All Images shot hand held as tripods not permitted in caves.ORIENT CAVE-Jenolan CavesThe Orient Cave was discovered by James Wiburd, Jack Edwards and Robert Bailey in 1904 and was opened for public inspection on 28th December 1917. There are three richly decorated chambers in the Orient Cave and their visual impact will leave you breathless with the rich display of colour and the massive size and extent of it's decorations. To maintain the beauty of the cave, it was steam cleaned in 1968, a world's first.
The Orient Cave, along with the Temple of Baal and Ribbon Caves are entered though a man made tunnel 120 metres in length known as the Binoomea Cut which was constructed in 1954.
Average inspection time 1½ hours
Number of steps: 358
Fitness level: average
LUCAS CAVE-Jenolan Caves
The Lucas Cave is the most popular cave at Jenolan and was first entered in 1860 by George Whiting and Nicholas Irwin. If you only have time to visit one cave, the Lucas is the best general cave offering the visitor both the highest and widest chambers at Jenolan as well as a glimpse of the underground river. It is also home to the most photographed formation at Jenolan, the Broken Column.
The highest chamber is the Cathedral, scene of many weddings here at Jenolan. The acoustical properties of this chamber have been utilised by Dame Joan Sutherland, the Vienna Boys Choir and the Cathedral is still used today by a wide variety of performers.
Average inspection time: 1½ hours
Number of steps: 910
Fitness level: harder
FURTHER INFORMATIONhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenolan_Caveshttp://www.amonline.net.au/geoscience/earth/jenolan.htm
