Tuesday 29 January 2013

ABC Wednesday, C for Caves in Tasmania, Australia






In 1894 William Woodhouse discovered the cave entrance when he noticed vapours rising from a hole in the ground, but he thought it too dangerous to explore. In 1906 the cave entrance was relocated by Bill while he was hunting possums by lamplight. A few days later Bill and a couple of farmers lowered themselves by ropes down the entrance of the cave. And their lamps revealed for the first time the magnificent stalactite and stalagmite formations.

In1908 the local  Ulverstone  Tourist Association recognised the importance of the Gunns Plains Cave for tourism.


The first parties to visit the cave, entered it with candles and acetylene gaslamps. Later in 1928 an installation of an electricity generating plant was completed, which was a lot easier for seeing the rock formations. Our guide said: " Imagine that you went into the cave with only a candle and the draught blew the candle out, and you stood there in total darkness fumbling for matches, knowing that you couldn't move because it was so dangerous." At some places the cave is so deep that they really had to watch each step they did. Even now it is not easy to walk there, but thanks to the guide, who led us safely through the cave, we enjoyed doing this tour.  We didn't have to bundle up. There were footpaths and steps every where. Sometimes we had to duck for lowhanging rocks, but the guide warned us in time.

A beautiful sight were the glittering glow -worms. They sparkled like jewels on black velvet. We all sang:"Twinkle twinkle little star"....The children in our company were delighted and thought the tour highly interesting and enjoyable.

 We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words    beginning with C, in our new round.




24 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What wonderful photos of the caves, Wil!! It reminds me very much of the Carlsbad Caverns here in the states! Great post for the day as always! Hope your week is going well!!

anthonynorth said...

I'd love to visit those one day.

Unknown said...

Interesting!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Marleen said...

Ziet er prachtig uit!

photowannabe said...

That is amazing rock formations in the Cave.
I would love to see the glowworms doing their thing.

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! I love caving...

Roger Owen Green said...

the caves are so COOL!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Hildred said...

What a very interesting post Wil, - the world holds so many fascinating places and it must have been wonderful to explore this one.

Leslie: said...

So COOL! I've seen a few caves with stalagmites and stalagtites and they're inCredible!

Leslie
abcw team

George said...

This sounds like a wonderful cave to visit. Thank you for your photos and information.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Going into a cave is awesome, I have been to two different places. Wish I could do it again. Lovely shots Wil!

COINS
Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Kay said...

This is so cool. I am always fascinated by caves and have visited several. I'd love to see this one. Great photos, Wil!

betty-NZ said...

Thanks for that fascinating post, I love all the info. We have Waitomo Caves that have glow worms and tours on the river. It's great fun, too.

betty-NZ said...

I haven't been to the glow worm cave in the south island. I was talking about in the north island at Waitomo. I will have to check out Te Anau one day when I'm down there.

Gattina said...

Very interesting post and such nice pictures !

LONDONLULU said...

Just amazing, what a trip it must've been. I'd love to do more cave exploration.

Joy said...

Electric light is definitely and advantage. But even better to be in those wonderful surroundings with glow worms.
Joy - ABC Team

Fun60 said...

Those caves looked fascinating. Not a place to venture on your own though. Thanks for visiting and leaving comments on my blog.

♥ Willa @ Postage Journal♥ said...

What an amazing looking Cave! I'm sure it'll be fun to see those for real.
Willa @ PixelMinded

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

some people are scare to go into caves, I have been to the biggest, in Sarawak.

Anonymous said...

What great shots. Must have been quite an adventure.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Caves are very difficult to photograph (in my experience). Your pictures are beautiful and I enjoyed reading the interesting history.

Anonymous said...

Such amazing photos,and the story is wonderful. Have you ever heard the song, "Glow Worm"? I believe it was by The Mills Brothers in the 40s. "Lead us, lest too far we wander/Love's sweet voice is calling yonder..." The part about imagining fumbling for a match in the pitch dark, kind of scary. And you do have to bundle up for visits to caves, don't you? Thanks, Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2013/01/31/chanteuse-in-sneakers/

Ann said...

I love visiting caves and just cringe thinking of the first explorers and how dark it would have been. This cave looks so interesting.
Ann