If the Pisonia Forest on Lady Musgrave Island was Mirkwood, then these caves were definitely the Mines of Moria. For those who don't mind mixing it up with a bit of bat guano in their stalactites on a quiet Saturday afternoon, then the Capricorn Caves are where it's at.
We had to pick up the newly repaired jib from the sailmaker in Yeppoon, so we hired a car and with a whole afternoon free made a Barina Assault to explore further afield. We didn't make it to the caves last time we were in Rockhampton, but it was a worthwhile detour this time.
Home to five species of bats, as well as endangered fern tectaria devexa, we ended up getting our very own personal tour as it was late on Saturday afternoon and we were the only visitors apart from a wedding party. The site is privately owned and seemed to be presented in a very understated and thoughtful way.
 |
| "Bat" by Ship's Monkey |
A wedding was about to be held in the Cathedral Cave so it was glowing with hundreds of candles. Our guide played us some of the wedding music so we could experience the amazing acoustics and echoes. In all, we toured ten of the caves.
 |
| Limestone rhinoceros |
Emerging from the Cathedral Cave, the crew were quite taken with the Indiana Jones style suspension bridge through the bush. They are already plotting their return when they are old enough to do the adventure ropes course and spelunking . Down the road at Mt Etna National Park you can take night time bat tours through the caves during summer with the park rangers, so maybe we will have to come back.
 |
 |
| "Speak friend and enter" |
No comments:
Post a Comment