Day 17

17 February 2013

Last night and this morning was freezing, apparently got to 9 degrees overnight here! Where is summer, I am not done with you yet!

Off to Jenolan Caves this morning, it is about 28kms from Oberon and a fairly easy drive. There is a steep section down into the caves entrances which runs for about 5km and is very narrow road, luckily for us there is two entrances to the caves and we seemed to be the only ones using this road!

It is quite an interesting looking place and you can actually stay here in the accommodation. They also have concerts and a restaurant if you are looking for something different. There are 12 different cave tours to choose from all ranging in price from $30-$40. They run at certain times of the day so check this before you go if you want to look at a certain cave. We didn't really mind which one, the next one leaving was booked out, so we decided on Temple of Baal which is described on the website as

"The Temple of Baal Cave is renowned for its beauty and spectacular features. Although this cave is often used as a wedding venue, it is not a ‘temple’. Rather, the unusual name was inspired by limestone formations which reminded early cave explorers of the Biblical story of ‘Elijah and the Prophets of Baal’.

Visitors enter the Temple of Baal Cave via the ‘Binoomea Cut’ a long manmade tunnel. Then, they travel down the ‘Dragon’s Throat’, via a dramatic winding staircase. There are 2 massive chambers, one 42 metres high and filled with beautiful formations. One of these formations, the 9 metre tall ‘Angel's Wing’ shawl, is one of the largest cave shawls in the world. The cave also offers beautiful examples of crystal helictites.

This cave tour includes evocative light and sound, taking you back in time, to the creation and discovery of the cave."

We headed to our entry point and waited for our guide. I was saying to Joel how cool of a job it would be to show people through caves like this everyday and how there are not many jobs women normally do that aren't sitting on their ass so would be cool job. He thought the guide would be a man, but it was actually a nice young girl so there is hope for me yet!

The tour starts in a tunnel that leads to the cave, they then turn lights on slowly to show you different features of the cave. Well this is probably where my explanation ends, I am not sure I can describe what we saw in the cave.... Amazing, crazy, unbelievable to think this is a natural occurrence, silence was had all through the cave when each section was shown to the group, I think this is because no one knew what to say, what do you say, it's nothing like you have ever seen before! I tried to take many pictures, most of which didn't turn out as I made the mistake of taking the little camera and not my big one into the cave. With the lighting it was really hard to get a good shot and almost impossible to get a shot with a person in it! It was either just a shadow of your face or your face was ghost white from the flash and nothing could be seen in the background!

These photos give you a tiny idea of what you will see but seriously get here and see it, it is a must see on everyones bucket list, maybe even on your 30 before 30 list stace?

Included in your tour price is a free self guided tour through another cave called Nettle's Cave and Devil's Coachhouse. They give you a audio unit that tells you different things about the cave as you walk through. Of course it wasn't as spectacular as the paid caves but just different as this cave is exposed to the open air all the time so the cave is dull would be the only way I could describe it.

 

There is also a 1.5km river walk you can do and bistro for lunch. Little tip for the budget conscious, take your lunch and snacks as there are areas everywhere to eat and this will save you some dollars. This is pretty much a whole day event if you want it to be, lots of things to do and look at.

Your cave tour ticket also allows you to get 50% off another tour for 12 months after your first visit so if you know someone that has just been you could get it half price. (anyone want to go let me know)

If you want to spend the money you can actually abseil some of the caves as well!

Overall pretty cool place.

Bateman's Bay tomorrow.

Carly & Joel

 

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Day 16

16 February 2013

Today we packed up Katoomba camp and jumped in the car headed for Oberon. Oberon is only about an hour from Katoomba and we chose this place as it is back towards the coast (where we are heading next since we have now avoided Sydney) and it is closer to the Jenolan Caves.

Before heading off we had to do something we have been avoiding for quite a while now!..... Emptying our toilet! Now blogs can't just be about the great things that happen, I need to tell the whole story here.....the good and the shit! Hahaha so most caravan parks are equipped with "dump points" (appropriate name) which is basically a small pipe coming out of the ground where you can pour your dumps! Hahaha....hence the name dump point! Hahaha. So we did this as a joint venture as I didn't know what to expect from my first dump and Joel was an experienced dumper so showed me the ropes. We started off well, no escaping mess, until Joel thought it was all emptied and lifted it up to have stuff spew out everywhere which in return started Joel's dry reaching episodes (which if you know Joel you will know what I am talking about) and then he spewed up his nice bacon and eggs that I had just cooked him! This is when I had to step in and sort the shit out! Hahaha...anyway I think that's enough said about that crap...haha.

Now back to Oberon, we have pulled up at the Jenolan Caravan Park where we are staying for 2 nights. It is a nice park and even better the Oberon show is on this weekend! Write that in your diaries people, there is always next year! After we set up we just went for a quick look around Oberon. There are a good set of shops here, everything you could want. We did a bit of food shopping and then decided to have a look at the Oberon Dam. It is nothing to spectacular to look at, pretty empty I think at the moment. And that is pretty much Oberon in a nutshell.

Back at camp I decided this might be a good opportunity to have a 2nd attempt at the Weber cake. Lesson learnt from last time I have greased the pan well, I halved the recipe so there was only half the mixture therefore avoiding the spill over that happened last time! Rotated the tin at regular intervals, tried to keep a constant temp in the weber......the result........

Perfection! Now sky's the limit! What can't you cook in the Weber probably a smaller list!

We got our tv working here as well so did a bit of glamping and relaxing, tacos for dinner....yes you can cook taco shells in the weber! Jenolan Caves tomorrow, excited!

Carly & Joel

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