Gotcha Australia: 12. – 13. December

Where oceans meet… Now we drove to Augusta, the closest town to where the Indian and Southern Ocean meet. Apparently this should be a fantastic sight – possible to tell/see the different currents and different water temperatures. But we saw just water. Anyway we had a look at the lighthouse and the grounds. The Cape Leeuwin lighthouse is/was a very important lighthouse as the ocean is dangerous and it’s still one of the busiest ocean roads in Australia. Despite the significance the lighthouse was erected late – the Western Colony couldn’t afford to pay for the construction and asked the Eastern Colonies for assistance (they would profit most of a safe passage…) but they denied. With the gold discovery it was finally possible to finance the construction and this coastline became safer. Only 2 or 3 ships have been wrecked since the construction. But I’m sure that I don’t want to be a lighthouse keeper. 3 keeper were employed so the light could run non-stop during the night. Of course your family lived with you but if any visitor had to ask for permission first and they lived far away from town. At some time a “reserve” lighthouse keeper was employed but he mainly ensured that enough firewood, the waterwheel was turning and other supplies were around.

Then we drove to the Hamelin Bay Caravan Park which is in the Cape Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. It was just 100m to the beach so we went swimming. And my parents saw a stingray. We could see it really well as one bloke nearly stepped on it when he was chasing a ball out of the water – but I’m certain he was aware of the ray. We had our dinner directly at the beach so it was not only sweet pasta with fruits but it included some sand as well. And the sun made the day for my parents perfect – she sank beautiful into the ocean and a little island was the contrast. After so much sightseeing above ground it was time to head underground – we went to explore some caves. The first cave was the Lake Cave with the Cave Works at the entrance. This cave is run by a private company and you need to go on a guided tour. This company operates the Jewel and Mammoth Cave as well. The main feature is of course the lake and the suspended table which is a column hovering above the lake surface. Unfortunately the lake is “loosing” water – about 1cm per year. This water is an unique biotope – some little organism live in it. The biologists are working hard to discover the cause and even add new water to the lake – taking lots of care to not disturb the balance…

The Giants cave is managed by the DEC and can be explored self-guided. This cave is not open every day – mainly during school holidays but we were in luck and the gate was open. So Tom and I stepped into gear (hard-helm, a head torch and an additional torch). Cameras are ok to be taken but definite no back-packs. This cave is the largest and deepest of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge and only suitable for the adventurous visitor as we had to scramble over rock-falls and negotiate a series of ladders. It’s estimated that the tour takes about 60minutes but we’ve topped it and needed 2h – we had to discover everything and take as many pictures and videos as possible. They nearly started a search party because we needed so long and they wanted to close the cave at 2.00pm but we came out at 2.05pm so all was ok. The begin of the cave was really easy – walking upright and lot of space left and right. And we couldn’t get lost – there was an orange rope guiding us and ensured that we would not step onto the fungi. But the more and more we went into the cave the harder and narrower it got. Sometimes we had to squeeze through a tight spot, sometimes to crawl on all four or climb little ladders (not wider than 30cm). After one ladder we had to make a 180degree turn and than slide down a slope. It was so much fun! To reach the daylight we had to scramble over some rocks – my parents were already waiting with the camera ready and calling for us. The turn for my parents was not far away – they explored the Calgardup Cave which is divided into two parts and has boardwalks throughout but you have to wear a hard hat and the torches as well. This cave is famous for the calcite crystal deposits, walls of coloured flowstone and of course stalactites and stalagmites. The other side of the cave features a lake and a stream where my parents saw frogs. One DEC staff (spoke German) went into the cave at the same time as my parents – she had to count the frogs so my parents couldn’t miss them ;-)