Jenolan Caves

Smith in Oz graphic

“I don’t even know what street Canada is on.”

-Al Capone (1899-1947)

On a quest for Rooster’s BBQ Chicken, I left my Katoomba hostel and drove north. After a successful mission and a full stomach I ventured back on the road to return back to my hostel. On the drive back I past a sign that said Jenolan Caves. I remember one of my hostel mates talking about how great they were. So I did a U turn and decided to check it out. Gee, I thought the drive to Springbrook was scary. I had never experienced sure narrow winding roads that had sheer drops of hundreds of metres on either side. This was white knuckle driving at its best. It was the first time I have seen a road sign warning of both kangaroos and wombats. I was so relieved when I finally arrived at the caves.

As I was walking towards the entrance I just happened to look up just in time to see someone I knew. Now what are the odds of being in a different country, continent, hemisphere and bump into someone from home. What makes a event more strange is that I accidentally came across the Jenolan Road sign and decided on a whim to turn. The person in question was a friend’s younger brother who was here in Sydney on his honeymoon. We took a few pictures to scare people back home, shared a few laughs at the odds of this meeting and then parted ways. I was a little apprehensive about doing some cave exploring as I am extremely claustrophobic. This trip had been a journey of over coming fears as well as travel. The tour I went on was the Imperial Cave tour. It was one of the easy ones. My digital camera did not perform well in the caves but I did manage to get a few pictures. The caves were so interesting and the guide was so informative I quickly forgot all my fears. My next stop is Sydney. This is my departure point back to Canada, I have 4 days to see the city.