Post by L Roebuck on Jun 27, 2006 9:46:41 GMT -5
Tight climb in a rocky cave
By Mike Smith
June 25, 2006
THERE'S no guessing why the guides at Jenolan Caves call their caving tour the Plughole. "We have a small window to crawl through," announces experienced caver Grant Commins, the leader of our group of 10.
"Or would you prefer to wriggle your way through the smaller one?" he says.
Having already burrowed through another tight hole and feeling confident with every inch of the adventure, I took on the challenge, only to be caught between the rocky walls and retreating on my stomach to try the slightly larger alternative.
"Turn around and look at the graffiti beside you," urged Grant. "Artist Brett Whiteley sketched that face with a pencil back in 1949. Sadly, his signature was touched and has been smudged though."
Whiteley was reportedly seven years old when he ventured underworld to leave his mark, and with such a small frame he would have fitted nicely through the smaller window.
His sketch remains untarnished, one of a series of fascinating talking points Grant and his co-leader and wife, Margaret, tell us over the two-hour guided tour into the depths of a darkened Elder Cave.
The Plughole presents the adventure side to Jenolan Caves, in the mountains west of Sydney.
It's a case of dropping to your hands and knees – sometimes to your stomach and back – to roll, crawl and fight your way to your next chamber.
It's not a tour for the faint-hearted. Claustrophobia or no, the thought of tunnelling on your back through caves so tight your nose almost touches the tiny stalactites hanging from the ceiling isn't to everyone's liking.
For the more adventurous, however, the Plughole is a mere entree to much longer and more arduous caving adventures that cut through such underdeveloped caves as Aladdin and Mammoth, the latter taking six hours to explore.
The experiences are far more daring than organised walking tours through the stepped Imperial, Lucas, Chifley and Orient caves, to mention a few, and the Temple of Baal, which has new eco-friendly lighting synchronised to some sweet evocative music.
Donning overalls and a helmet, with a torch fitted to head gear and wired to a heavy battery, we began the Plughole adventure with an abseil down a gaping 10 metre hole above Jenolan's Grand Arch.
Within minutes came the first challenge – a narrow hole that twisted and dropped two metres into a chamber. Throughout the tour, we crawled, climbed and sometimes slid on our backsides to each point.
Grant, who met Margaret 20 years earlier on a caving expedition, and swapped banking for caving 11 years ago, spoke of the early pioneers and the hardships surrounding their days of mining limestone.
Names such as Jeremiah Wilson and journalist JJ Foster are among those mentioned as Grant bends down to collect an old penny or half penny coin left behind in the darkened chambers.
Graffiti, much older than that of Whitely and etched out in charcoal as well as pencil, provides a good insight of the past, a virtual art gallery for historians.
By switching our torches off for a few minutes, we could understand how treacherous it was, and how some lost their way – and their lives.
Yet more men followed, entering the various caves on their knees, stomachs and backs in search of adventure. And they still do, although in much better organised groups.
To complete the Plughole tour, we had to wriggle through an S-bend that narrowed and took plenty of manoeuvring. But there was no turning back.
The writer was a guest of Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust and Jenolan Caves House.
FACT FILE
Getting there: 2hr 30min drive west of Sydney.
Tours: Plughole experience is $58pp, limited to 12, aged 10 years or more; six-hour Mammoth Cave tour $155pp, limited to 10. Traditional tours are from $17 to $25 adult, $11.50 to $16.50 child, $44 to $65 family. Details: (02) 6359 3911, www.jenolancaves.org.au
Stay: Jenolan Caves House has dinner and breakfast packages from $105pp, twin share for a classic room, $160pp twin share for a two-room suite. The 3-bed Cottage is $100pp on a six adult basis. Phone (02) 6359 3322
Concerts: Cathedral Chamber, third and fourth Saturday of the month, $45 adult, $25 concesssion. (02) 6359 3911.
More: Tourism NSW, phone 132 077, visitnsw.com.au The Sunday Telegraph
Full Story: tinyurl.com/q8zdg
By Mike Smith
June 25, 2006
THERE'S no guessing why the guides at Jenolan Caves call their caving tour the Plughole. "We have a small window to crawl through," announces experienced caver Grant Commins, the leader of our group of 10.
"Or would you prefer to wriggle your way through the smaller one?" he says.
Having already burrowed through another tight hole and feeling confident with every inch of the adventure, I took on the challenge, only to be caught between the rocky walls and retreating on my stomach to try the slightly larger alternative.
"Turn around and look at the graffiti beside you," urged Grant. "Artist Brett Whiteley sketched that face with a pencil back in 1949. Sadly, his signature was touched and has been smudged though."
Whiteley was reportedly seven years old when he ventured underworld to leave his mark, and with such a small frame he would have fitted nicely through the smaller window.
His sketch remains untarnished, one of a series of fascinating talking points Grant and his co-leader and wife, Margaret, tell us over the two-hour guided tour into the depths of a darkened Elder Cave.
The Plughole presents the adventure side to Jenolan Caves, in the mountains west of Sydney.
It's a case of dropping to your hands and knees – sometimes to your stomach and back – to roll, crawl and fight your way to your next chamber.
It's not a tour for the faint-hearted. Claustrophobia or no, the thought of tunnelling on your back through caves so tight your nose almost touches the tiny stalactites hanging from the ceiling isn't to everyone's liking.
For the more adventurous, however, the Plughole is a mere entree to much longer and more arduous caving adventures that cut through such underdeveloped caves as Aladdin and Mammoth, the latter taking six hours to explore.
The experiences are far more daring than organised walking tours through the stepped Imperial, Lucas, Chifley and Orient caves, to mention a few, and the Temple of Baal, which has new eco-friendly lighting synchronised to some sweet evocative music.
Donning overalls and a helmet, with a torch fitted to head gear and wired to a heavy battery, we began the Plughole adventure with an abseil down a gaping 10 metre hole above Jenolan's Grand Arch.
Within minutes came the first challenge – a narrow hole that twisted and dropped two metres into a chamber. Throughout the tour, we crawled, climbed and sometimes slid on our backsides to each point.
Grant, who met Margaret 20 years earlier on a caving expedition, and swapped banking for caving 11 years ago, spoke of the early pioneers and the hardships surrounding their days of mining limestone.
Names such as Jeremiah Wilson and journalist JJ Foster are among those mentioned as Grant bends down to collect an old penny or half penny coin left behind in the darkened chambers.
Graffiti, much older than that of Whitely and etched out in charcoal as well as pencil, provides a good insight of the past, a virtual art gallery for historians.
By switching our torches off for a few minutes, we could understand how treacherous it was, and how some lost their way – and their lives.
Yet more men followed, entering the various caves on their knees, stomachs and backs in search of adventure. And they still do, although in much better organised groups.
To complete the Plughole tour, we had to wriggle through an S-bend that narrowed and took plenty of manoeuvring. But there was no turning back.
The writer was a guest of Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust and Jenolan Caves House.
FACT FILE
Getting there: 2hr 30min drive west of Sydney.
Tours: Plughole experience is $58pp, limited to 12, aged 10 years or more; six-hour Mammoth Cave tour $155pp, limited to 10. Traditional tours are from $17 to $25 adult, $11.50 to $16.50 child, $44 to $65 family. Details: (02) 6359 3911, www.jenolancaves.org.au
Stay: Jenolan Caves House has dinner and breakfast packages from $105pp, twin share for a classic room, $160pp twin share for a two-room suite. The 3-bed Cottage is $100pp on a six adult basis. Phone (02) 6359 3322
Concerts: Cathedral Chamber, third and fourth Saturday of the month, $45 adult, $25 concesssion. (02) 6359 3911.
More: Tourism NSW, phone 132 077, visitnsw.com.au The Sunday Telegraph
Full Story: tinyurl.com/q8zdg