Chillagoe and The Caves!

Sunrise in Chillagoe. Photo Credit to Bryant Cabrera.

During our time at Wetherby, we took a short two day trip, carrying backpacks only, to Chillagoe. Chillagoe is a small town in Cairns outback with only about 350 residents in it, but apparently receives about 20,000 tourists per year. Wonder why? Yes, I asked myself the same question! Chillagoe is popular for its Limestone Caves!!! The caves were formed when ancient coral reefs were compressed to form rocks, and due to erosion and weathering, the rocks gave way to such ragged formation of caves and rocky, sharp mountains. The caves are the major attractions in Chillagoe, but other activities involved bird walking early in the morning, spotting animals using flashlights late at night, watching the sunsets and sunrises which were all splendid and beautiful.

Swimming in the Creek

We visited the deciduous forests and saw nature and trees fighting for survival in this sunburnt environment were water is a necessity, that certainly is rare during the dry seasons. We went swimming in the spring fed pools in late afternoons, when the heat was almost unbearable, but the water was such an awesome relief.

Relief from the heat!

We walked and climbed over the balancing rocks which looked spectacular and so surreal. This was a time of intense communion with nature, and just marveling at its plain beauty. It was so beautiful and not trying to impress, yet very impressive! Inside the limestone caves, we were able to see spiders that would shine their light back at us. Thankfully, we did not encounter any cave snakes, but we did have some moments were, in total darkness, we would scare each other about them. Underneath the ground the atmosphere was very cool as compared to the burning heat outside. There were some spots that were really small, and we all had to crawl hands, bellies and knees to get completely through them.  We played games and tried to tell the images that the caves had formed naturally, such as the elephant and the pretty lady.

Group Kangaroos at the Balancing rocks!

We saw kangaroos, wallabies and peacocks in the red dusty landscape. We lived at the Ecolodge and shared suites completely with bathrooms and air conditioning. This was really such an amazing experience, and we all had a great time. We drove back to Wetherby on the last day, and had a wine tasting event on the way. This was at a mango winery, were they made the wine straight from the mango trees grown on site, and the place had a pretty good review from members of our group, though personally, I may have held different opinions.

The ragged rocks!

Light from the inside the caves!