Wombeyan Caves
The Wombeyan Caves are stalactite caves in the Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve . These stalactite caves were the first cave system in Australia to be placed under nature protection in 1865.
location
The caves are 176 kilometers south-west of Sydney and about 50 km north of Goulburn in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales . They can be reached via the Wombeyan Caves Road , the eastern end of which is on the Old Hume Highway in Mittagong and the western end of which is near Richlands on the Goulburn-Oberon Road . The caves are located closer to the western end of the road in a karst area of limestone , in the 345-hectare Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve .
Discovery story
The area of the Wombeyan Caves was known to the Aborigines long before European colonization and names of the caves go back to them. For example Wombeyan means grassy valley between mountains (ger .: grassy valley between mountains ). The caves were discovered by Europeans in 1828 on the expedition of John Oxley and John Macarthur , who were looking for pastureland. In 1842 the pastor Denning was the first European to explore the Fig Tree Cave . In 1865, Charles Chalker explored the cave system in more detail and discovered nine main caves, including Basin Cave , Tinted Cave , Glass Cave , Forest Creek Cave , Guineacor Cave and Grants Cave . Several of these caves are not open to the public. After this research, it was declared a nature reserve, the first stalactite cave sanctuary in Australia. The first electrification of caves took place in 1932.
tourism
A written tourist guide about the stalactite caves was drawn up as early as 1865. The first guest house was built in the cave area in 1889 and expanded in 1900. These buildings burned down in 1934. In 1960 a building for the administrators of the nature reserve, a post office in 1960, a kiosk in 1954, a tennis court in 1956 and in 1960 weather protection structures for campers and day-trippers in 1960.
The stalactite caves are a tourist attraction, a local recreation area for people and a retreat for endangered animal species, e.g. B. some types of wallabies , birds , possums and wombats .
At the caves there are several tent sites, a kiosk, a public telephone, a cooking area and other facilities. A park ranger station is located at one of the campsites. The rangers are responsible for collecting the fee for camping, protecting visitors from wild animals, protecting the local flora and fauna, answering questions from guests and following up complaints.
One of the caves is Victoria Arch , which is very popular because of its proximity to the campsite, and another is Fig Tree Cave , which can be seen in the photo above. The Wollondilly Cave , the Mulwaree Cave and the Kooringa Cave are other caves in the area.
The nearby stream, the waterfalls and some smaller caves in the vast wooded areas of the area are also popular.
While there are strict rules governing contact between visitors and wildlife, they are becoming increasingly tame. A number of bird species, mainly magpies and shepherd mainas , often come into direct contact with visitors, often come within 30 cm and beg for food from the campers' table. The numerous kangaroo herds are also becoming more and more trusting, come within a few meters of the campsite and show no shyness. While most of the visitors find this amusing, the long-term effects on animal behavior are cause for concern.
Several groups of New South Wales cave explorers visit Wombeyan Caves regularly. They undertake various expeditions into the caves approved by the authorities.
Web links
- Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve . Government of New South Wales, Department of Environment and Climate Change
- Sydney Speleological Society (one of the many caving groups)
Individual evidence
- ↑ smh.com.au : Wombeyan Caves. Difficult to access but very attractive collection of limestone caves , February 4, 2004, in English, accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ a b environment.nsw.gov.au : Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve , accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ environment.nsw.au : Wombeyan Karst Conservation Reserve. History and Culture , in English, accessed September 25, 2012