Naracoorte Caves National Park

Introducing Naracoorte Caves National Park

About 12km southeast of Naracoorte, off the Penola road, is the only SA World Heritage-listed site. The fossil deposits and limestone cave formations here featured in the David Attenborough series Life on Earth (BBC).

The excellent Wonambi Fossil Centre (08-8762 2340; Hynam-Caves Rd; 9am-5pm winter, 9am-sunset summer) houses a re-creation of the rainforest environment that covered this area 200, 000 years ago. The centre has life-sized reconstructions of extinct animals, painstakingly put together. And what a truly weird bunch they are, including a marsupial lion, a giant echidna, a very ugly looking hippo, Diprotodon australis (a cross between a koala and a grizzly), a giant kangaroo and Megalania prisca – an ancient giant predator…

Worryingly, some of the models grunt and move – great for the kids, but if you find it all a bit disturbing book here for the guided cave tours (9.30am to 3.30pm) through the nearby Victoria Fossil Cave, Alexandra Cave and Blanche Cave. Wet Cave can be seen on a self-guided tour.

Adventure tours to undeveloped caves in the area (wear sneakers or trainers and old clothes) start at $29 for novices and $65 for a minimum of four advanced explorers.

It is worth visiting the Bat Cave on summer evenings to see the southern Bentwing bats make a spectacular departure en masse. The cave is not open to the public, but infrared TV cameras allow you to see inside.

All the preceding options, including the Bat Cave and Wonambi Fossil Centre, are priced as follows: single-cave tours adult/child $12/7; two-cave tours $19/11. A cave passport which includes everything except Adventure Caving is $32/19. For further details check out www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au.

If you want to stay within hollering distance of the caves, try Wirreanda Bunkhouse (08-8762 1399; Naracoorte Caves; dm $15), but don’t forget to bring your own linen.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009