Jenolan Caves — Australia’s Underground Fairyland
The Grand Arch holds you spellbound, when first you come to look,
At the wonders of Jenolan, indeed it’s nature’s nook,
Glistening stalactites and stalagmites among beautiful canopies,
Are just below the surface of mountains dressed in trees.
Nature’s gallery of beauty is on display in limestone caves,
Twisting shawls of calcite in majestic rolling waves,
Massive growths contrast with clusters of fragile crystalline,
White, yellow, orange and reddish-brown, oh how the colours shine.
The drip-stones in the River Cave, especially the Minaret,
Show creams and whites of great delight formed by the wet,
The Giant Shawl in Mon Meg’s Chamber is tinted brownish-red,
A beautiful sheet illuminated, fit for any royal bed.
You cross two arched bridges to the Skeleton Cave display,
Aboriginal bones lay scattered by a stream that found its way,
Past the Pillar of Hercules, Jenolan’ s tallest stalagmite,
And the crystalline Bath of Venus backed by straws so very white.
Oh thank you to McKeown for the stock he stole that day,
For his catching by James Whalan led us all to this display,
Jenolan we are awed, by your caverns magically transformed,
Into an exquisite fairyland so beautifully adorned.
© John Williams
Australian Children’s Poetry 