It Just Isn't Done That Way - Sydney and the Blue Mountains - TR Complete #284.

[BecBennett]

I'm fine with small spaces so long as I can turn around. If the area is so small that I can't turn around then I start to get uncomfortable. I could never go spelunking. Those people have a death wish!

Your cave photos are gorgeous. How well lit was it in there?

 

[jedijill]

Those caves looks cool but I would have been with your DS in some of those tight places!

We have a cave in Missouri that you can actually ride a truck through...they used it back in the 40's, 50's and 60's as a concert hall since the acoustics are so amazing and the temp is so cool (summer in Missouri is hot and humid!).

Jill in CO

 

[dolphingirl47]

The caves looked amazing, but I think I may feel much the same about them like your son. I don't do too well in dark and enclosed spaces.

Corinna

 

[franandaj]

Those caves look really cool! I've now started a document of where Fran and I want to go in Australia when we visit. We need to start actually planning a trip and get there within the next five years.

I'm guessing she won't be touring this cave, but there are hopefully others that she could manage. Hopefully we'll get her in better physical shape in the next couple years.

The only problem is that she had a problem with claustrophobia when she tried to have an MRI. I hope she is OK with tight spaces. We would probably need to stay two nights and leave for there first thing in the morning to get a nap before any nighttime tour, if there was one we could do.

I'm going to take notes on this trip because I bet you're going to give me a good Sydney trip plans. I'll need to remember all the other stuff you do at home and add that to my list. We'll need a live in cat sitter because we'll want to be gone a month!

 

[zanzibar138]

The only problem is that she had a problem with claustrophobia when she tried to have an MRI. I hope she is OK with tight spaces.

I got claustrophobia when I had an MRI too I usually have no problems with dark and confined spaces - I love caves and the war tunnels in Vietnam. I think it was all the machinery around my head and being stuck on the bed hooked up the dye etc. Didn't help that I was in pain too and had no one there for support. I had to close my eyes and think of my happy place (Disneyland!).

Hopefully she'll be ok in a more natural type of enclosed space where she can at least move around a bit.

 

[jedijill]

Those caves look really cool! I've now started a document of where Fran and I want to go in Australia when we visit. We need to start actually planning a trip and get there within the next five years.

I'm guessing she won't be touring this cave, but there are hopefully others that she could manage. Hopefully we'll get her in better physical shape in the next couple years.

The only problem is that she had a problem with claustrophobia when she tried to have an MRI. I hope she is OK with tight spaces. We would probably need to stay two nights and leave for there first thing in the morning to get a nap before any nighttime tour, if there was one we could do.

I'm going to take notes on this trip because I bet you're going to give me a good Sydney trip plans. I'll need to remember all the other stuff you do at home and add that to my list. We'll need a live in cat sitter because we'll want to be gone a month!

You should come with me to Australia!

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

Who would have though fruit would be so interesting

Yes, who knew??

It sure gave us lots of scope for fruit-loop discussions.

Oh... The Jubilee cave is wonderful, but rarely features on the schedule I hope you got to see my personal favourite - the Ribbon Cave..

The last time we had been to Jenolan was when my wife was pregnant with our first. Last weekend, she took the aforementioned child, now six, to the caves for a mum/daughter weekend while I took care of the 13 month old at home. DD6 LOVED the caves, and the Ribbon was her favourite too!

Amazing detail in your report, loving it!!!

You're lucky to be able to head to the BM whenever you want to and to go see the different caves. Sadly, the Ribbon cave tour was at a time that didn't fit in with our schedule. It'll have to be next time.

Sorry, but after my cave experience in Vietnam, that does not seem the least bit 'adventurous' Looks great though! Such beautiful formations, especially the helictites, which I've never heard of. Definitely going on 'the list'.

I think DS did very well being claustrophobic. I can definitely see how bits of that tour would have been quite uncomfortable for him.

What's with all the chicken wire in some of the photos? Is that so people can't touch the formations? It's sad that a selfish few ruin it for everyone

In the areas where the chicken wire is, there are heaps of formations close by and the space isn't very large. The chicken wire ensures that if anyone stumbles or accidentally puts a hand out to steady themselves, they won't inadvertently touch any of the formations.

There are also chicken wire in the tight spaces. I know I had my back against the wire a few times when I was bent over and that was not deliberate. I was glad for the wire because it made sure that I didn't accidentally touch any of the limestone.

And yes, the experience of the show caves (including the Jubilee Caves) is no where near what you experienced in Vietnam. It might be worth you taking a look at the Adventure Caves experience on the Jenolan website and doing the comparison. I think there are 3 Adventure caves and the tours there seem a lot more physically challenging.

I was wondering the same thing.

PIO, the photos are amazing and the cave had a nice variety of formations.

Thanks Angela. I did do a second cave; and you can tell me which cave you prefer.

Yes unfortunately I believe that's the reason. Back in the day there were lots of people breaking decorations off as souvenirs and writing their names on the walls/ceiling etc - there are some examples on the Lucas Cave tour that the guide usually points out.

Oddly, one of my favourite shots that I ever took at Jenolan involves chicken wire!!!!

It's an interesting illustration of just how quickly decorations can form in the right circumstances.

Nice shot! Thanks for sharing. That's a great illustration of the drip, drip, drip that occurs in the caves.

Wow! I guess the chicken wire might eventually become part of the cave. Then they'd have to fence off the chicken wire to stop people souveniring those bits

I think the chicken wire is already part of the caves. It certainly adds to the atmosphere.

I feel for your son The first time I realized I had a problem with claustrophobia
( I may have told you this ) was when my oldest daughter and I went to
Howe Caverns in upstate NY

I had no idea I would react like that , but all of a sudden I felt like the walls were closing in, I was perspiring, and I was mortified when I had to have the people behind me back up so I could get out of there I admit your photos are gorgeous but I had to scroll through pretty fast as I was starting to feel that feeling Hugs to your DS Looks like he did pretty well

You did tell me that you were claustrophobic; but I'm not sure you told me it was because of visiting caves!

I hope you won't feel that way when I eventually get round to posting the next cave I visited.

DS was not happy; but given that there was no other choice, he did really well to stay with the group and not cause too many issues for us. I was rather proud of him that night.

I feel for your DS. He did better than I would have; I think those confined spaces would have brought on a panic attack.

A place like that is one I'd prefer to admire through your beautiful pics.

Everyone in the group felt for my DS that night. We were really lucky to have a very understanding guide and even more understanding cave explorers.

Just another comment on the traffic - we live about 5 minutes from Glenbrook and would only ever leave an hour for getting to the airport - maybe an hour and half if it was peak hour - bit would check traffic reports especially the M5 tunnel - keep in mind I always aim to be at the airport at least three hours before flight .

So it must have been unusually busy - but you get that too!

Anyway, loving this TR of my backyard!!

I was within 5 minutes of you???? We could have done a DisMeet.


From what I remember, there were roadworks happening on the M7, M5 and the Great Western Highway. There were lots of spots where the road speed was down to 40 kmh.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm fine with small spaces so long as I can turn around. If the area is so small that I can't turn around then I start to get uncomfortable. I could never go spelunking. Those people have a death wish!

Your cave photos are gorgeous. How well lit was it in there?

You should have no problem with the Jubilee Caves then. Whilst there were a number of places where you couldn't turn around, they were few and far between and didn't stay that way for very long.


The Jubilee Caves were lit a little bit brighter than Pirates of the Caribbean and a little bit dimmer than Winnie the Pooh.

Those caves looks cool but I would have been with your DS in some of those tight places!

We have a cave in Missouri that you can actually ride a truck through...they used it back in the 40's, 50's and 60's as a concert hall since the acoustics are so amazing and the temp is so cool (summer in Missouri is hot and humid!).

Jill in CO

That's a very large cave if you can drive a truck through!

I think one of the caves in the Jenolan area is also of a similar size. They do hold concerts in one of them. But I don't think they drive anything through them.

The caves looked amazing, but I think I may feel much the same about them like your son. I don't do too well in dark and enclosed spaces.

Corinna

Thanks Corinna. Have you ever gone in caves in your travels? I think you've probably done some snorkeling through the caves in Mexico. I'd imagine that if you're fine with the snorkeling, you might be fine with these caves??

Those caves look really cool! I've now started a document of where Fran and I want to go in Australia when we visit. We need to start actually planning a trip and get there within the next five years.

I'm guessing she won't be touring this cave, but there are hopefully others that she could manage. Hopefully we'll get her in better physical shape in the next couple years.

The only problem is that she had a problem with claustrophobia when she tried to have an MRI. I hope she is OK with tight spaces. We would probably need to stay two nights and leave for there first thing in the morning to get a nap before any nighttime tour, if there was one we could do.

I'm going to take notes on this trip because I bet you're going to give me a good Sydney trip plans. I'll need to remember all the other stuff you do at home and add that to my list. We'll need a live in cat sitter because we'll want to be gone a month!

I would check the website and the various caves tour. Most of the ones I looked at all had stairs to climb. DA paths in Australia is not so widely available as it is in the US.

5 years??? I hope you make it out here sooner rather than later.

 

[zanzibar138]

In the areas where the chicken wire is, there are heaps of formations close by and the space isn't very large. The chicken wire ensures that if anyone stumbles or accidentally puts a hand out to steady themselves, they won't inadvertently touch any of the formations.

There are also chicken wire in the tight spaces. I know I had my back against the wire a few times when I was bent over and that was not deliberate. I was glad for the wire because it made sure that I didn't accidentally touch any of the limestone.

Oh, that makes sense. I'm glad it's not just because of people wrecking it intentionally.

And yes, the experience of the show caves (including the Jubilee Caves) is no where near what you experienced in Vietnam. It might be worth you taking a look at the Adventure Caves experience on the Jenolan website and doing the comparison. I think there are 3 Adventure caves and the tours there seem a lot more physically challenging.

I may have just popped over to their website. And may have added the Aladdin's Cave adventure tour to my wishlist Some of those photos did definitely remind me of my Vietnam experience, but with slightly narrower crawl sections and slightly less mud... ok, make that a LOT less mud And because you can't do that until you've done the more basic Plughole Tour, and of course you can't go all that way and not see any of the show caves... It could end up being an expensive weekend

You really have a lot to answer for PIO

 

[ejud]

Subbing, but will have to catch up later- had guests and am way behind and wiped out!



Jud

 

[PrincessInOz]

Oh, that makes sense. I'm glad it's not just because of people wrecking it intentionally.



I may have just popped over to their website. And may have added the Aladdin's Cave adventure tour to my wishlist Some of those photos did definitely remind me of my Vietnam experience, but with slightly narrower crawl sections and slightly less mud... ok, make that a LOT less mud And because you can't do that until you've done the more basic Plughole Tour, and of course you can't go all that way and not see any of the show caves... It could end up being an expensive weekend

You really have a lot to answer for PIO

My work here is done.

I'm always happy to help others spend money.

Subbing, but will have to catch up later- had guests and am way behind and wiped out!



Jud

Hey Jude!

Glad to see you here. Hope you enjoyed spending time with the guests.

 

[ejud]

Hey Jude!

Glad to see you here. Hope you enjoyed spending time with the guests.

Thanks! Great time, great family! And they fed me! Hehehehee...

Joining them at WDW next week for Epcot, photo shoot of high school daughter, and Hoop de doo.



Jud

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks! Great time, great family! And they fed me! Hehehehee...

Joining them at WDW next week for Epcot, photo shoot of high school daughter, and Hoop de doo.



Jud

You're making me envious. Have a great time! Are you doing the photo shoot or are they outsourcing that?

 

[PrincessInOz]

You Can Take the Girl out to Holiday but you Can't Stop the Girl from Waking up Early



Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!

Different holiday, same M.O. Yes, I got up early....again....on another holiday. *sigh*


At least I made it past sunrise. I had figured that there was no point getting up for any sunrise shots here. Jenolan was in a bit of a gully. The sun would be well risen by the time we got to see it over the hill tops.







I took a walk to where we would have driven in last night. The road down doesn't look too bad from this angle. But it is much more twisty and windy once you get past this side.






As you come down the hill, you'll approach the Grand Arch. Aside from the colour, it *almost* looks like it could have come out of CarsLand.







You would have seen the one side of the Grand Arch in the tour we took last night. This is the other side. There are another 4 or 5 caves on this side of Jenolan.







I took the opportunity to explore some of the self-guided cave walk.







The information office does hand out headsets for this walk and they recommend that you allocate an hour or so to complete this walk. At this hour of the morning, nothing was opened.







On the entry side of the Grand Arch, there is a walking path down.







It leads you to the lake that's here. There is a walking path that you can follow to walk all round the lake.







I didn't follow the paved path; but rather headed to a point where I figured the view would be better. I may have gotten my shoes a little wet in the process.






I didn't get any pictures of the hotel exterior last night because it was dark when we arrived. I made up for it now. I'm probably about 50 meters away from the exit end of the Grand Arch when I took this picture. The Jenolan Caves House is the one at the end. There is a bistro/take away section of the Caves House that wasn't opened; and it provides an alternative food option. We didn't eat there on this trip so I can't provide any insight to the quality of the food there. The buildings on the right are where the guide offices and information are.








The Mountain Lodge is located to the back of Caves House. If you're an Aussie, our room was the corner room on the 1st floor with the windows just under the roof. If you're from North America, our room was on the 2nd floor/level. Either way, our room was in the middle level of the building, closest towards us in this picture.







By this time, the boys were up and ready for breakfast. There really was only one option here and it was back at Chisolm's Restaurant.






There is nothing inherently wrong with the breakfast buffet here but there’s nothing good about it either. The continental buffet is $19 per person and the hot breakfast buffet is $24 per person. We went with the continental buffet this morning.

Toast.






Pastries.






Yoghurt.








And fruit.







It definitely wasn't value for money to me. Road provisions and a cold breakfast in the room might be the go next time.


For the record, the continental breakfast did include the standard cereal and fruit juice offerings as well. None of us felt like cereal and I didn't get a picture of the juice nor coffee/tea that we did have this morning.









(Continued Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

Our Second Caves Tour. The Amazing Orient Caves!



I think most of you will know by now (either because you’re Aussie yourself or because you've heard/read enough of us mentioning) that holidays in Australia are pretty pricey.


So, wherever there is value to be had, I'm all for it.


The Jenolan Caves administration has a policy of charging you full price for the first cave tour that you take. Once you've done that, you'll be issued with a card valid for a 1-year period. Any tour that you take after that will be charged at a 50% discount. But read the fineprint. Exclusions do apply.


With that in mind, I'd checked the tours on offer on the Saturday morning. The one that appealed and fitted in with our schedule was the Orient Caves tour. Sadly for me, I'd pre-booked this one before we got here and after last night’s experience with DS, there was no way he was going in another cave at all. So, he happily stayed at the sitting room at the Caves House whilst we headed on in.







DH and I decided not to seek a refund for DS' ticket. We had purchased a family ticket and we figured it would be too hard to sort that one out. Besides, the funds would go towards the maintenance of the caves and we were happy to accept that as our contribution to this area.


I did have my suspicions about our "meeting spot".






We climbed up those stairs and headed to here, where the entry to the caves was.







The irony of this entrance is that it is directly across the road from the Mountain Lodge. You can reach this entrance without climbing the side of the hill.



The guide told us that this particular entry had been cut and created in the 1950's. The Binoomea Cut was hewn from the rock to give easy access to the cave. Binoomea is an aboriginal term used in this region to describe dark holes in the ground.







The passage for the Binoomea Cut had been originally mapped out by the Chief Geologist some 20 or 30 years prior. That man had left deliberate instructions to create a dogleg at the end of the passage to gain entry to the cave at the other side. Because he was no longer around when the cut was finally created, no one understood why he had left those particular instructions so they just made a straight path through. When they blasted through the other end into Bat’s End chamber, they realised that the final explosion resulted in damage to the vast number of stalactites in the Bat's End chamber. It was pretty sad to see the broken off 'tites.




I might need to go check DH’s set of pictures to see if he took any pictures of Bat's End chamber. My lens was fogging up here and this was the best of the lot in here.







Before the Binoomea Cut was made, the entry to this cave was through the River Cave. Remember the picture of the other side that I posted in the post above? That's where you would have needed to go in through to get to the Orient Caves. In those days, the Bat's End chamber was the last chamber that you would have gotten to. The bats in the River caves would fly away from the humans until they reached this area. As there was no exit out, when the tour groups approached, they would walk straight into flying bats attempting to seek an escape. Of course, these days, the bats have long gone to caves where the tour groups do not enter.




One thing about these chambers....they were a lot more drippy than the Jubilee Caves. It was definitely must more moist in these caves.








Walk up those stairs and you will reach the Persian Chamber. From floor to ceiling, this chamber is about 28 meters high and is jawdroppingly stunning.








Every wall is covered with decoration.







Shawls, flowstones, tites, mites and columns.







All under that stunningly beautiful roof canopy and delicate colouring.







There is a staircase heading down to the bottom of the chamber. The guide said it was optional.







We headed down and were treated to an array of shawls.







The colour was a wonderful deep rust.







You also get an appreciation of that central stalagmite formation in this chamber.







At 10 meters tall, the Pillar of Hercules is the tallest stalagmite at Jenolan. But it really doesn't dominate in this room.







You'll also find more helictites at the bottom of this chamber.







That platform is the level we originally entered the chamber. There were about 5 people from our group that stayed there. You'll climb about 360 stairs on this trip and I think if you stay on the main platforms, it ends up being about 150 - 200 or so. It could be an easy'ish cave to navigate if you choose not to do the optional ups and downs.







Halfway up/down the stairs, there was a little window that you could look through. This was the helictite formation that it was protecting. It looks like a little forest of trees!








We headed back up to that original platform. The LED lights were switched on to focus on the Pillar of Hercules.











(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

The next chamber at the end of that platform is known as the Egyptian Chamber.


The white flowstone at the bottom of this section is known as the River Nile.






The columns are delightfully ornate in here.







As are the long strands of stalactites a little further in this chamber.







I was too busy snapping but I did vaguely remember hearing the guide talk about that shawl.







Wish I'd paid more attention.







The lighting in this cave has been upgraded to LED lights and the lights have been automated. So, whilst we were looking at the River Nile, the lights started to come on behind us.








Seems like whoever designed the lighting sequence had a tendency for dramatics. Oohs and Aahs all round!







It's another stunning chamber.








We were directed to head down here next.








The third cavern in the Orient Caves is the Indian Chamber. I think this might be the Fairy Grotto.







The Indian Chamber is home to the Indian Canopy, the logo of the Jenolan Caves. I think they used the cross-sectional view of the Indian Canopy to get that fingerprint logo of theirs.








The guide told us that the Indian Canopy is a very unusual formation. If you take a look at the picture, you may notice that there are two stalactites at the upper left hand side. These two look like they have been broken off by cavers in the past.


But they haven't. Those stalactites are chopped off like that because that is where the water level reached to and the growth didn't progress past that point. This cavern used to be filled with water. I missed whether it used to be salt water or fresh water in here (this area used to be under sea a very long time ago) but it's amazing to think that the Indian Canopy developed after that.



I found it difficult to capture the delicate colour of the Indian Canopy. The LED lighting in here didn't help.






I think this might be the best picture in my set to provide you with that colour contrast that we could see in the caves. The pinks and whites were just beautiful.







We moved to the bottom part of the Indian chamber. There we found the Crystal Basins. At times, this area does fill up with water.






We were about 4 weeks too late. The guide said that there had been water here from some heavy rains and that darker patch is what's left of that pool of water.







Our tour of the Orient Caves ended here. But there were a flight of stairs leading up to another cave from the back. This was the original entrance into the Orient Caves and up there was the Ribbon Caves.








We headed out the way we came in.







The set of caverns we had come to view as part of the Orient Caves had more than exceeded our expectations.







The only regret I had was that we didn't take DS into these ones first before the Jubilee Caves. The caverns in here were bigger and much more spacious. I suspect he might have coped better in here.



I wished we had time to stay to do another cave but we needed to get out before the road closed at 11.45 am. We were headed to the main tourist section of the Blue Mountains!

 

[losfp]

If you didn't get to see the Ribbon, I am glad you got to see the Orient I love that on the Ribbon tour, you get a mini tour of the Orient as well (you don't linger as long as on an Orient tour though, so that you get more time in the Ribbon). The Ribbon has a max of 8 people touring, and it is a teeny tiny cave about 50-60 metres long at the end of the Orient Tour. Definitely keep it in mind next trip, in my opinion it is the prettiest cave available for tours, and the size means you get REALLY close to the decorations.

Looking forward to the next instalment!

 

[zanzibar138]

Beautiful!

Oh, I hope that discount applies to the adventure tours as well - that would help!

I agree with you on breakfast. Certainly seems like BYO breakfast provisions is the way to go.

I liked that little walk you did too, will have to remember that one

 

[ACDSNY]

The Orient cave is stunning, that was a great tour.

 

[PrincessInOz]

If you didn't get to see the Ribbon, I am glad you got to see the Orient I love that on the Ribbon tour, you get a mini tour of the Orient as well (you don't linger as long as on an Orient tour though, so that you get more time in the Ribbon). The Ribbon has a max of 8 people touring, and it is a teeny tiny cave about 50-60 metres long at the end of the Orient Tour. Definitely keep it in mind next trip, in my opinion it is the prettiest cave available for tours, and the size means you get REALLY close to the decorations.

Looking forward to the next instalment!

The Ribbon is going to have to wait till next time. I think I also want to see a cave with an underwater river in it as well.

Beautiful!

Oh, I hope that discount applies to the adventure tours as well - that would help!

I agree with you on breakfast. Certainly seems like BYO breakfast provisions is the way to go.

I liked that little walk you did too, will have to remember that one

I don't know about the discount applying to the Adventure Caves. You'll have to read the fine print on that one. I hope for your sake that they do discount them. They definitely don't discount the night tours!

If you're planning 3 days, you should be able to fit in that self-guided walk as well.

I'll look forward to your pics!

The Orient cave is stunning, that was a great tour.

Thanks. Yes, I had high hopes for the Orient Caves. Glad that I wasn't disappointed.