Jenolan Caves
A Flooded Sanctuary!
Posted by David Hay on January 18, 2019
At Jenolan Caves, guides are often asked if the caves flood? Yes, they do, but infrequently, and only when enough rain has fallen to saturate the catchment areas around the caves. However, a hundred years ago in February, a calamitous deluge hit Jenolan, causing panic, the closure of both the hotel and the caves and a damage bill of over 5,000 pounds. It was a tremendous amount of money in 1919, worth around $150,000 today. How did such a disaster happen?
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'I am in no position to rebuild' The destruction of old Caves House - 1895.
Posted by David Hay on March 4, 2019
On the night of March 13, 1895, when all was quiet, in the darkness of the autumnal night, a disastrous fire broke out. With the buildings all made of wood, the conflagration rapidly took hold.
“Superior to Anything Hitherto Found”
Posted by David Hay on May 17, 2019
The Commonwealth of Australia was barely 3 years old, when the winds of change blew through Jenolan Caves. New men were in charge, and new treasures were unearthed, starting with the amazing discovery of the labyrinthine River Cave, now one of the most popular caves at Jenolan.
1900 – Caves and Coal - Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows
Posted by David Hay on August 8, 2019
Deep within the farthest reaches of Jenolan Caves, there is a chamber called Cooks Cavern. Who was Cook? Not a cave explorer as you might expect. Modern visitors are shocked to learn...
The Webb Family of Bathurst and Jenolan Caves
Posted by David Hay on August 16, 2019
In a tiny alcove near the jawbone of a Tasmanian Devil, in the Imperial Cave, are two small names. These are of Edmund Webb and Catherine Webb, of Bathurst, who were intimately connected with early cave exploration.
Jenolan’s Weirdest Cave Experience – The Jersey
Posted by David Hay on November 26, 2019
As todays visitors to Jenolan explore the Imperial and Imperial-Diamond Caves, they pause at a steep and mysterious staircase that ascends from the pathway and appears to vanish far above their heads. A trick of the electric light makes it seem that these stairs lead to daylight above. But instead, they lead into a tomb-like labyrinth, the Jersey Cave.
4655 Jenolan Caves Road, Jenolan Caves, Blue Mountains NSW. Ph: 1300 76 33 11 or +61 2 6359 3911