Day 4 – 10/12/13 - Hampton NSW –> (near) Goulburn NSW

We were up early and headed towards Jenolan Caves having to drop The Gator of at a rest area as vans weren’t allowed on the steep and twisty road down. I remember visiting the caves as a kid and thinking they were pretty awesome, however I think my mum and dad may have taken the cheaper option of the outside caves rather than ‘more expensive’ inner caves. I only say this as they were completely different to what I remember. While the outer caves stalactites and stalagmites were pretty impressive it was like comparing and beach in England to a Gold Coast beach (sorry Me Ma).

 

Outside Caves

 

Inside Caves

The Stalagmite above is about 9 meters tall. They grow at an average of 1cm per year - but that does not take into account the thickness of the stalagmite!

 

We had a tour of the Orient Caves during which our guide retold how when these caves were discovered they wrote a letter to the Governor General saying no words can describe the beauty of this natural wonder. I think they underrated it! It was incredible! The colours, formations and majesty of the many different formations took my breath away. Most people are familiar with the stalactites and stalagmites but I had never heard or seen straws, shawls, helectites all in incredible colours and variations.

A shawl or 'bacon'

 

The boys loved the shawls that looked like bacon and the intricate miniature environments like “The fairy’s toilet seat”, “The Austlian coat of Arms” and “Fairy’s Ice Skating Rink”.

Helectites are pretty cool - They grow in all kids of directions sidewards, downwards even upwards!

 

 

De and my favourite was the “Indian Head Dress” that is featured on the caves logo. The timelessness of the caves, with many of features being 10s of 1000’s years old made a real impact on me. Hopefully the pictures will give you an idea of the awesomeness of this place!

 

After a quick tour of the outside caves we headed back up the hill and collected The Gator. The next 4 hours were spent climbing up and down the hills as we headed south. A quick stop in Goulburn for water and food then another half an hour to one of the hundreds of rest areas in the ACT – they are every 20kms! Nana had given the boys an early Christmas present of a telescope so we set it up and had a good look at the moon, then of to bed.