Jenolan Caves-Blue Mountains-Sydney

Monday we headed to the Blue Mountains to spend a couple of days. We decided to begin our journey in the Jenolan Caves. They are approximately 2 1/2 hours west of Sydney. It was well worth the drive. We took the River Cave tour which included 1,250 stairs (not steps, stairs!). It was amazing to see some of the world's oldest caves and Australia's most famous caves.

After climbing flights of stairs into the cave and then descending down dirt floors we arrived to a magical place full of quite blue water and limestone statutes. We all learned many new facts on this two hour tour. For instance, the person who discovers the cave gets to name the cave and all the landmarks in the cave. The River Cave was discovered in 1903.

The river that runs through the cave into the Blue Lake is as beautiful blue as it appears in the picture. It is also so clear that it takes awhile to know if you are looking at a reflection or a very deep river. It is blue because of the deposits coming off the walls. There is no life in the cave as it is too dark and where the river enters the cave the water goes through a natural sand and rock filter.

Our favorite landmark in the cave was the Reflection Pool.

This limestone monument was interesting as it built from the ground up as water flowed from the top of the cave.

This photograph shows the curvature of the roof of the cave. Parts of the cave had very smooth and flat roofs and others had formations like this. It all depended on the water flow through the cave as it was forming.

This was a great adventure before we headed for an evening in Katoomba and to prepare for the Blue Mountains on Tuesday.