Jenolan Caves

The weekend before Kevin left for Florida we visited the Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains. Our last trip to the Blue Mountains was right after we arrived in Sydney. We went to see Thomas at the ZigZag Railroad. And although Mitchell would have been quite happy to spend another day with Sir Topham Hat, we figured Kevin might not be as enthralled with the Island of Sodor. So off to the Caves. It was about a 2.5 hour trip one way; a perfect day trip. It was Sunday, the last day of school holidays. We didn't make a reservation, and all I can say is thank goodness we didn't try going the weekend before. I would definitely pre-book tickets for our next trip. We got into line to buy tickets for the next tour, starting in about 15 minutes. The tours start about every 40 minutes or so. So, even if you don't pre-book you can buy tickets, you might just have to wait a bit. I was a little disappointed when I heard the cashier tell the two people in front of us that they had purchased the last two tickets for the 2:30 tour. However, it was all good because the tour we missed was deemed, "strenuous". Jenolan has about 15 different tours, of varying difficulty. The tour we ended up purchasing tickets for was called the Imperial Cave, which had a total of 358 steps. In comparison, the River Cave has 1,298 steps. So, with a five year old I'd say turning up in line five minutes late was definitely a blessing in disguise. The cave we went in didn't have the gigantic stalactites, but it was a nice intro to the caves, and I'd definitely go again.




It was really cold outside, and I'm glad we packed coats and hats. It reminded me of being in Seattle, low lying clouds and misty rain. Walking back to our car after the tour, we passed the Inn which looked like a really fun place to stay the night. Maybe next time we'll get a family suite and do a few different tours. One thing that did catch my eye as we passed by....

This is actually representative of Christmas in July, a popular celebration in the colder areas. I had read about this on Julie's blog so I wasn't too surprised. Which means that I got to explain Christmas in July to Kevin - who was thoroughly perplexed with the whole thing. I can't say that I totally buy into it either, but walking in the cold and seeing this tree did give me the warm fuzzies.