Our driver, Trevor, picked us up early for the 100 mile drive to Jenolan Caves. The caves are in the Blue Mountains, southwest of Sydney. Along the way we stopped near Leura, where Pamela used to live, to see the view. Trevor took us to the end of a dirt road and we walked out onto Flat Rock. watch out for that 800 foot drop–there’s no guard rail! The swirling fog made everything mysterious. Then it was on to the caves.
Our tour was of Orient Cave, the most spectacular. Certainly this was the best cave I’ve ever seen. Just as the Great Barrier Reef ruins you for other snorkeling, this cave has probably made it pointless to visit any others! The 90 minute guided tour was well done, and the 358 steps were easily negotiated. They’ve done a nice job of developing this cave without ruining it.
Afterwards we had a quick bite on the veranda of the cafe, where the King Parrots came and begged for crumbs.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Featherdale Animal Park, where Dani got to pet many kangaroos, wallabies and a Koala. It’s a nice park, the same one we visited in 2001.
For dinner we took Trevor’s recommendation and ate at a small cafe near our hotel, called Fish at the Rocks. It was quite good.
Read Dani’s detailed description of the trip here:
http://danialcorn.blogspot.com/2011/08/australia-2011-day-8.html