Going underground
Australia has enough above-ground attractions to keep travellers busy for several lifetimes, but there’s also a lot going on beneath the surface.
We look at five underground activities that won’t leave you in the dark. Except for number three – it’s truly spooky.
1. Jewel of the west
Comprising three enormous chambers, the aptly-named Jewel Cave is in the south-west corner of Western Australia, 8km north of Augusta.
Jewel Cave is dripping with thousands of ornate stalactites, including a 5.4m-long straw the width of a drop of water.
Among the many other features is the Karri Forest, a huge flowstone structure that looks like a Dr Seuss version of a tall-trees forest. Other attractions have self-explanatory names like Frozen Waterfall and Organ-pipes.
Outside the cave, stroll through a real karri forest – among the tallest hardwoods in the world – to the cave’s original entrance.
This is a popular attraction, so it pays to book ahead.
2. Bones of history
Naracoorte Caves on the Limestone Coast is South Australia’s only UNESCO World Heritage-listed site. The caves’ fame stems from their role as pitfall traps, collecting half a million years’ worth of unfortunate animals that tumbled into the cavernous darkness.
Their bad luck gifted palaeontologists an incredible fossil record, including bones of long-extinct megafauna like marsupial lions, gigantic sthenurine kangaroos, as well as the remains of Tasmanian tigers, which were once common on the mainland.
The Victoria Fossil Cave is, of course, all about fossils, while nearby Alexandra Cave is awash with stalactites, stalagmites and fragile straws hanging in decorative masses from the cave roof.
Intrepid spelunkers can don overalls, helmets and headlights and join an experienced guide on an adventure caving tour.
3. It’s a croc
Formed by the stream running through it, Dimalurru (Tunnel Creek) is a 750m-long cavern that passes beneath the rugged Napier Range in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region. (Main Image: Tourism western Australia)
Travellers will need a four-wheel drive to reach Dimalurru, which is 70km north from the Great Northern Highway. If you don’t have a four-wheel drive, hop aboard an organised tour.
It’s a short walk from the car park to the tunnel entrance where a thrilling adventure awaits. There’s no lighting, so hikers carry torches into the gloom. The trail follows the creek’s sandy banks, but occasionally walkers must enter chilly, waist deep water to cross the stream. But wait, there’s more!
Freshwater crocodiles inhabit Dimalurru and you’ll likely catch their eyes glinting in the torchlight or hear their soft grunting.
Along the way you’ll reach a section of collapsed tunnel that lets in a flood of light. This is a good spot for a break before heading back into dinosaur darkness.
4. All aglow
Barely a cave, but stunning nonetheless, Natural Bridge is in Springbrook National Park in the Gold Coast hinterland.
The park is part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which protects vast areas of ancient rainforest in New South Wales and Queensland.
The main attraction at Natural Bridge is a fairytale-esque waterfall that pours into a huge hole in the forest. Head to the viewing platform in a small cave beneath the falls to see the water reappear and splash noisily into a picturesque, sunlit plunge pool.
At nightfall, the ceiling of the cave reveals a galaxy of bioluminescent glowworms, which are the larvae of the less-appealingly named, fungus gnat.
The gnats employ a cocktail of chemicals to light up their rear-ends and attract insect prey to long strands of sticky snares they hang from the ceiling.
Macabre, but pretty.
5. Underground digs
Visiting a cave is fun, but spending a night or two underground is a memorable experience. Many residents of the famous opal mining town, Coober Pedy, live in underground homes known as dugouts.
Summer temperatures in the region soar into the 40s and winter nights can be chilly, but subterranean dwellers enjoy a balmy, year-round 23-25°C.
There are several accommodation dugouts in Coober Pedy, including Desert Cave Hotel, Lookout Cave Underground Motel and Comfort Inn Coober Pedy Experience, where visitors can enjoy a taste of underground life.
While you’re visiting the opal capital of the world, check out some of the other subsurface attractions, like the cavernous Serbian church and Tom’s Opal Mine – an authentic mine that was operational in the ’80s and ′90s.
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