WELLINGTON CAVES

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 156, 30 December 1925, Page 3

WELLINGTON CAVES

HOME OF OLD.TIME BUSH-

RANGERS

SCENIC EESEEVE NEAB

SYDNEY,

.- Only five miles separate the town of Wellington; New South Wales, from a caves area which is but little known, at least, to the general public, states a special- representative ,'ot the..''Sydney Morning IJerald.''. Ope is quite unawaro thai; he is in the vicinity of the caves : until his guide, walking up a mure or less : rocky slope, with trees here'and there,,points to • what looks like, a' stump holo of, some large, tree;..but a second glance reveals the tpp of a very broken and dilapidated ladder/ the bottom, of which -rests, upon a ledge down below. With the remark, "That'is called the Corkscrew Cftvfe, but 'it is 1 too inaccessible,'' he passes on tp'anoth:er place, where the hole- is Ridden by a small gateway. .This the guide-opens, and after furnishing tjie visitor with a candle andhiinself With a lamp, begins, the descent into what has not 'been, officially baptised,but is known as the Old Wellington Cave. The descent is steep, 1 but stone stepV have been cut to help the:explbrers, and by and bye' the openings- enlarge ■ and goodly-sized caverns are found at different levels,' and of varying size and shape. There is, however, a dark shade about the walls and roofs (also the •stalactites), which is explained by the guide as being the result of lighting fires in that cave for several years by old-time bushrangers, who, it is believed,; made this their home. Belies, mostly of burnt embers and a few oddments; strengthen that belief. Certain it is that, men could hide themselves there as. long as they pleased without fear of discovery unless someone happened to see them disappear through the small opening. ■ For its .historic, interest, therefore, this.cave is prized,.and is weir worth a visit. At one end of it can be seen, 50 to. 100 feet below, the'Bellßiver, flowing through in .'a similar manner 'to the well-known river in the Jenolan> Caves. '"'.: ■'•,'•'' :

A legend has,it'that the late Mr. James Sibbald, for many years,care-" taker, desirous of proving whether it was the Bell River, seiit: two ducks, each with a distinguishing ring around the leg, down the stream.. They disappeared, of course, and were not seen- again until" they emerged near Molong, somo. thirty of forty miles away. There arc not very many stalactites: and stalagmites iii the Old Wellington Cave, but they are of immense size, and of strange., and beautiful'shapes. -Further up the slope one comes to another cave, ..which has been .named Gaden Cave, after the first president of the Macquarie Shire. The shire authorities have, helped, air. far as possible, to make this cave accessible, ■ and visitors are allowed to descend. It is beautifully'. clean, and filled with good stalactite and stalagmite formations. , There are about six eaves in all, but no attempt has been made .to improve any of/them, except by. the shire, which has enclosed some grounds, and,erected a visitors' building, where reireshments can be obi, tained' and the'visitors^ :book signed, j The caves are situated'in a reserve of considerable area, a portion of it being occupied by the Wellington Picnic Eace Club. No other caves in New South Wales are so convenient to a town and railway station. But Wellington folk, and the Macquarie Shire Council m particular, cannot understand why no Government assistance has ever been granted for exploring the caves properly, lighting them with electricity, and, where necessary, improving, the ventilation. Old residents claim that only thin walls divide the caves, and that nothing like the expenditure needed elsewhere would be required here No man can" tell what may be .discovered if proper exploration work was carried out. ; ■ There ia a further source of attraction in the remarkable discoveries that have been made there. Bones of animals now. unknown, of enormous kangaroos and other large creatures,, have'been unef.rthed and removed. It ia said that many tons of bones were carted away, not out of the caves themselves, but from other openings. It is, indeed, a land of wonders, which should be explored and made accessible to the public to its fullest extent.