Caves at Margaret River

JEWEL CAVE

The Margaret River area is apparently riddled with caves. If we had time, and money, we would have loved to explore all of the tourist ones. The one we decided to go into was Jewel Cave. We had been told by other campers that this was the best cave. It was indeed amazing. It was like being in a cathedral. The first cavern was enormous, about thirty metres from top to bottom. It was amazingly decorated and so cool and peaceful. These photos do not do it justice.

As we first went down into the cave there was a strong, cool draft that blew up at us. Once we were in there, there was no air movement. I do not know the science behind that but apparently the limestone does release carbon dioxide. I think they run air conditioners to maintain a steady climate too.

The brown rope-like thing is actually a tree root, reaching down through the cave to find water.

"As above, so below." This formation was incredible, looking just like the forests above.

These are called shawls. "Shawls are formed when a droplet of water runs along an angled surface, leaving a line of crystal. Over time, wavy sheets of crystal form that hang from the ceilings and walls in the cave." (From a Caveworks sign)

Wouldn't want one of these to fall on me!

Helictites defy gravity, growing in many directions. Can you see the ballerina?

We were shown a fossilised skeleton of a possum that had fallen into the cave a very long time ago. Animals occasionally fall through small openings on the surface and get lost in the cave. There were remains of Tasmanian Tigers found inside this cave.

Towards the end of the tour, the guide turned all of the lights out to show us what the cave is really like. It was pitch black, with not a speck of light showing anywhere. I made a point of turning around 360 degrees to just make sure. It was also incredibly quiet.

The walk through the cave was not too difficult but the climb back up to the surface was a good workout.

LAKE CAVE

This was the entrance to Lake Cave, which is located right next to Caveworks. The ticket to Jewel Cave got us in to Caveworks and from there we were able to stand on the viewing platform for this cave. You can buy a ticket to see all three of Caveworks caves - Jewel Cave, Lake Cave and Mammoth Cave. There are also other tourist caves run by other operators. Can you see the person walking down near the bottom? It is hard to see the real depth properly in the photo.

Look for the people right in the middle of the picture. The tree in the front is so tall that it has grown from the bottom of that hole in the ground and way up above our heads on the viewing platform.