjoying the subterranean ambience for a while it’s time to climb out. Sadly, up is the only exit and a whole new range of muscles register their concern. You learn to handle confined spaces, the importance of trusting fellow cavers, and the value of a head-torch. Emerging grubby and blinking like a mole into the daylight after three hours under-ground brings a true sense of accomplishment.

It’s not all subterranean, though. Jenolan has numerous bushwalking trails – for the intrepid, the rugged Six Foot Track is a three-day hike back to Katoomba. But it doesn’t get much better than rising before breakfast for the 1.5km Jeno-lan River Walk. In the crisp morning air, the canyon is tran-quil, birdsong the theme music for a stroll through the shadowy green beside the river and past the misty manmade Blue Lake – once a swamp – where the play of a platypus pair ripples the mirror-like surface. Black rock wallabies stare silently from the opposite bank. Mechanical remains stand sentinel further downriver – in 1889, this was the first place in Australia to generate hydro-electricity.

After a day exploring the bowels of the earth, a fortifying glass of red in front of a roaring log fire at Caves House is well in order. In-house Chisholms restaurant has a contemporary menu for the sharpened appetite, and a good wine list. All that’s needed then is enough energy to climb the stairs to bed – and to fall into the arms of Morpheus. �

Jenolan offers a range of tours, accommodation and customised activity weekends (adventure caving, photography and bushwalking). For more information call (02) 6359 3911 or visit www.jenolancaves.net

SIX OF THE BEST FOR UNDERGROUND LOVERS

WOMBEYAN CAVESWombeyan, NSW Five show caves with rim pools and columns, daily guided tours and adventure caving.NARACOORTE CAVESNaracoorte, SAWorld Heritage site with 26 caves, bats and fossils aplenty.BUCHAN CAVESBuchan, VictoriaSpectacular limestone caverns and underground pools.NGILGI CAVEYallingup, WAOpen to the public since 1900.GUNNS PLAIN CAVE30km south of Ulverstone, Tasmania Large formations of flowstone.CAPRICORN CAVES23km north of Rockhampton, QueenslandAbove-ground limestone caves discovered in 1882.



the australian way march · aladdin’s cave begins with a bushwalk up through mckeowns valley....

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