Leanne woke up to another "sick" day and so Tom, Duane and I hurried to find the kids an "out of the house" activity for the day. It was HOT. If the 1st week we were there was mild (low 60's), now it was HOT (low 90's). Global warming is alive and well in Australia too.
Duane took us to Princess Margaret Rose Cave. This is a particularly interesting cave and park area. This cave was "found" by a couple of adventurous boys back in the middle of the last Century (1930's). The cave is around 17 meters below ground and is always the same temp of 50 degrees (Fahrenheit). The cave being made of limestone is quite remarkable.
You can travel down into the cave and escape the heat of south Australia,which we did, or you can picnic in the park or swim in the river, which we did not (Jimmy didn't have our permission).
Inside the cave is a guided tour that is given by one of the current owners.
Keep in mind that while there were 3 of us adults, there were also 4 kids under 6 yrs old and we are heading underground into a cave.... (This is a set up by the way....)
As I mentioned above the cave was founded by two friends who for several summers through garbage/sticks/rocks into this hole in the ground until one of them had the bright idea to climb down the hole and see what was there. I do not know what inspired the fellow to descend into this small hole with only a candle and some matches, fame or to many beers.
Whatever the inspiration it has become what they refer to in Australia as the "jewel of the crown"in the lower Glenelg National Park.
It was pretty cool. You can see where the rivers ran underground, where the bats and centipedes lived and they even turned off all the lights so that we could see how dark it was. We were able to take some photos but no video was allowed and NO TOUCHING THE WALLS!! This was repeated to three of the loudamericans quite often during the tour by the other two:)!
The reason for this was because you would kill the stalagmite of stalactite and that is a no no. Jimmy, of course, had an uncontrollable desires to TOUCH everything. Kay decided to talk the whole way through the tour including singing all her favorite tunes (Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, I Release and I Let Go) and Billy kept saying, "I'm 'cared. I'm 'cared". Its a wonder no one wanted to walk by us, that we were the last people in the tour line and that I only caught 1 fifth of what the tour guide had to say.
We also walked down to the river (outside the cave not in it) and watched a couple of big kids (whose mom and dad gave them permission) swim in the river. It looked a lot like the river in Stillwater, lots of cliffs and pine trees. Very pretty.
We then wrestled everyone back in the car and headed home.
Cooper and Duane headed off to do a couple of chores and the loudamericans headed off to the pool, once again. Billy is now addicted to "swimming" and kept saying "I'm a crocodile Mommy" and would try to bite me. He also pitched a royal fit when we had to leave after swimming for 2 hours. I am sure everyone else at the pool thought I was pulling his toe nails out one by one.
Duane took us to Princess Margaret Rose Cave. This is a particularly interesting cave and park area. This cave was "found" by a couple of adventurous boys back in the middle of the last Century (1930's). The cave is around 17 meters below ground and is always the same temp of 50 degrees (Fahrenheit). The cave being made of limestone is quite remarkable.
You can travel down into the cave and escape the heat of south Australia,which we did, or you can picnic in the park or swim in the river, which we did not (Jimmy didn't have our permission).
Inside the cave is a guided tour that is given by one of the current owners.
Keep in mind that while there were 3 of us adults, there were also 4 kids under 6 yrs old and we are heading underground into a cave.... (This is a set up by the way....)
As I mentioned above the cave was founded by two friends who for several summers through garbage/sticks/rocks into this hole in the ground until one of them had the bright idea to climb down the hole and see what was there. I do not know what inspired the fellow to descend into this small hole with only a candle and some matches, fame or to many beers.
Whatever the inspiration it has become what they refer to in Australia as the "jewel of the crown"in the lower Glenelg National Park.
It was pretty cool. You can see where the rivers ran underground, where the bats and centipedes lived and they even turned off all the lights so that we could see how dark it was. We were able to take some photos but no video was allowed and NO TOUCHING THE WALLS!! This was repeated to three of the loudamericans quite often during the tour by the other two:)!
The reason for this was because you would kill the stalagmite of stalactite and that is a no no. Jimmy, of course, had an uncontrollable desires to TOUCH everything. Kay decided to talk the whole way through the tour including singing all her favorite tunes (Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, I Release and I Let Go) and Billy kept saying, "I'm 'cared. I'm 'cared". Its a wonder no one wanted to walk by us, that we were the last people in the tour line and that I only caught 1 fifth of what the tour guide had to say.
We also walked down to the river (outside the cave not in it) and watched a couple of big kids (whose mom and dad gave them permission) swim in the river. It looked a lot like the river in Stillwater, lots of cliffs and pine trees. Very pretty.
We then wrestled everyone back in the car and headed home.
Cooper and Duane headed off to do a couple of chores and the loudamericans headed off to the pool, once again. Billy is now addicted to "swimming" and kept saying "I'm a crocodile Mommy" and would try to bite me. He also pitched a royal fit when we had to leave after swimming for 2 hours. I am sure everyone else at the pool thought I was pulling his toe nails out one by one.
