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Abercrombie Karst Conservation Reserve
Abercrombie Caves

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Notes:

We had always wanted to come to the Abercrombie Caves and finally we had our chance.  On a rather bleak day we drove down the narrow roadway to the base of the valley, thankfully meeting nobody else on the way or it would have been quite awkward for us and them, no wiggle room at all.  The Ranger told us that only the self guided archway cave walk was open today, so we decided to see what it was like.

The Archway is Abercrombie’s most famous feature and the largest natural arch in the Southern Hemisphere.
The walk starts at the Rangers office and heads to the river and crosses over the arch to the far end of the cave itself.  It is here you enter the cave and walk back through the cave.  Walking on paths close to the creek bed then over a bridge, the path had side tracks to explore and even a swing bridge to cross for fun, before leaving the cave and heading back to the Rangers Office.  The cave has a long social history, including the gold miner’s dance platform, which we were told is still used today. Fortunately the tour features automatic lighting and has information signs about the cave origins. This was a great self-guided tour.

After a lunch that we bought at the park Kiosk we again drove up the rather narrow road and again thankfully we met no-one else, just as the Ranger promised.  However at lunch we did see a much bigger caravan than ours come down which made me, at least, apprehensive regarding the trip back up the hill.

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Starting the walk  A vintage swing bridge  Looking upstream towards the caves 
Looking downstream Crossing the Swing bridge  View - Swing bridge in the distance
The cave below - where the cave tour ends Information sign  The cave below - where the cave tour ends
Cave exit  Up hill to the cave entrance  Kangaroo on our path 
Kangaroos on our path   Kangaroos on our path   Information sign  
General view of area  View - cave entrance Information sign  
View - Walking track  View - river below   View - Walking track to cave
 View - Walking track to cave  View - Walking track to cave View - upstream from cave entrance 
View - Cave entrance  View - start of the cave walk  View - looking back to entrance gate
View - Cave walk  View - wall formations  View - looking back to entrance gate
 View - looking back, Mischa near entrance gate  View - Cave walk   View - looking back to entrance gat
View - Cave walk   View - stalactites from cave roof  View - Cave walk  
View - stalactites from cave roof  View - stalactites from cave roof and grotto  View - stalagmites  
View - stalagmites next to cave walkway  View - stalagmites next to cave walkway   View - stalagmites next to cave walkway  
Information sign   View - stalagmites   View - Cave walk, looking back to entrance 
View - Cave walk, looking back to entrance   Information sign   View - bridge over creek 
View - cave formations  View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
View - cave formations   View - bridge over creek   View - cave formations  
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave entrance with Ranger leaving
View - cave entrance  View - cave formations    View - cave formations   
View - cave formations    Information sign   View - bridge and cave formations   
View - bridge and cave formations  View - bridge and cave formations  View - Mischa climbing stairs
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     Some crawl spaces to find and explore  View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     More crawling  View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations  - creek below  View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave formations     View - cave formations     View - cave formations    
     
View - cave exit ahead View - cave exit ahead  View - cave bridge
     
 View - cave bridge View - Swing bridge  View - cave exit 
     
View - Swing bridge   View - cave exit  View - cave exit 
     
View - creek bed   Photo on swing bridge  View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave exit   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave walkway next to creek View - cave formations   
     
View - swing bridge View - cave walkway   View - cave walkway 
     
View - swing bridge  View - cave formations    View - Debris next to creek
     
View - cave formations View - cave formations  View - cave formations 
     
View - cave formations  View - pathway to exit  View - cave formations 
     
View - cave formations  View - cave formations  View - creek
     
 View - pathway to exit   View - cave formations  View - park bench for relaxing 
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations and dancefloor  View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
Information sign   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations near exit  View - cave end View - cave formations   
     
View - cave formations    View - cave formations    View - dance floor  
     
View - cave formations  View - cave formations  View - cave formations 
     
View - cave formations  View - cave formations  Exit view 
     
View - cave formations  View - cave formations  Exit view  
     
View - cave formations   View - cave formations with dance floor  View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations   Information sign   View - cave formations  
     
View - cave formations close to exit View - cave formations close to exit View - cave formations close to exit  
     
View - cave formations close to exit  View - cave formations close to exit  The end - exit gate ahead  
     
 View - cave formations close to exit   The end - exit gate ahead  View - cave formations close to exit  
     
View - cave formations close to exit   View - cave formations close to exit   View - cave formations close to exit  
     
View - cave formations close to exit   View - outside of cave   Outside and heading back - tour over 

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