THE APPROACH TO THE CAVES.
There are several routes to the caves. That commonly chosen is by way of
Tarana, a small township 120 miles from Sydney by rail, and 2,560 feet
above the level of the sea. The train journey is through interesting
country. Leaving behind the new western suburbs with their elegant
villas, stately mansions, and well-kept gardens, the traveller arrives
at Parramatta with its quaint old church, its fine domain with sturdy
English oaks of magnificent growth, its glimpses of river, its old
King's School, and its many evidences of change from the old to the new.
From Parramatta (which is but 14 miles from Sydney), to Penrith, there
are farms, and dark-leaved orange groves sweet-scented and laden with
golden fruit; villages and townships and little homesteads where peace
and contentment seem to reign; orchards and cultivated fields with rich
brown soil on the hill sides; fine horses, splendid cattle, and cottages
with troops of sturdy children. At Penrith, 34 miles from Sydney and 88
feet above sea-level, the country is flat, and the Nepean River which
flows in graceful contour is spanned by a magnificent iron bridge
supported on four massive piers of solid masonry. The train speeds
across the Emu plains which are walled in by the Blue Mountains,
so-called on account of the azure haze which covers them as with a
bridal veil and is to the everlasting hills what the bloom is to the
peach. Scaling the mountain side by a zigzag road, which is one of the
"show" works of the colony illustrative of engineering audacity, in the
course of a few miles the train climbs to an elevation of 700 feet. At
Blaxland's platform, 42 miles from Sydney, the altitude is 766 feet
above sea-level.
The name of Blaxland recalls the fact that it was not until 1813 that a
route across the Blue Mountains was discovered. Near to the railway line
is the track found by Wentworth, Blaxland, and Lawson, over what had
theretofore been regarded as an impassable barrier range to the westward
of Sydney. On speeds the train, still rising and rising, and revealing a
series of views remarkable for grandeur and the sylvan monotony of the
gum tree, until at Katoomba platform, 66 miles from Sydney, the
elevation is 3,350 feet above sea-level. And so the journey continues
past abrupt rocks, gloomy gorges, sparkling waterfalls, rocky glens,
bold bluffs, leafy gullies, fairy dells and vernal valleys, until it
descends the Great Zigzag into Lithgow, falling about 700 feet in less
than five miles! Lithgow is 96 miles from Sydney, and although the Blue
Mountains have been passed, the altitude is still about 3,000 feet.
Lithgow is a busy place, apparently destined to become a manufacturing
centre. There are already in the vicinity numerous coal mines,
potteries, and other works. From this point to Tarana the country varies
from agricultural and pastoral to rugged scenery.
The distance from Tarana to the caves is 35 miles, which has to be
traversed by coach or on horseback. At present the ordinary course is to
take coach on the arrival of the train at Tarana and drive to Oberon the
same evening. The road is good, the district agricultural, and the
scenery agreeable. The course from Oberon to the caves is through a less
settled country, and for a considerable distance through unsettled
primeval "bush," occupied chiefly by the wallaby, the opossum, the
bandicoot, many varieties of the parrot kind that flaunt their gaudy
plumage in the sunlight, and the native pheasant or lyre bird (_Menura
superba_) which is a veritable mimic. The country is broken and
mountainous and in winter the temperature is low, with cutting winds and
severe frosts; in summer the heat is fervent. These silent forces in
conjunction with brawling mountain torrents have been large factors in
the production of the natural phenomena which are to be found in the
valley dammed by the limestone "dyke" in which the caves are formed.
The approach to the Jenolan Caves at the end of the route _via_ Tarana
is remarkable for its construction and gradient, as well as for the
magnificent scenery which surrounds it. All the way from Oberon the land
rises, until an altitude of 4,365 feet above sea-level is attained. Then
there is a gradual downward grade, until what is called "The Top Camp"
is reached, shortly after which the traveller arrives at a part of the
range which he traverses by five zigzags, and descends about 500 yards
in a total length of road five chains less than three miles! This
thoroughfare is made by cutting into the mountain side; and although
with a well-appointed conveyance and careful driving it is safe enough,
inexperienced travellers feel a sense of relief when the journey is
concluded, and they are set down at the Cave House below, which,
notwithstanding that it is in the lowest depth of a mountain recess, is
still nearly 2,500 feet above sea-level. Any feeling of nervousness,
however, is superseded by a sense of the grandeur of the view. If an
occasional glance is given at the steep declivity, and a thought occurs
as to what would be the consequence of a mishap, the attention is
immediately diverted to some new magnificence in the wildly beautiful
panorama, the sight of which alone would almost compensate for so long a
journey.
On the return trip, when portly gentlemen ascend on foot this very steep
zigzag they pause occasionally to contemplate the beauties of nature and
estimate the advantages of pedestrian exercise. Perhaps, also, when they
have made the same observation two or three times, they begin to think
it possible to carry pedestrian exercise to excess, and that a wire
tramway would be convenient. Still, at a second or third glance, they
get an excellent idea of the course of the limestone ridge, and a better
understanding of the operations of Nature in the excavation of the caves
and the production of the wonderful formations they contain.