Day 5 - An AI Assisted 10 Day Tour in New South Wales Australia
Packed up and left Canberra at around 08:30 with overcast skies. The idea was to head for the Tarlo River National Park just south of Taralga and go for a hike, this was on our direct route. Unfortunately Marilyn (who is driving us around this trip) put a slightly different location into Google maps. We ended up on this narrow winding hardtop road that changed to dirt and got a bit smaller again. We ended up needing to cross a small river on a flood bridge. It had started raining earlier but there was only a few inches of water to go through. Just by bridge, a local (I presume farmer) had piled up a bunch of logs and started to burn them. A decent day for it with the rain and the mist. Making our way on to Taralga, Cathy spied an emu near the side of the road. Being in the middle of nowhere, stopping for a few pictures wasn’t an issue. We eventually made it to Tarlaga and stopped at the General Store for a coffee. You can get a great cup of coffee just about anywhere here.
Fire, Floods, Mist, Emu, just because, more Kangaroos (Spot the Joey)!
We looked at our options for the rest of the trip to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and decided to stop at Wombeyan Caves. About a 1/2 hour off the highway, the caves here are beyond words. We paid for a tour to the Wollondilly Cave, the largest and most diverse cave in the area. This 90 minute guided tour was breathtaking. They’ve designed lighting systems in the cave that highlight the unique features. First discovered in by Charles Chalker in 1865 when his cow broke broke through the ground, it was opened to public access in 1885. People would travel 8 hours by horse to the Wombeyan area, spend the night, tour the caves the next day, spend the night then travel 8 hours by horse home. It wasn’t until 1928 that electric lighting was first installed. At the height of tourism, as many as 44,000 people a year were visiting the cave. Still around 33,000 people a year visit and it’s a testament to the beauty and the respect for these caves that there has been no significant damage by people taking “souvenirs” or otherwise damaging the caves. The tour winds through 5 levels incorporating steps and re-purposed ships ladders for the steeper parts. In one area, tourists originally had to crawl between the caverns. There was careful excavations done to connect them, still low, but passable. The photos below are a small sample of what I took and I hope they give you a feel for the beauty and majesty of the cave.
Wollondilly Cave - Try and spot the “Elephant” and the “Statue of Lot’s wife and the Cockatoo”
We left the caves for the final 2 1/2 hour drive to Katoomba. Partway there we got a traffic notification of a bad accident about 10km from Katoomba and the road was closed. No choice but to keep going and by the time we got to the area, the traffic, while crawling, was moving. We stopped for an early supper at the Gardners Inn Hotel in Blackheath. Typical small town hotel. Public bar and separate restaurant. We were early for supper, the kitchen opens at 17:30 sharp, and you can’t order a minute before! So, get a drink at the bar, bring it back to your table in the restaurant and watch for the kitchen closed sign to be taken down. Get up there quick to order, the queue gets long fast! The food was great, reasonably priced and served hot. A short drive to Katoomba and Marilyn dropped Cathy and I off at our hotel for the next couple of days. Marilyn decided to go to one of the local hostels. We booked in the Begravia Guest House, but had to check into the “La Maison” next door. They suggested we stay there instead of the guest hour, no real difference in price, and a better room. Quiet, clean, comfortable, and breakfast included.
