Some Aussie Anthems - and other iconic tunes.

So I got distracted on Youtube today.. tickled to find some great aussie tunes thereon. I will post the links to the best of them, but I can't be held accountable for any comments by shameless bogans in relation to the clips.. sigh..

I'll start with the anthems, and I'll also post links to some others that may be mentioned in other posts, but I think it will be convenient to have one collection here of the ones I love best.

First of all, will have to go the offical National Anthem - Advance Australia Fair. No-one sings it better than Julie Anthony. This long version she's towards the end, but you get the full lyrics. This one is the abbreviated anthem that is very popular.

The lyrics for those not familiar:

Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free

We've golden soil and wealth for toil

Our home is girt by sea

Our land abounds in natures gifts of beauty rich and rare

In history's page let every stage advance Australia fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing: Advance Australia Fair

Beneath our radiant southern cross, we'll toil with hearts and hands

To make this commonwealth of ours, reknowned of all the lands

For those who come across the seas we've boundless plains to share

With courage let us all combine to advance Australia fair.

In joyful strains then let us sing advance Australia fair.

Well of course there's Waltzing Matilda. There's various versions, but Slim Dusty's has to get the nod.

For those who would like to understand Waltzing Matilda and what it means to us as Australians there are a couple of early blog posts about it. One by the Prime Minister at the time of the 100 year anniversary of the song and some notes for interpretation of the lyrics by yours truly.

Another more recent tune that seeks to capture modern Australia in a more inclusive sort of way is I am Australian - this is the original Seekers version. Try watching school kids sing this and not cry!! Oh heck, try not crying any time at all!! Even the tune will make me a jibbering mess LOL.

the seekers sing the lyric very clearly, but for those who miss something here they are, thank you Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton:

I came from the dream time, from the dusty red soil plains,
I am the ancient heart - the keeper of the flame,
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come,
For forty thousand years I'd been the first Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I came upon the prison ship bound down by iron chains
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.
I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come
I'm a bushy, I'm a battler, I am Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I'm a teller of stories, I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira, and I paint the ghostly gums
I am Clancy on his horse, I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian.
I'm the hot wind from the desert, I'm the black soil of the plains
I'm the mountains and the valleys, I'm the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian.
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come,
we share a dream,
And sing with one voice,
I am, you are, we are Australian.

but what about

Great Southern Land - Icehouse - a classic by a band of my youth. Saw them at the Manly Vale hotel in Sydney years ago.

Land Downunder - Men at Work. Always played in sporting contexts. I recall it for the America's Cup when we finally beat the Yanks in 1983...wow that was some day. It's the only time I can remember that they had the radio playing over the loudspeakers at Sydney Central train station. As the trains pulled up the passengers where sticking their heads out the window to find out what was happening... and we'd won. It was an amazing day. .. and of course Land Downunder was almost the anthem at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Great song.

This is Australia - Gangajang

or My Island Home performed by Christine Anu. The lyrics taken literally are about indigenous people called the saltwater people.. (note the reference to holding the long turtle spear) ... but it has been adopted by everyone as it really captures that longing and love you feel for your home.. and Australia is an island afterall. This version they have amended the original version, adding an additional verse to make it more a "national" song.

..and Chris Martin and Coldplay at least see this one as an Australian anthem. Can you doubt it when you see this clip of Australians singing along to John Farnham singing You're the Voice fundraising for bush fire victims in 2009. Backing is by Coldplay. Good one them for joining in the fundraising.

Songs that speak to the ANZAC legacy

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. By Eric Bogle. This rendition by John Williamson and it's good, but Eric Bogle sings it better.. unfortunately the misinformation provided in the clip to the original on youtube just annoys me too much to link it!

I was only 19 - brilliant song about Vietnam.

and I guess you would have to include Khe Sanh in this category. Classic Cold Chisel, iconic...also relevant to Vietnam and returning home, it's a great song... unfortunately also a bit associated with rabid boganism.. but we'll try to overlook that.

Classic Aussie tunes:

Along the Road to Gundagai is a particular favourite of mine. Slim Dusty's Along the Road to Gundagai is loved by many.

Home among the gum trees would have to be in this list too.

John Williamson songs:

True Blue - some people have recommended this song as a source of understanding the Aussie spirit, which is advice I don't actually understand. It was written at a time when some iconic Aussie brands were being sold off to mulinational giants. The economy wasn't doing so well. The days of the lucky country seemed to be drifing away. Aussies felt very very upset about it and this song came out as a introspective look at who we really are and what we really stand for, because at the time we really were really feeling pretty shell shocked. It doesn't answer the question it asks it.

Cootamundra Wattle - another of my personal favourites, and another huge hit in Australia when it was released. There's more than one variety of wattle in the film clip. Cootamundra wattle is the one at 2:02 LOL.

Galleries of Pink Galahs

Raining on the Rock .. with a live version of Cootamundra Wattle as a bonus!

...and just because I like it and I'm feeling self-indulgent here's Desert Child!

The most iconic of our literature

My Country - this version read by the great Dorothea McKellar herself. This poem is so iconic that the language of it has become woven into how we express our land in language. Whenever you hear Australia referred to as "the sunburnt country" it is an echo of and reference to this poem.

The Man From Snowy River by Andrew Barton (Banjo) Patterson. ..but we've also turned it into a song. This version is a live rendition by Jack Thompson at the Corryong Man From Snowy River Festival in 2009. Jack Thompson is a bit of an icon himself, so he's a natural choice for the job!

No land in western Europe was as dependent as Australia on the horse. The horse was absolutely indispensable in most regions, even at the ports. A far higher proportion of Australians than Britons knew how to harness, saddle and ride a horse. Newcomers marvelled at the ease and daring with which many Australians, both men and women, handled horses. Horse races drew large crowds. A township without a racecourse or land set aside for one was a rarity. It is no surprise then that this poem, recording a real and legendary display of horsemanship became such a cultural icon.

(Reference: Geoffrey Blainey, Black Kettle and Full Moon, Daily life in a Vanished Australia)

The Loaded Dog... well, an excerpt of this iconic short story anyway. By Henry Lawson and read by Jack Thompson..

Wonderful Classic Aussie ads

And of course there's the Happy Little Vegemites! and rather a lot of other deeply loved ads that just about everyone my age or older can sing even now decades later... and what's more get a great deal of pleasure doing so!!

and the eternally wonderful Louie the Fly

.. and Aeroplane Jelly..... Hugo and Holly... for which my hubby still has his song book.. who didn't love that one!

and another that became part of the Aussie vernacular "Oh Mr Hart!! What a mess!!" .. and some proof of just how much most of us loved that add - the chaser's tribute to Pro Hart on his demise.

Some Some of the Best Comedy

Australiana by Austen Tayshus .. warning this clip is quite rude and incldues drug references.. maybe it might go over the heads of people not well versed in Australiana but you never know. It is chock a block with (ie absolutely full of) references to Australian animals and locations, pastimes and events. Classic.

Sporting Anthems

Cmon Aussie Cmon. Written by mojo if my memory hasn't failed me. A really successful ad agency, but this bled over into being a cricketing anthem. Penned when the windies were at the top of their game. The reference to being up against the best was a reference to the windies touring. There is also an updated version reflecting more recent dominance of the Aussie team.. Cmon Aussie Cmon now has a life of it's own.

Up there Cazaly - VFL ie Victorian Football League - Aussie Rules before it went national. But even up here in the league states we enjoyed this one that became a hit song. Love the clip. ... oh by the way.. Cazaly is the name of one of the great players of Aussie Rules.

Then there's the 12th Man's Marvellous... maybe needs some background. Richie Benaud was captain of the Australian cricket team who has gone on to commentating. He's a dead set icon. He and the rest of the team strongly favour the word "marvellous" to describe the action....

Perhaps this one should go in the comedy section.. the Aussie Haka. As far as I can distinguish the words are

Take your thong off your foot.

Slap your thong on your arse

Slap your thong on your arse

Scull your beer Scull your beer, pour, pour

Scull your beer Scull your beer, pour, pour

We've got the cup you won't get it get it

Bill stays right here in Australia

You come ah! you come ah! You come a waltzing matilda with me!

Walking in the Blue Mountains: Leura Forest, Dardanelles Pass, Federal Pass

It's been another trying couple of weeks what with moving house and all there's been precious little opportunity for enjoyment. Following on from our Jenolan soujurn today we are up for another challenge and a Blue Mountains walk on one of the more challenging tracks is our agenda. We are again quite late getting away, but we arrive at Echo Point at about 10:45. We have decided to call in at the information centre and acquire some maps of the walks that we can carry with us.

It's many a year since we've gone in the info centre and gosh, what a change. It's not so much an info centre as a massive gift shop with small, two person info counter down one end. How the priorities have shifted. Last time we were here the windows overlooking the views were unobscured and there was a bird feeder outside the window where you could watch the gang gang cockatoos, king parrots and other beautiful birds. Now you're flat out seeing beyond the product displays.

After a bit of back and forthing to the maps and walks stand and some helpful advice about the publications from the girl on the sales desk we are out. We need to move the car. Our $3.50 will only take us along for an hour and we have at least 3-4 hrs walking in mind. Charges go up to $4 per hour after that first hour. As we have to drive anyway we decide we will do the walk: Leura Forest, Dardanelles Pass, Federal Pass which starts from Leura Cascades. Only a short drive away. We stop for a snack in the car which we have saved from brekkie, bircher muesli, with banana and king island yoghurt (yuuuuumm!) . Armed with wensleydale cheese and salad sandwiches, a couple of oranges and a couple of bottles of water, rainproof jackets etc we set off at 11:45.

It is chilly in the mountains today and I am glad I've brought a scarf and gloves. These shady walks don't take advantage of the glorious blue skies either so on go the gloves. It is a steady walk down broadly spaced steps which gradually increase in incline as we travel. The forest in this area is lush and moist. Delightful - but there is even better to come.

We've had a couple of weeks fairly steady rain in the Sydney area, and the path shows it. Fortunately the frame for the path provides an easy walk around, but it's not fast going. Fortunately the track improves as the terrain gets steeper.

We are walking downhill past the long series of cascades that give the locality the name. They are flowing beautifully and provide a contrast to the last time we were here for an Australia Day picnic with my brother and nephews. Daughter caught a yabby in the cascades on that day, and the baby and preschooler played leaf boats in the stream. Far too dangerous to even consider something like that today even if the weather wasn't so cold.

At the base of the cascade there is a cute little viewing area under a rock overhang. As paths go it's quite picturesque and I snap a shot. From the other side of the little bridge there is a scene of a nice little sandy beach beside the stream.

Sensible people head back up at this point, but we are headed down, down down the stairs...

A little way along we come to snatches of views across the valley to the glowing orange escarpment. A flowering banskia spinulosa or hairpin banksia with it's orange brushes and black styles frames the view out, while looking downward we see the plunging bridal veil falls. Leaving the lookout we head up the steps then climb down the staircases to the base of bridal veil falls. The long winding stairs traverse through the dense forest and past a beautiful gully of tree fern. Everything is moist and dripping. Rocks are covered in beautiful ferny moss. This is a truly beautful gully. Next to the path someone has carved a rudimentary face in the rock which has then been covered green with lush growth making a memorable landmark.

In the surrounding forest, a tree trunk has been comprehensively colonised by a fruiting fungus which climbs like a tawny apartment block high up into the tree. Surely the beautiful fungi are the jewels of the rainforest!

Finally we emerge at the base of the falls. We are immediately struck by their appropriate name... we admire for a minute or two and another couple arrive. Their first comment is the same as ours.. gee they really do look like a bridal veil!

From the falls we are heading up again, and pass under the canopy of tall tree ferns. Everywhere we go the sound of cascading water, trickling water, abundant water provides a rich serenade. In this drought ridden land, the sound of water everywhere around is indeed a luxurious sound!!

We pass around the edge of the escarpment on a narrow band of exposed claystone track, kept dry by the overhanging rock. This is the amphitheatre track and the guide books warns it can be slippery after rain. Then we come to our first obstacle. A tree has fallen across the path, breaking the railing of the metal bridge across which it has landed. Hmm. How to get round this. I decide the easiest way seems to be to hold the railing and step down off the path and across the rocks, then climb back through the barrier to retake the path. This does prove quite a simple exercise and we are again on our way.

We pass another beautiful silver torrent of water bounding down through the forest over a beautiful array of rock and out of sight to the valley floor below. This is soon followed by a magical section of path that runs underneath a deep and dripping rock overhang. The rotten wooden planks of the old path are visible against the rock ledge. The new subtly coloured recycled plastic boardwalk is fringed by beautiful ferns.
Another five minutes and we emerge to a fine veil of water falling from far above to strike a narrow rock ledge that seems to be placed just for the purpose of enhancing the effect of this beautiful fringe of water. We pause for several minutes in admiration. As we move off we notice that this was Lila Falls. Yes, it deserves a name. We are already running out of superlatives for this walk. It is magnificent.

The stairs keep on taking us down, steeply down, as we follow the path of the water. We are reminded that we are on Federal Pass by an interpretive board that gives historical information about this track. Heading on we soon come to Linda Falls which proves more amenable to still photography. It falls in a roar into a beautiful clear sandy bottomed pool, before running under the bridge of the path and flowing again down into the abyss below.

Down again the track travels via a couple of sharp hairpin turning stairways. It's still only 12:46. One hour into a four hour walk and we're wondering how we're going to find getting back up when the time comes....
Our thoughts are again distracted by the Marguerite Cascades. Three falls named for three women. I wonder who they were... Marguerite Cascades is lovely, though not quite as easily viewed.
As we continue along the track we continue to pass falling water meandering around beatiful mossy rocks in silver torrents. The forest to this point is dim. But the ground begins to level and the canopy to show shafts of light. We have arrived at the magical Leura Forest. Like a fairy glen with mossy rocks placed with harmonious skill around the flat ground neatly ornamented with a leaf litter over rich moist brown humous. A Japanese garden would struggle to outdo the beautiful placement of these rocks among the tall straight tree trunks. Fantastic!!

We are pleased to see several picnic tables scattered at discrete distances around the forest floor. What a special place for a picnic!! We decide to have our lunch here on our return, but first we'll knock over the Dardanelles Pass. We cross Banksia Streamlet and find another section of the picnic ground, this time with a corrugated iron roofed tea house. A reproduction of an original built over a hundred years ago that was destroyed by a falling tree.
We head on up Federal Pass and are struck along the way by a large rich brown, deeply textured tree trunk beautifully ornamented by some fine fungi fruits of the finest delicate fawn colour. They are exquisite but the light is very poor. Oh for a tripod!
We are now walking through bell bird country. Their outstandingly ethereal tinkling bell calls provide a magical atmosphere and belie the nature of the actual bird. As children we would always wind down our windows in sections of forest we knew had bell birds and listen to their beautiful call. I imagined them to be tiny pretty sweet natured little things. Quite disillusioning to find they are a quite aggressive large honeyeater quite a bully of the bird world. A pretty green, which orange highlights in skin, but with very very sharp claws like needles and an almost evil talent for digging them into the quick of your fingernail as you extract them from a mist net, or try to measure them... but nothing, nothing can lessen the joy of listening to their call.
In a little while we pass a lyrebird calling. We stop to listen and record the call for you and for posterity. The recorder has picked up the bell birds which of course are nearer, but we also manage at least some of the lyrebirds repetoire. The bell bird calls dominate, but all the various other calls you can hear are the lyrebird letting fly one bird call after the other..see what (if any) you can recognise, I can clearly hear eastern whip bird, black cockatoo, currawong, kookaburra, and shrike thrush. What a delight to stand in the peaceful forest with such a chorus around you!


The path all along is steep uphill. Not a lot of steps, but strenuous just the same. As we rise the forest is opening out. As the forest opens the beatifully lumpy and knobbly red trunks of Angophera Costata stand like sentinels, with shed bark arrayed modestly round about in beautiful rich shades of brown. Oh how I love this tree the shedding season up here in the mountains seems quite out of kilter with that lower down by the coast. A little way along shining straight smooth white trunks here and there light up the forest and I wonder what species they are - maybe Eucalyptus oreades? or deanei?

Through the trees we can see the ruined castle and conclude we must be nearing the intersection with Dardanelles pass. Click on the photo and you can see the ruined castle on the top of the ridge that curves gentley across the foreground of the distant escarpment.

Sure enough here it is. It's now ten minutes to two. We've been walking about 2 hrs to get to this point. Heading back along Dardanelles Pass, we meet up with a couple of brits who have just come down the giant stairway and are wondering which way to go. They've come without their purses and have only $10 between them, so getting the railway up is out. They got directions at the info centre and can't remember what they were told. A bit of quizzing of us and they decide to head across to Leura Cascades. They take off
at quite a formidable pace, but we are happy to let them get ahead. It's much nicer walking in the forest on your own isn't it. The terrain is very easy after the rest of our walk and feels like a rest by comparison. It is gently downhill, and quite a smooth path. We navigate through/over/around a couple of fallen trees along the way and come to a lady and small girl seated on a wayside bench listening to another lyrebird this time up the slope a bit. The bird is calling beautifully we have a brief chat about it and share the wonder of these fabulous Australian birds. Many people assume that because they are such great mimics - they can even make the sound of chain saws and tinkling chains when those sounds are around them - that they are named for that ie they are liar birds. This is not the case. They are lyre- birds named for the lyre shaped tails. The lyre is of course a musical instrument. The indigenous people regarded the lyrebird as having been given among the birds permission to speak all languages and was the "totem" symbol of the Dharawal people resident around the Campbelltown/Camden "cowpastures" area who took a role of diplomat and hospitable hosts among the local tribes. Living in such a rich and abundant area, in times of drought the mountain tribes would come down to the Dharawal area there around Mt Annan and the Dharawal considered it their duty to welcome all visitors, hold conferences and so on... they were similarly tolerant of the early european settlers. So a Dharawal oral historian told us in a talk I once attended. He said that the mountain tribes were not so tolerant and the violence that ended up occuring was when those people had come down in dry times and came into conflict with the settlers.
But I digress...
Soon we are back at Leura forest and ready for lunch. We're not the only ones with this idea, but the tables are well spaced and it's perfectly possible to have a quiet private lunch, albeit with an occassional wave and g'day to a passing walker. The forest encourages quiet contemplation, like a cathedral. There is something about this track. Almost everyone you pass is moved to be friendly. Does this wonderful place bring such a sense of common humanity to people who walk with spirits soaring? We all seem to have a common sense of unspoken awe... Well, apart from those locally resident British ladies, who seem to be powering on in chattering conversation oblivious to the forest. Oblivious to the lyrebirds. We catch them up when another guy is talking to them about the birds and saying to listen for them. The ladies stand with blank faces. They've not noticed the birds at all. I can't help feeling they've missed the point completely, but hey, each to his or her own I suppose.

Lunch out of the way. We press on wanting to see whether we can comfortably complete the walk in the 4 hours. It's now about 2:40 pm. Allowing extra for our lunch stop our 4 hrs runs out at 4 pm, but can we do it? It's only a short while until we hit the up-stairs section. We come to features that felt so far from the start of our walk. It's a strenuous climb up. We pace ourselves and pause regularly to take in the scene and catch our breath. It is an extraordinarily beautiful track... or should we say stairway, but our lower body is certainly feeling it. My knee is the first to complain and I start to feel my age. Bloody knee! Fortunately we have mostly to go up stairs and this it can tolerate no worries. Down is not so comfy and the problem leg must go down first which is a bit of a drag that slows us a bit.
We make it back to the carpark at 3:45pm. The guide book says this walk should be treated as a day walk. Probably quite correct, and it would be no problem if you just moseyed up and down the stairs etc, sat on the provided seats when they come up and generally just do a bit of communing. Certainly when doing cave tours at Jenolan, you take a flight or two of stairs, or a ladder and then you have a good 5 or ten minutes of resting listening and admiring before heading on again. Not very tiring that way at all. Certainly even half of this walk done at a steady continuous pace, seems twice as strenuous as the river cave that's for sure. However we're rather tickled that we've done it without too much problem. I must look up Tongariro Crossing and have a think about the comparison in the terrain etc. I think they say that once you get up the first bit.. is it the Devil's Staircase, the rest isn't too bad? I still don't know if we're game to take that on, but we'll have a great time walking before we decide. .. I've got my eye on the walk to ruined castle which is a similar grade but longer. It would need an early start of course....

.. back in the car we have some more water, and head off home in time to get the dinner...

Sunday morning after a better than usual night's sleep we aren't sore, but our lower body is tired. It certainly got a work out!

I must say that this challenging walk is superlative. Absolutely glorious. I am sure it would be delightful at any time, but now in winter after rain, in the season the lyrebirds are calling, it just cannot be bettered. What a privilege it is to live so close to such an amazing place as the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

Thank God we're here! Pt 2 - Jenolan - Imperial Diamond Cave Tour

Refreshed with a shared bottle of water we take our places in the Grand Arch for our tour if the Imperial Diamond Cave/s.  This is essentially a tour of the Imperial cave with a bit of an add on for the Diamond Cave. 

We laugh when our guide arrives.  It is Michael again, so clearly there was no risk of us missing this tour after completing the River Cave.  It is a small group this time.  Ourselves, a family of five - three teenagers or maybe early twenties for the elder girl, the kids have all just got back from Plugholing.  The elder girl who is very outgoing and vivacious reports that her brother and sister enjoyed it more than she did, but it was an experience! There is also a young couple, so it is a very small group.  We have all been on tours earlier in the day, and Michael quizzes us as to the rules in the caves and re-emphasises critical points.  We are heading west into the mountain this time and again, a long staircase is required to reach the entrance to the caves. 

Given that we are not newbies to the caves, Michael adapts his commentary to suit.  We head on in through the red door.  Our first chamber is called the woolshed.  It feels familiar and I think I must have passed through it before.   Ah yes, it is confirmed that you also go this way for the Chifley cave, which we have toured previously.  The woolshed is perfectly named.  The major feature here is the classing table.  For those who are unfamiliar with woolsheds, when the fleece is shawn from the sheep it is picked up and tossed in a rather expert manner onto what is called the classing table where the refuse, such as dags (wool matted with excrement) or burs  etc are removed and the wool is examined to assess quality, fineness etc, before being baled with other fleece of similar quality.  The crystal classing table has fleece hanging over the edge which somewhat resemble large dags.  I bet you can't name another cave in the world that has a feature that is pointed out as a dag!!

With a chuckle we move along and down some stairs again.  

We follow the river around some twists and turns.  Unlike our interceptions with the river in the River Cave, this really feels like a river wending and winding it's path through the mountain.  We pause once more to marvel at the water, it's stillness and the optical depth illusion.  You can see a hand print where the cave divers have been.  The water moves so slowly such marks remain for a long time.  There are what seem to us to be tiny holes where the cave divers go down to explore.  They must be insane, seriously.  Apparently they even get to places where they have to take the air cylinder off their back and go through then pass the cylinder in after themselves.  Lord!  The water doesn't look deep enough to dive in.  You would swear it was only 1 meter deep at the very deepest point, but no, that's just the illusion at work.  The divers have figured out that the two underground rivers (this one is not the same one we visited in the River Cave) eventually find their way to the Blue Lake.

We pause in a locality known as Ridley's Shortcut.  Our young companions point out that the rock stack above is where they were plugholing.  Apparently This fellow Ridley fell when looking over and down into this chamber from above.  Fortunately he bounced around off the walls and rocks a bit before landing on some wire netting that had been put in the chamber further breaking his fall. Badly hurt but luckily he survived.  The things some people will do to have a feature named for themselves!

Was it here or another early chamber that we learned that when originally discovered the chamber was waist deep in animal bones?  A wombat skeleton has been cleaned up and placed in the cave as a reminder.  Apparently there's an entrance into which animals can and apparently did fall on a fairly regular basis.  Somewhere along the way we disturb another small bat. Awesome!!  We are having a lot of luck today!

As we have been through the geology spiel on our previous tours, this time we are learning how to navigate in the caves and are quizzed about what features we have passed and which way you turn to get out to the surface. 

We come to the butchershop.  Sure enough hanging from the ceiling is a feature that really does resemble a sheep's carcass with head intact.  Above my head is a ham, and close by a chicken carcass.  Memorable, that's for sure!

We move along and come to a stalagmite that is about the right height for an average woman.  It is standing on it's own in the path surrounded by a protective cage.  This is Lot's Wife.  We hear that she has been through periods of rapid growth, and periods where there has not been much activity creating the uneven width and layering effect.

On again and with occassional periods where you have to watch your head, maybe bend a little we come to a ledge under which a landscape is revealed which without being told we know just has be named as a city or citadel of some sort.  Rows of crystal like ramparts of a city are arrayed across the floor of the cave.  Fascinating.  We pause to hear the theory about how they are created, snapping our photos for posterity.  This is another most interesting feature and one of a type we've not come across before. 

From the crystal cities we pass clusters of richly glowing stalactites and columns before finally arriving at the Alabaster column.  This enourmous column is completely untainted with the iron oxide and it has a luxuriant glow about it.  

Soon we approach another ledge under which is a circular cluster of columns,  there are a couple of similar features along the way, the more impressive of them is called the Birdcage. 

One feature incites Michael to quizz us as to what sort of formation it is.  Hmm. Column, as it reaches from the ceiling to the floor.  Shawl from the shape of it... Fluted column is the correct term we are informed.  It is most impressive.   Very large.

On one of our rest stops as the rest of the group caught up, we stop at the display case with that contains the jaw of a tasmanian devil discovered in this cave.  Apparently tassie devils were suriving on the mainland as recently as 600 years ago. 

Moving ahead we are told to look out for the Giraffe's front legs.  We spot them no touble.  They really do look like a giraffe's front legs. I can't remember though exactly where they were.  Were they in the shawl cave?  

We move into the the Diamond cave and although it is beautifully decorated and we admire a number of features, the star of the show is a small alcove filled with dogstooth spa crystals.  There is a double stair case to facilitate larger groups getting a look and we appreciate anew that we have such a small gathering today.  

Laughter around the group as Michael points out a small protrusion of rock known as the dessert spoon. 

Now we move in the upper Diamond branch which is protected by wire netting all around.  We pause before we go in and are warned again not to touch when but to remember to look right and left and above also.  We move on.  Wow.   There are gaps in the netting here and there to facilitate photography.  This is a most impressive section. Awesome!  We are coming to the climax of our tour.  The Gem of the West, covered in helictites and dainty drooping straws. The photo cannot do it justice. This chamber has lots of helictites. They grow all over the place in varying sizes.  There is crystal everywhere you look, coating the rocks. Flowing down over things like oooze.  Some coated rocks are clearly visible through the crystal. 

We admire a particularly nifty stalactite and stalagmite which are almost to touching stage.  Around the corner is a section of rock eroded to form a sort of sharp pincer effect. Nifty.  This is an entrancing cave and well worth the tour that's for sure. 

Having taken our fill of these magnificent chambers we start on the return leg.  We pause again at the tassie devil and here and there along the way.  The main focus I remember was trying to recall the way out by memory of the features as we approach the butchershop.  Maybe not such a star crystal wise, but I do have a particular fondness for the butcher shop and the woolshed.. plenty of crystal in the woolshed, but it is .. well.. dull and woolly looking!  The bottleshop was another striking and amusing feature and very lifelike.  

Once again as we near the woolshed we feel a drop in temperature as we  near the red door, exiting the same way we came in.  It has been raining while we were underground and everything has that hush of the wet, and the approaching darkness. With the air powerfully laced with the scent of eucalyptus Jenolan is simply superb!  It has been a wonderfully enjoyable tour, and a most relaxing and reviving day.  We really feel renewed as we make our way up the hill, up several more flights of stairs.  

I am delighted to report the legs held up very well, never did get the jelly legs and was still feeling pretty good as we hopped into the car. Not a tinge of soreness next day.  All bodes well for our next physical challenge as we try to figure out if we're up to Tongariro Crossing... Finally and with considerable regret that our visit has come to a close, we say farewell to the wonderful Jenolan Caves. 

While I have done my best to give a feel for our experience, there is so much more that you hear and see as you clamber around these awe inspiring chambers.  Colourful characters in the history of the caves, indigenous connections.. so much more... 

WE WILL BE BACK!!  

Thank god we're here! Pt 1- Jenolan Caves River Cave Tour

Just a quick reminder before we begin - you can click on the photos for a better look......

Oh my god I am climbing the walls.  The stress is building. Migraine territory. There is only one solution. We just have to get out of town and Jenolan it is - the oldest show caves on earth.  Some chambers dated at 340 million years - that's before the time of the dinosaurs!!  Time is a tickin’ away on our Jenolan Pass and a physical challenge is overdue to start of our campaign to test our fitness. The exercise will (hopefully) blow the cobwebs away. 

We’ve been sluggish getting away, still foggy climbing out of sore heads and feeble constitutions, but just after 9am we’re on the road.  With the late start it’s all motorways for us and with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road in the CD player it’s no time before we are admiring the beautiful autumn colour in the street and garden trees of the Mountain Villages along the Great Western Highway.  Among the first that attract attention are some beautifully coloured claret ash, and lovely red maples.  They come as a delightful surprise. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that the lower mountains may still have colour.  

A business-like drive but we admire the lovely roadworks not too long completed providing better access to the Great Western Highway from Leura township. Nice piece of work. 

Heading through Blackheath in the higher altitude the trees are increasingly bare, though as we pass along we soon come to a warmer spot with abundant colour. 

We pass the historic precint at Hartley before we turn onto the road to Jenolan.  The weather is a bit drizzly, and I think we must be destined to head to this part of the world in this damp wintry weather, as it always seems to be like this when we come, but this is not a problem. I love the colder wet conditions and the beauty of Jenolan of course is that the attraction is underground so rain is simply not an issue. 

As we admire the view across the pasture clad hills a wedge tailed eagle circles overhead. Wedgies are always such a majestic sight.  Fantastic!  Yellow Rumped thornbills fly up from the verge and a short while later some fairy wrens.  It’s so gooood to be in the country and I’m feeling better already.  

At the boundary to the Jenolan reserve the road narrows. I’m very pleased to see the fireplaces at the rest stops along the road are still there.  Thank god there’s not much chance of those being replaced by electric bbqs!  I just hope they don’t remove them. 

We take what looks like the last place in the car park and get a cave guide book from the attendant.  It’s now a bit after 11:30.  The drive takes just long enough to get through Goodbye  Yellow Brick Road, Don't Shoot Me and a couple of Supertramp classics!  The atmosphere is a bit damp and the golden ash trees planted around Caves House are ablaze with colour.  Woodsmoke taints the air from a column of smoke wafting gently skyward from the Caves House Chimneys.  Magic.  I LOVE the mountains like this with the outdoors bracing and the indoors warm and cosy. 

We make our way to the board of tour times.  We’re after the River Cave which doesn’t leave 'til 1:15.  We head to the ticket office to make sure we have a place on the tours of our choice and notice the electronic sign announcing that the road closes across the middle of the day reopening at 1:15. Phew. I'd forgotten about that. Lucky we weren't here later!  At the ticket counter hubby announces we should do the Diamond Imperial as well as the River Cave.   The girl on the desk looks at us with concern.  Do we realise that we’d be straight from one tour to the other?  She can never get out of the River Cave on time so although there’s a ½ hr between the predicted times, it could be close and we should be sure that our guide is aware we have a following tour. 

Turns out that the information we were given when last here and being provided with our Jenolan Pass was somewhat misleading.  The girl had said we would get “50% off another tour” taken within the year.  Actually the Jenolan Pass gives you 50% off as many tours as you like for the next year AND it’s just fine with Jenolan if you hand your pass around to family and friends to use.  This makes the caves much much more affordable obviously, which they need to be as the tours range in price from $27 - $40 pp.  Anyway, $75 later we’re off to sus out lunch options. 

11:45 and we arrive at the restaurant.  They’re not open yet and it will be a bistro.  We’ve been happy with the food from the cafeteria in the past, so we don’t hesitate to head on in there to be sure we're in plenty of time for the tour.  They have a range options from the fry up with hot chips down one end, through to healthy wraps and Turkish bread sandwiches.  We opt for half a chicken wrap (delicious) and a toasted Turkish with brie, cranberry and turkey with avocado (also quite tasty).  The toasted Turkish comes accompanied with some corn chips and tangy salsa. Nice touch.  We polish that off quick smart and decide to supplement that with a piece of quiche (ho hum) and a slice of cake to share (ho hum again). 

We still have 45 mins to kill so we opt to take a walk around the Blue Lake and see what we can. You never know your luck, we might even spot the platypus, which our tour guide later tells us is not much bothered by people about and may be seen at any time of day.. and apparently they've had some babies..  

The Blue Lake is putting on a show today. I’ve not seen it so abundantly deserving of the name before.  The water is crystal clear. In the shallower parts of the lake you’d have no difficulty spotting the platypus if it’s about.  The walk itself is a bit ramshackle.  The path is even enough, but the bush surrounding the lake is not quite pristine enough to attract a lot of compliments from me.  A short way down the track a male superb fairy wren in eclipse plumage with his dark blue tail and a slight edge of black to his wing, is  all puffed out like a pom pom to keep warm. Aside from the touches that show he's male, he is otherwise decked out in the lovely soft browns .  He's not much fussed by our presence.  We stop and he hops around near us on the path before flitting off into the nearby bushes.  Magic!  The soft piping of the white browed scrub wrens as they forage is a constant serenade everywhere we go. The white browed scrub wrens are also not fussed by the people about and are easily observed.

Finally we come to the dam wall and hubby spots a couple of white browed scrub wrens hanging on to the edge of the verticle dam wall so we snap a photo of them .  Around the walk are interesting interpretive boards explaining what the machinery is that is around the lake.  It’s all part of the electricity plant which supplies Jenolan.  Quite interesting industrial heritage, the electrical plant is designed by an American and a big improvement on similar plant of it’s type at the time it was installed.

 There’s quite a few stairs along the track, especially as you head back on the return leg on the side of the lake nearest the road.  It would probably be easier to walk it in the reverse direction.  I’m not so sure this walk was a good plan given that we have about 1800 steps to get through on the tours. Oh well, we will think of it as a warm up.  The weather is closing in as we head back so we don’t linger on platypus watch, instead finding ourselves a seat up in the Grand Arch to await our tour guide. 

At the appointed time our guide, Michael, arrives and runs us through the rules.  No touching anything inside the caves – chemical reactions dull the crystal and it cannot be cleaned.  No food at all as it risks attracting bush rats which get lost and die and/or chew the electric cables. Neither of which is good. Lastly no smoking.  A reminder and an opportunity for people to take a last toilet break.  While we wait Michael spends a few minutes pointing out the course of the river that at one time ran through the rock of the Grand Arch overhead.  The winds and twists and meandering of the watercourse is clear to see.  Over the millions of years since the limestone was formed the rivers have worked their way deep underground where they continue to wear away at the rock.  

We commence the climb up a rather intimidating staircase to the entrance to the caves.  I think this was probably the most demanding individual section of the tour as it is the longest staircase without a break.  We get to a lookout over the blue lake and as the group rests, Michael explains about why the lake is blue.  Everyone having caught their breath we head on in.  

To get down to the river we have to climb up over then down down down to the lowest part of the caves then climb back up, up and down a few times before reaching the exit.  Looking down into the cave over the edge of the railing we can see water.  That’s a heck of a staircase we’ll be travelling to get down there!

My apologies for the poor quality of the photo, but I thought this gives the best idea of the typical terrain of this particular tour.

The first famous feature we come to is the minaret.

I must have seen many pictures of this over the years and I identify it tentatively before Michael tells us the name.  The caves are beautifully ornamented with crystal both active (wet and therefore continuing to develop) and dry which sparkles in a modest way as they catch the light.   Although there are many stairs, the stair sections are done in bursts and there are regular stops for information when you can rest the muscles. 

There are a range of ages and sizes of people on the tour and everyone seems to be coping OK and enjoying the tour.

We arrive at the pool of reflections, which my amateur photography skills and equipment struggle to do justice to. Once again we discuss the optical illusion that makes the river look so shallow. It's actually very deep. 20 metres I think Michael said. It looks like you could just step over the rail and paddle up to your knees or chest.

The reflecting pool draws a comparison in my mind with the reflection pool at Carey's Caves at Wee Jasper NSW. This pool of reflections is beautiful, but I have say the reflecting pool at Carey's Caves may be smaller but it can give this one in the River Cave a run for its money. Carey's Caves are very well worth a visit and they have some fantastic limestone rocks above ground unlike anything I've ever seen. Extraordinary.

 We move on and pass a long narrow shawl that is glowing with a radiant luminescence in the light. It seems to be hanging in mid air at a most unusual angle drawing exclamations from the party. When it is pointed out you can see a thin wire suspended from the ceiling along which the shawl has grown. The wire was a relic of some work or activity in the caves some time past. It is revealed that the crystal grows quicker on the wire than in other circumstances. Fascinating - and beautiful.

Finally we come to the base of a huge crystal feature many stories tall.  A giant flow of cascading crystal like a multistoried cake dizzled with icing. Spectacular! Someone asks about bats in the caves.  Yes, apparently you do occassionally see small bats.

Each time we move ahead, we go ahead of Michael with instructions to go as far as the light will let us.  Michael brings up the rear, no doubt making sure noone has been left behind.  This has the added benefit of the whole group being assembled as the lights to the final assembly point are switched on.  As if to cue, we enter our next chamber and the lights disturb a cute little bat, who flies around accompanied by much excited exclamation from the crowd, before finding itself a dark corner in which to roost. There are so many individual features to see, I can't remember all the names. When the impact of the overall glamour of the chamber subsides Michael points out the lions mouth, which is a depression in the ceiling fringed on one side by crystal that with a little imagination resemble large teeth.  

Our next leg takes us up a ladder which passes close by a huge drapery of crystal.  Just next to the ladder under neath the a huge drapery is a small set of stalactites that closely resemble the Three Sisters - until you look around the back and there is a fourth tucked away.. so maybe the four brothers? 

After a briefing of the safe technique for climbing we set off.  Hubby and I are among the first after a pair of young north American men, who appear to be a couple.  Ah young love, I remember it well - the odd sneaky cuddle in the shadows when you think noone is looking. They are very discrete and I am sorry that the world is such that they feel they must restrict any evidence whatever of their relationship to the shadows.  

As I climb the ladder and pass up by the drapery I turn a little for a look.  Wow. 

An orderly procession of folk carefully climb after me and I observe as one bloke turns to photograph the feature just behind his back.   Hmm, I wish I'd done that and not been so concerned at holding everybody else up. Oh well. Caves are a bit like that. You snap away, but honestly, do you ever really look at the piccies later?  I guess for this trip I have to say yes. Yay blogging! 

In among the crystal decorations, there are stalagmites and stalagtites and columns. And of course shawls which are my personal favourite. I particularly like this little cluster of beautiful creamy white shawls.  It may not be huge, but it is beautifully elegant. 

 

The next little while is devoted to progressively climbing the enormous crystal cascade stopping along the way to admire and have features pointed out. We learn about the explorers  and the history of the caves. It is all most interesting and enjoyable.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs, but aside from paying enough attention for safety's sake we hardly notice as there is so much to see and as you round the bends you are looking out for what beauty will next present itself. 

Along the way we come to our second ladder which is steeper than the first, and taller and which we have to go down. We look over the rail to where it ends. Hmm. I'm glad we'll be going down backwards on that !!! Another safety briefing and we cautiously set off allowing plenty of space between each person and being counted down the final few steps by Michael. We are still on a staircase and we have been warned that we will need to turn around before moving away from the immediate vicinity of the ladder. I take my time and am very careful and like the rest of the group, I make it down without mishap. On we go, down some more stairs.

The next really major feature is a huge striped shawl backlit for beautiful effect... many oohs and ahs from the crowd.

More stairs... later, in the shadows before the rest of the party arrive and Michael does the "reveal" with the lights we spy a very large double minaret, is it named for Queen Esther? I can't be sure, but it is enormous and looks like a double cone of soft serve icecream with one side slipping a little. The lights come on... Wow....

We head back and having done a loop the final stages of the tour retrace our steps back past the pool of reflections, and our first ladder, in the reverse. So although there are two ladders, you actually have three one ladder climb and two ladder descents.  

As we near the end of the tour we pass a very large group coming through who stand aside to let us pass.  There are some comments that we are coming back up from the River Cave tour and there is a palpable air of hushed awe from the crowd.  We feel like the crowed regards us as survivors of an ordeal.  Where are the emergency services with thermal wraps and stretchers? With an air of bravado we cheerfully advise the crowd that it is a piece of cake!

As we near the exit we feel the colder fresh air.  What a great couple of hours.  We are slightly longer than the scheduled two hours, but only by 5 minutes or so.  We've got stacks of time for a break before the Imperial Diamond Tour.  We use this time to acquire a bottle of water from the shop.  So far our legs are coping just fine. No shakes yet, but I wonder how we'll go after another 400 or more stairs......

SA Greats 2 - Howard Florey, Mark Oliphant, Don Dunstan

Back to some pretty awesome scientists

Howard Florey

Howard Florey assembled and lead the team that developed penicillin for clinical use. The fact that mould inhibited the growth of bacteria had been observed by Alexander Fleming a decade previously, but it was the work of Florey and his team that turned an observation into a life saving treatment. Although Florey's work was conducted in Britain and the United States, Australia was the first nation to make penicillin available for civilian use and it was mass produced by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories.

The amazing efficacy of penicillin contributed to a population explosion. One of Florey's other life long interests was contraception and population control!

The abc website has a very interesting and accessible article Maker of the Miracle Mould covering the whole story of the development of penicillin and some interesting information about Florey's life and personality.

Sir Mark Oliphant

Sir Mark Oliphant's outstanding international reputation was based on his pioneering discoveries in nuclear physics in Cambridge in the 1930s and his remarkable contributions to wartime radar research and to the development of the atomic bomb. In 1950, after an absence of 23 years, Oliphant returned to Australia, where he founded the Research School of Physical Sciences at the Australian National University and pioneered the creation in Canberra of a national university dedicated to the conduct of research at the highest international level.

To the layman, Mark Oliphant was well known for his often outspoken comments on those matters about which he felt so strongly: social justice, peace, atomic warfare, the environment, academic freedom and autonomy, to name a few. The scientific community will remember him as a physicist for his pioneering experiments with Ernest Rutherford during momentous years that saw the birth of nuclear physics, as a physicist/engineer for his ingenuity and determination as one of the pioneers of high-energy particle accelerators, and as a science administrator and public advocate for science.

Oliphant had style and dignity. White-haired from an early age, he retained his distinctive, upright stature to the end of his long life. These features, together with his booming laugh, gave him a 'presence' in any gathering. His personality was such that even his opponents had to like him. He was richly endowed with natural talents. His leadership qualities, ingenuity, originality, idealism, courage and zeal, to mention but a few, served him well.

He was a natural risk-taker who never hesitated to rail at what he believed was excessive caution, continually exhorting his team to 'stick their necks out'. Oliphant was a skilful and persuasive speaker and writer who could 'think on his feet'. He was quick-witted, enjoyed argument and debate, and never missed a chance to take a rise out of the bureaucracy when it seemed to him foolish or pompous. Along with these skills in the spoken and written word went salesmanship, which enabled him to sell ideas and elicit funds and materials for their realisation. Oliphant was forthright and passionate in his belief in the benefits that the world, especially Australia, could gain from application of the physical sciences.

Mark Oliphant also had a leading role in the Australian Academy of Science "No other physicist has made a greater impact on Australian science than Professor Sir Mark Oliphant."

He also became the Governor of South Australia, another appointment by Don Dunstan.

Speaking of Don Dunstan.....

Don Dunstan

I hope dear readers you have been noticing South Australia's tendency to providing leadership when it comes to issues of equal opportunity, human and civil rights. It is reflected in things like the fact that women have had the right to vote in SA since 1894 the first jurisdiction in Australia to grant female suffrage.

Aboriginal people have always had the right to vote in SA, albeit it was perhaps somewhat accidental and they haven't always been able to exercise that right. During the constitutional convention preparing for the establishment of the Australian federation, SA argued for the counting of aboriginal people in the census and protection of their existing right to vote. SA lost the argument and aboriginal people were not able to vote in federal elections until 1962.

Well, SA kept it coming in their support for Don Dunstan. So, have a look at this summary (thankyou wikipedia - full article is linked in the title of this section):

Donald Allan Dunstan ..... was Premier of South Australia between June 1967 and April 1968, and again between June 1970 and February 1979.

A reformist, Dunstan brought profound change to South Australian society. His progressive reign saw Aboriginal land rights recognised, homosexuality decriminalised, the first female judge appointed, enacted consumer protection laws, relaxed censorship and drinking laws, created a ministry for the environment, enacted anti-discrimination legislation, and implemented electoral reforms such as the overhaul of the upper house of parliament, lowered the voting age to 18, and enacted universal suffrage. He established Rundle Mall, and encouraged a flourishing of the arts, with support for the Adelaide Festival Centre, the State Theatre Company, and the establishment of the South Australian Film Corporation. Federally he assisted in the abolition of the White Australia Policy. He is recognised for his role in reinvigorating the social, artistic and cultural life of South Australia during his nine years in office, remembered as the Dunstan Decade. His departure from the Premiership and politics in 1979 was abrupt after collapsing due to ill health, but would live another 20 years.

State premier perhaps but I do clearly recall him being very popular in my home state of NSW and we were all deeply saddened when he became ill and had to resign the Premiership. For leadership is not something that can stay contained in one State. It has a trickle effect. With Don Dunstan SA kept right on punching above it's weight.

I really don't want to trivialise Don Dunstan's achievements, but let me ask you, how many places on earth have a pair of pink shorts as an historic political artifact?