Kim and I recently visited the the town of Naracoorte where we had the chance to really go "Down Under" and see some fascinating caves. The caves are the only World Heritage listed site in South Australia (1994) due to the historical significance of the fossil discoveries in the area. The caves are formed from underground limestone and have strange displays of stalagmites and stalctites between narrow passageways. Much work has been done to carve out a walkway for visitors and tourists to explore the caves. They had a 30 meter hole that was drilled down into the cave so concrete could be pumped in to cement the walkway after it had been dug out. It was cool to look straight up this hole and see the outside world from below.
The geology of the caves was fascinating, some of the caves are dry and some are wet. The tour guides were extremly knowledgeable and gave us a wealth of information and history on the area. It was interesting to find out that bat feces (batquana) was heavliy extracted from the caves and a rich source of fertilizer for local agriculture and the economy. There are several caves in the area, and we visited three. Victoria Fossil Cave is where they have painstakingly recreated the skeleton remains of a Thylacoleo carnifex, (marsupial lion). Many significant fossil remains of this animal and several other species have been found at the caves at Naracoorte. It is a haven for geology, palentology, and historical research. They have over 100 diffrent fossiled sites they are excavating and researching. We also visited Alexandra caves, which was small, but had great formations in the limestone and gigantic huge cathedral type rooms. The other cave we went into Wet Caves, was self guided and lit up by sensor lights as you walked around. The caves and history were very impressive.
The website for Naracoorte Caves is:
http://www.parks.sa.gov.au/naracoorte/index.htm
Naracoorte Caves- A World Heritage Listed Fossil Site
Very long thin stalagtites know as "the drinking straws"
Skeletal recreation of the Thylacoleo carnifex, (marsupial lion) from the megafuana age.
This is a reflection of some stalagtites over a mirror-like pool of water.
