[travels past] The Mammoth cave – Margaret River, WA

While looking for places to visit in Perth, Google mentioned the Mammoth cave along with the pink lakes of Western, Australia.

We had wonderful hosts in Perth though which meant most of the day to day itinerary was already planned. It was just a bonus that one of the sites in the itinerary was the Mammoth cave. So, yay for me! 🙂

The Mammoth cave is at Caves Rd, Forest Grove WA 6286. It is roughly a 3-hour drive from Perth where we were staying but the ride was smooth. It was also fun looking out the window trying to look for a mob of kangaroos or figuring out if what we saw were in fact wallabies and not ‘roos. Seeing roadkills was no fun though.

Entry to the cave would cost a visitor AU$ 25.00 which essentially is a self-guided audio tour allowing visitors to go at their own pace. A visitor center is right up the main entrance which should be open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

The cave was massive. I can imagine it having been a refuge by both men and animals from the harshness of winter or even from predators. There were the usual rock formations – stalactites ( those that grow from the ceiling of the cave) and stalagmites (those that are growing from the cave floor).

This cave had an interesting phenomenon which I believed they called the “tapestry”. Iirc, this was a limestone wall of sorts that would catch the sun’s rays making it look like it is a vibrant piece of cloth. The pictures shown here don’t do justice at all.

There were also fossils of long lost animals, rock formations that make your imagination go wild. There’s one that looks like an angel’s wings or the jaw of a dinosaur, for example.

Exiting the cave, we took the short bush walk towards the parking lot and I was craning my neck hoping to get sightings of some animals or birds hanging around the area. During the walk, I was amazed at how tall the trees were. I later found out that these were karri trees.