Day 10 - Jenolan Caves (Thu, Mar 1)

Today, we're off on our day trip to Jenolan Caves.  The bus is picking us up at a nearby hotel at 7:30 a.m., which means we need to get up about an hour earlier.  Thus, JQ is stressing about her need for coffee, and she heads out a bit early to procure some.  I meet her at the corner, and we head for the Novotel building (which sounds like a phone company to me, but is actually a hotel) to await our tour bus.

Theoretically, JQ and I could have driven ourselves out to the Jenolan Caves and used our pass for a ticket for the cave tour itself.  However, we do not have a car here.  The driving is on the wrong side of the road here.  The traffic is crazy in Sydney.  And, finally, when someone asked online “how do I get myself to Jenolan Caves,” the Aussies told them to get themselves on a tour and have someone else drive them there.  If you’re not used to driving on the roads in Australia, the last approach to the cave will be difficult for you.  So, with that advice in mind, and with our complete confidence in our ability to muck up the directions and never end up where we were supposed to be going, we booked a tour with AATKings instead.  We plan to sit back and relax, and let the driver handle all that stuff.

A Blue Mountains bus comes by, and for a moment we think it is ours, but it is not.  We are going to Jenolan Caves IN the Blue Mountains, but this one is just going to Blue Mountains.  Okay.  Waiting.  Waiting patiently.

Our correct bus (labelled "Jenolan Caves") arrives promptly at 7:30.  When our bus driver, Roland, pronounces the destination, I learn that it is the Je-Nolan caves (not Jen-olan caves).  We drive around to a few other hotels, picking up people, and then we are on our way out on the expressways and highways out of Sydney.  That takes a while, because Sydney is big.

Hey… did anyone else see that traffic sign?  Did it say what I think it said?  No, I must have been imagining that. 😅


As we’re driving down the motorways, Roland points out the Light Horse Interchange, and also points out the red poles in the median between the two lanes of traffic.  This stretch of land used to be the training grounds for the Australian Light Horsemen who served in WWI, and there is a pole for each one of those soldiers who died.  I like the memorial - it is a unique way to remember your history.

Hey, Roland also says that today is the first day of autumn!  That makes more sense, as it is March 1.  Either the couple from Canberra was confused, or Canberra has a different time zone of several days difference.  I don't know which is more likely, so I'm just gonna shrug and say "no worries, mate!"

Blue Mountains from Katoomba

Blue Mountain National Park was created in 1850.  It is a heritage site, meaning no more land for sale, no new development.  We are driving into the town of Katoomba to stop at Echo Point, which is about 1250m above sea level.  Roland actually lives in Katoomba, so he’s able to tell us quite a bit about the town and the area. 

Oh, and he also explains the preponderance of corrugated metal roofs on the homes here.  A number of years back, when Australia experienced some terrible bush fires, they found that the tiles of the roof could explode in the intense heat.  That would leave a hole in the roof, ashes and embers would fall inside, and many of the houses in the mountains had wool insulation in the walls.  So the whole house would burn down once the flame got in.  Since then, the building standards in this area have been updated to require corrugated metal roofs, double-glazed windows, and double-brick construction of homes.

The Blue Mountains got their name due to the trees.  There are 823 varieties of Eucalyptus trees in the area.  Eucalyptus oil evaporates in the heat, giving off a kind of a blue film.  On a clear day in January 1788 (which would be summer), the European colonists looked towards the mountains from Observatory Hill in Sydney, and saw the blue film with the silhouette of the mountains behind.  Ergo, blue mountains.

We stop at Echo Point for 45 minutes.  There’s a few amenities, restaurants, etc., but JQ and I head for the viewing platform.  The bus driver has described this area as “like the Grand Canyon, except with trees.”  And it is similar, in a way.  A long, deep, vast valley below, just absolutely filled with trees, and, if you listen, you can hear the cockatoos screeching way far away.  Quite beautiful.

Off to the side is the Three Sisters rock formation, where I can spy a tiny little walkway.  Looks like you can hike out there, but we won’t have time for that.  I do a tiny little speed-hike while JQ goes for coffee, and then sadly I have to turn around and return to the bus.  Add Blue Mountains to the “next time” list.

Three Sisters	Echo Point
Trees and trees and trees

Back on the bus, and back on the road to Jenolan Caves.  We start heading downhill on winding roads, and for the last 10K, the driver doesn’t want to talk as he has to concentrate on driving.  The roads are very windy, and very narrow, and he’s driving a big, long bus along cliffside roads.  (These are the narrow scary roads the Aussies warned about online.)

Tight squeeze for a bus!
Those ants on the other side are people.

When we arrive at Jenolan Caves, he then has to drive the bus through a narrow cleft in the rocks.  Our tour bus barely squeaks through.  I mean, there are inches on each side, and all the pedestrians had to back off before he could get through.  That’s a tight squeeze for a big bus!

The bus comes to a stop in the tour bus section, and we all depart.  We have about an hour to wander around before our tour starts at 1:30, so we can visit the restaurants, or walk some of the trails, but be back by 1:15.

Not surprisingly, JQ wants to sit down and have something to eat (and have some coffee), and not surprisingly, I want to do some trail walking.  So, once again, we split up.

I head out to do a quick jaunt around the Blue Lake.  The water IS really blue.  A plaque tells me that is because of "light being refracted by the dissolved particles of limestone in the waters."  The next set of signs more ominously warns me to "beware, snake seen in this area."  I watch where I put my feet, but see no snakes (only fleet-footed lizards) in the supposed snake area.  However, maybe the snakes saw me and just stayed away.  Who knows?  I’d like to go further, but have to head back to not be late for my 1:15 cattle call outside the cave entrance.  Goodbye, invisible snakes!

Blue Lake

Old stone steps leading to the water

I’d mention that the day is really hot, and my speed-hiking isn’t helping, but I don’t want to offend Nedeene.   She said her fingers really cramped up after playing the world’s tiniest violin yesterday.  (And I don’t wish to complain, but isn’t it customary to offer cheese with that concerto?)  Anyway…

First I fill up my water bottle with cave water (it's a thing), then I head over to Portal Arch.  There, JQ and I are reunited, and I am glad of the shade.

Portal Arch, the starting point for tours

JQ and I record a message for you (because we are dorks):


The rock ceiling soars way way overhead, and on both sides, we see staircases that obviously lead into tour areas.  We will be touring Lucas Cave (cause that’s the only option we had), but I’d probably do a whole bunch of these tours if I were staying overnight in the area.

At 1:30, our tour guide arrives and introduces himself, and lets us know that there are 910 stairs to climb in this tour.  It’s okay – we’ve done the bridge climb and Carlsbad.  We’ll be fine.  What are the rules?  Hold onto the handrails, be careful of your footing, don't touch anything except the handrails.  Don't wander off (because, CHUDs).  And just don't be a dumbass.

Off we go!  Obviously we start with the promised stair climbing, but in no time, we are crouching down under low rock ceilings, or squeezing through narrow walkways as we follow the pathways into the cave.

It is hard to capture in photos what the caves are like – not only because of the dim lighting, but also because there are cool breezes that will waft through, and dampness underfoot, or slicked on the metal railings or the stone stairs you're walking on.  There are places that are steeped in shadow, and go onward into greater darkness.  There’s a whole ambience that the camera does not do justice to.  So just trust that it is much more impressive than the photos can really convey.

Rock chamber... with rock star lighting.  Hahahahah!

We see chambers with stalactites and stalagmites, and sheets of rock that look like ruffled fabric.  Some of them are crystals that glisten and sparkle like snow.  In one particularly large chamber, they have a light show accompanied by orchestral music.  It plays out as if the sun is rising underground, lighting up various parts of the cave.  Very impressive.  JQ said it was like that part in Lord of the Rings where they see Khazad-dûm in the mines of Moria.

In another cavern, the guide asks us to turn off all cameras, cover all watches and cell phones - anything that might give off a glow - and then turns off the light so that we can see what total darkness is like.  (Hint: It’s dark.)  They have areas where they light up rock formations with coloured lights to highlight different rock formations in the room.


In one spot, he points out a place called "the slide", where adventurous idiotic cave visitors would slide down the steep rock slope on their butts.  I wonder how many broken tailbones this cave has seen?  Yes, this was way back in the olden times of the early 1900s, not recent history.  You'd never get away with that now.  In some places, you can also see where previous visitors (from the early days) have broken off rocks as souvenirs or carved their names in the rock.  Gah!

When you look around, you can sometimes spy the old tour routes with their stairs cut into the stone - no handrails are installed there now, and I wonder if they ever had any.  Our stairs are sometimes quite steep and a bit slick under the moisture - the old stairs look more narrow and more steep.  And you can see these thin rickety little metal ladders leading up to dizzy heights.  The tour guide joked that we all had to climb out that way - didn't you know?  Ha ha.  No.


As we are starting to wind our way out of the cave, we cross a bridge over a gorge, and at the bottom, you can see a slice of the underground river that runs through the cave system.  Our tour guide warns us in advance - watch up for "headache rock" just around the corner after you cross the bridge, and keep your head down while climbing.  The second rock that no one sees coming is called "concussion rock."


JQ and I successfully navigate these obstacles without incurring head injuries, and we're at the last space, called Bone Cave (because bones.  No, I don't know what that creature is, but I think it's dead).

From there, we climb up the stairs and start to wind our way back to the beginning and outside.  Then we have to hot-foot it back to the bus, no time for dilly-dallying, because Roland knows the area, and the people staying overnight at the hotel down here will be returning from their daily activities, coming down that narrow road, and he doesn't want his big bus to knock them off the cliff.  So we'd like to get a jump on the traffic.

We only run into one or two cars on the way down, and I'd hate to be the driver trying to squeeze past this bus and keep all four tires attached to the road.

When we get to the upper bend in the road, there is a kangaroo waiting for us.  Roland says there are a number of kangaroos living in the area, and they know when the tour buses come by.  If they're hungry and wanting to be fed, they come out and wait.  Smart!  Today, there is a kangaroo waiting for us.

Since most of the people on the bus have not yet seen a kangaroo, Roland stops, and he was kind enough to bring some chips along, so each person heading out can grab a chip to feed to the kangaroo.  JQ and I have already petted our share of kangaroos, but everyone appreciated the quick stop.  (Especially the kangaroo!)

Waiting for the tour bus buffet

Driving through Aussie farmland

I asked him why the kangaroos are so small.  Where do the bigger ones live?  Roland tells me they live out east, that they are the same species of kangaroo, but the different environment yields different sizes.  I wonder if those eastern kangaroos are eating steroids, or something?  Because these coastal kangaroos are very well fed.  😜

Then it was the long drive back to Sydney.  Although the driver put on some videos about Australia, the bus is warm and rocked most people to sleep.  In my half-sleep, I think I subconsciously learned about a Maori tennis ace, an Australian woman who helped develop radar, and some surfing dude who won surfing competitions.

When we finally arrived back in Sydney, it was late in the day, the tail-end of rush hour traffic, and JQ and I were grateful that our drop-off point was first on the list.  From the Novotel, it's just a short walk home to relax.

JQ collapses (because she's delicate), and I have to drag her the final 25 feet home.  Don't worry - the road rash will totally wash off.  Or heal.  Whatever.

BONUS PIC:

JQ grabs the glowing orb of power!

And, because I totally forgot to mention it, JQ always asks the tour guides "what's the stupidest thing anyone has ever done on your tours?"  The tour guide mentioned the stone in the picture above.  It is a crystallized stone, and it is one of the only rocks you ARE allowed to touch.  So the tour guides would say, "Go ahead, feel the stone, don't worry you can't hurt it," and the tourists would all gather round and touch it.  However, one day, he had a tour group with young children, and they were all clustered around the stone, very excited, so he went over to see what was going on.  The kids were licking the rock.  Why?  "Because it's a salt lamp - my mom has one just like it."  Now the tour guides make a point of mentioning that you can touch the stone, but please do not lick it.

😆😆😆😆