Australia Day 7 (Katoomba)

Our second day in Katoomba, we had a short road trip planned over to the Jenolan Caves (also within the Blue Mountains). It was tough leaving our lovely cottage, especially after the slightly more rustic apartment we had in Sydney. The cottage was the perfect combination of old and new, immaculate/well kept, generously well appointed (it had every necessity you could imagine) and just charming beyond words. You could tell the owner poured his love into the place.

Ryan and I bunked in this bedroom so Rich could enjoy two nights of a kick-free slumber.

I had to wait until I was 40 to chop firewood for the first time...Ryan beat me by a few years.

This proud little boy restocked the fireplace everyday with Grandpa.

One of the many historic touches in the house- the original door knobs on all the doors. I'm not sure why 'back then' door knobs were always so high.  Maybe this is why my Asian ancestors chose to have sliding doors.

These were the original light switches (which still worked). Unaesthetic? Yes. But as Rich commented repeatedly, it was like staying in a historic home, and we loved it.

We ate like kings there for each meal. We always take turns cooking meals with my parents. :-)

On our 90 minute drive out to the caves, we quickly spotted (thanks to Ryan) our first kangaroo in the wild. I think we saw a total of four on the way out there- three alive...one that was more or less roadside jerky.

If you haven't been to the Jenolan Caves, they are probably one of the more fascinating places on Earth.  I had thought we might be a little less than excited since we've done a few extensive cave tours,

They're really not up for mingling, these guys.

We were greeted at the cave parking lot by a friendly (wild) parrot that Ry was able to hand feed. :-)

I have never, ever driven into a park through a cave. It was awesome!!! (The only thing not so much? How the light managed to make me look like I have a little old man receding hairline! Ba ha ha ha! The Jenolan Caves kinda put the Carlsbad Caverns to shame.

Waiting for our 90-minute tour through the Lucas Cave).

The Grand Arch

The Blue Lake outside the caves...the bright blue color is surprisingly natural, someting to do with the natural limestone underneath. It's also home to three platypus. Platypusses? Platypussi? I'm not sure. Anyhow, we saw only their bubbles, and a giant lizard (too quick for a photo) that I swear, was a definitely 1-billion year old dinosaur.

A wallaby, just hanging out...watching us watch him.

You can see 7 steps in this picture...but the Lucas Cave had 903 more! The height and depth of the cave chambers was stunning at times.

NO matter how many times I'm taught about various cave formations...I struggle to understand the diversity of them in such a small area. I'm fall into the category of a 'visual person who would only comprehend the process if a time lapse video (of hundreds of thousands of years) were sped up so I can see how each type of formation occurred. (Yes, this = not very bright person.)

The original ladders/entry ways from the initial discovery/exploration of the cave (from a little over 100 years ago) are still firmly rooted into place. This one was well over a 100+ feet tall.

After our day at the caves, we rushed back to Katoomba in hopes of making one of the last aboriginal dance performances of the day at the Waradah Aboriginal Center near our cottage.

Baaad lighting obviously, but the friendliest group, ever.

The obligatory boomerang photo

The obligatory didgeridoo photo 

I don't think most of these people, but especially the guy on the right is a native aboriginal. Just a gut feeling.