Bungonia Caves are a series of caves near the city of

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia.

Overview

The caves are sited within the Bungonia State Conservation Area adjoining the

Morton National Park The Morton National Park is a national park located in the Southern Highlands, South Coast and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia, situated approximately south southwest of Sydney. Location and features The most notable attractio ...

, about east of

and about south-west of Sydney. The caves are formed in limestone at the southern extremity of the Sydney basin, a broad expanse of

between this point, the city of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

in the north, the town of Lithgow to the west and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

to the east. The caves are precipitous in many places and entry is limited. The presence of "Foul air", dangerous levels of CO₂ or O₂, is common in the Bungonia caves, especially in summer and in The Grill Cave in particular. One of the more well-known caves, The Drum Cave, is an important bat breeding site. The Large Bent-wing Bat (formerly known as the Common Bent-wing Bat), is listed as ''Vulnerable'' under the

Threatened Species Conservation Act Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

(1995) in New South Wales. Drum Cave is closed annually from 1 November through to 1 April in order to provide a safe environment for the bats during their breeding season, but is open and available to the public for the remainder of each year. The importance of Drum Cave for the preservation of the Large Bent-wing Bat is underscored by the fact that the next closest suitable breeding cave is located near Wee Jasper. Grill Cave is also normally closed for the month of December as a bat staging cave. Chalk Cave is closed 1 May to 30 September for bat hibernation over winter; entry to these caves during these periods carries a fine. Many

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s can be found along the various walking tracks in the vicinity of the caves. There are also colour-coded bushwalks through the area.

List of caves

There are over 190 caves at Bungonia, though some of these are not much more than small holes in the ground. They include: *The Drum Cave *The Blowfly Cave *The Grill Cave *Argyle Cave *Chalk Cave *College Cave *Mass "cathedral" cave *Canberra Hole *Odyssey (Note: Closed. For research use only) *Fossil cave – Hogans Hole *System *Spider *Acoustic Pot *Condom Cave – (Named After the map shape)

References

External links

Bungonia State Recreation Area

Morton National Park

TDMSKP – Bungonia State Conservation Area
{{coord, 34, 49, S, 150, 05, E, display=title, region:AU_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki Caves of New South Wales Limestone caves Wild caves Goulburn Mulwaree Council

Overview

List of caves

References

Further reading

External links