Visit to Jenolan Caves

So we had an almost impromptu trip to the Jenolan Caves today. The last few days there were some reports of snow fall in Blue Mountains which is not a usual occasion. While we were contemplating on the idea for the last few days, didn't really plan it - so to speak. This morning we woke up (quite late actually) and decided to leave for the mountains in search of SNOW. The first stop was at Katoomba about an hour's drive from our place - which is the commercial head of the Blue Mountain range. Roamed around the town for a little while to find that patch of snow that we could play with.

Apparently yesterday would've been a great day for snow play since there was not much available in Katoomba today. Hence we decided to go further up the hill in search of the white powder. There were some patches along the way where some families were playing around. I kept going further convincing kids that the snow would be better as we go higher and higher. Lo and behold - the route started going downhill into the valley of Lithgow. I had to face a battery of insults for why I did not stop much earlier where there was at least some snow available.

That's when I made a call to move towards Jenolan caves. Until that point there was no plan to go so far. Fortunately for me we were able to stop in a spot where we could make a few snow balls and throw at each other. In the last 5+ years I've been in Sydney never had a chance to visit the Jenolan caves. For some reason I was not heavily thrilled to look for stalactites and stalagmites

as I have seen a few in USA, plus kids were a bit young then. Thought this would be a great time even though I wasn't sure how Nandha would take it. It turned out to be a pretty cool experience.

We reached there around 3.30 PM, had "lunch" which consisted of a few slices of banana bread and muffins. Thanks to the surprise weather, the cafe there was understaffed and didn't have much of anything to eat. After re-energizing ourselves set out to go on the cave tour. Apparently there are different grades available depending on how fit you are physically. We took the only tour available at that time called the Chifley Cave tour which takes about an hour to complete. Our tour guide has been working there since the last 18 years and was also involved in building some part of the cave as well. Obviously she was quite knowledgeable and explained how these mountains should've been under the sea at some point in time and other stories. A lot of the cave formations were named after the explorers wives. ;-)

The caves are still "alive" as the water keeps dripping through the rocks and we could see fresh calcite formations developing. The formations were very strategically lit up to provide a surreal effect. Was pleasantly surprised that kids made through the trek without having to lift them during any part of the trip. 

So long folks. Until next time...

C

For more photos feel free to visit - Jenolan Caves 2015