44-520: Naracoorte Caves National Park is a national park near Naracoorte in the Limestone Coast tourism region in the south-east of South Australia ( Australia ). It was officially recognised in 1994 for its extensive fossil record when the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List , along with Riversleigh . The park preserves 6 km of remnant vegetation, with 26 caves contained within
88-512: A 2003 production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Blanche Cave, along with the nearby Victoria Fossil Cave, was added as a single listing to the South Australian Heritage Register in 1984. Not long after the cave was discovered, early explorers found the body of an indigenous man within. Although his origins are unclear, it was believed that he had entered the cave after becoming injured, making his way to
132-469: A Grecian temple, the supports becoming smaller and smaller, till they join, like a mass of carved marble. After its discovery, access to the cave remained unrestricted, and this led to a degree of deterioration, especially in the entrance chamber. 21 years after Woods described the scene, an unnamed journalist visited the cave. He had previously read Woods' account, and described how the site had deteriorated through human action. I looked, however, in vain for
176-473: A dry temperate mediterranean climate ( Köppen: Csb , Trewartha: Csbk ). It has warm, dry summers that are frequently interrupted by cold fronts . Naracoorte has cool, very rainy winters. The town is home to The Naracoorte Herald , a newspaper published in the town under that name since 1948. Prior to that, the newspaper had used the older spelling of the town, and was known as The Narracoorte Herald , which had begun publication on 14 December 1875. It
220-415: A human figure, has been selected as the favourite place on which to place empty bottles "for a cockshy." Names have been carved, or scratched, or daubed on every part of the wall within reach. Brown, Jones and Robinson have sought monumental immortality by defiling and defacing the lovely rock forms of the place. And some of these visitors, too lazy to cut their names, have written them in extravagant size with
264-452: A new rival paper, "Naracoorte Community News" was launched by Michael Waite to fill the gap left by the suspension of ‘'The Naracoorte Herald'’ during the COVID-19 pandemic. WIN Television 's Channel 10 broadcasts Network Ten programming, Channel Seven broadcasts Seven Network programming & Channel Nine broadcasts Nine Network programming. The programming schedules for these channels is
308-412: A program to plant marketable trees in the region. The Board employed a forester for the area, and the forester was given the additional responsibilities of looking after Blanche Cave, improving its appearance, and providing guided tours of the site. While the first forester only stayed for 18 months, the second, William Reddan, was to remain involved in the site for many years. Reddan did much to "beautify"
352-475: A rock ledge where he died, "in the position of one asleep". Woods related one theory of how he arrived at that position, describing how a group of settlers formed a party to avenge the death of the sheep and the killing of one of their number. The party shot many of the indigenous people living in the region, one of whom, Woods surmises, was fatally wounded but managed to make his way into the cave to hide, and, sadly, to die. Variations of this account described how
396-578: A room. However, one of the maids inspected the bundle, which he had described as carrying a harp, and discovered the remains. After the police seized the body, Craig reappeared, and chose to sue the Government of South Australia for depriving him of his property. The resulting court case was heard in Adelaide , and in the end Craig was granted one farthing in damages, instead of the 500 pounds which he had requested. The Commissioner of Crown Lands ordered that
440-528: A venue for special events – as far back as the 1860s the cave was being used for candlelit New Year's Eve parties, and the remains of the old benches can still be seen near the entrance. More recently, the site saw the passage and handover of the Olympic Torch in the torch relay for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , during which the cave was lit by over 1000 candles, while other recent events have included
484-507: Is a town in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia , approximately 336 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and 100 kilometres north of Mount Gambier on the Riddoch Highway (A66). Before the colonisation of South Australia in 1836, the land now occupied by the town of Naracoorte was situated on the border of lands occuped by the Bindjali people to the east and Ngarrindjeri to
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#1732876154671528-423: Is located. It contains the remains of a bat guano quarry, (the "Devil's Pit"), and a structure known as the "Post Office". The deterioration that had been noted in 1879 has been, to some extent, reversed. Even at the time, the correspondent noted that "the restorative action of nature is very rapid", and that the scars were being healed. However, the planting of pine trees prevented water from percolating through
572-399: Is suggested that both processes would take many years, placing his death some time prior to 1845. Woods included the body in his account of the cave that was published in 1858. Three years later, in 1861, the body was stolen from the cave by Thomas Craig, a showman known for exhibiting "stuffed crocodiles ". He carried the body in a bundle from Penola to Mount Gambier , where he rented
616-502: The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney . Blanche Cave, along with the nearby Victoria Fossil Cave, was added to the South Australian Heritage Register in 1984. Blanche Cave was discovered by European settlers in approximately 1845 by the local pastoralists – Benjamin Sanders, a local station manager, is surmised to be the first European to see the cave when he found sheep that had gone missing within it, presumably having been driven there by
660-766: The Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League . Naracoorte supplies players for a number of surrounding teams, such as Kybybolite , Padthaway and Border Districts. Naracoorte has a rugby league team that competes in the Limestone Coast Rugby League called the Naracoorte Jets. Naracoorte has a soccer club competing in the Limestone Coast Football Association. The Naracoorte Racing Club holds thoroughbred horse racing at its track located 4 kilometres from
704-736: The Victorian gold rush . The post office opened in March 1853 and was known as Mosquito Plains post office until 1861. The District Council of Naracoorte was established in August 1870 to locally govern the lands of the Hundred of Naracoorte . In 1888 the size of the district was dramatically expanded to include surrounding areas not yet locally governed. As a consequence, in February 1924 the Corporate Town of Naracoorte
748-865: The World-Heritage -listed Naracoorte Caves National Park , the Ramsar-listed Bool and Hacks Lagoons are south of the township. The wine regions of Coonawarra and Wrattonbully lie further south, while the Padthaway lies to the north, placing Naracoorte at the centre of the three. Other places of interest to tourists include: Naracoorte has a number of sites listed on the South Australian Heritage Register , including: There are three schools: Naracoorte High on Stewart Terrace, Naracoorte Primary on Park Terrace and Naracoorte South Primary. Independent schools include Naracoorte Christian School, also called Sunrise Christian School, on Caves Road. Naracoorte has
792-453: The 3.05 km World Heritage Area. Out of the 28 known caves in the park, only four are open to the public. Other caves are kept away from the public eye as they are important for scientific research and also for the protection of the caves and their contents. Many of the caves contain spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. The caves, which are located within the boundaries of what is now the national park, were first encountered in 1845 with
836-597: The Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park was abolished and the land that it occupied was reconstituted as a national park because it was considered to be "of national significance by reason of the natural features of the land" and was assigned the name, Naracoorte Caves National Park. On 21 May 2007 The Australian Fossil Mammal Sites was one of 15 World Heritage places to be added to the Australian National Heritage List . On 17 May 2017,
880-438: The amalgamated Naracoorte Lucindale Council . Naracoorte is in the state electoral district of MacKillop , and the federal Division of Barker . Naracoorte has historically been a service centre for the sheep, cattle and wheat farming industries in the surrounding area. In recent decades, tourism has become a major industry due to the town's proximity to several wine regions and internationally recognised natural features. Both
924-525: The centre of the town. Blanche Cave Blanche Cave , previously known as "The Big Cave", "The Old Cave" and "Mosquito Plains Cave", is one of 26 caves to be found in the Naracoorte Caves National Park , a World Heritage listed site. Blanche Cave was the first of the caves to be discovered in the Naracoorte area, having been found by European settlers in 1845, and can be accessed by
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#1732876154671968-468: The discovery of Blanche Cave . In 1885, the Department of Woods and Forests appointed a caretaker due to "the popularity of the caves and their vulnerability to vandalism". The first recorded collection of Pleistocene megafaunal fossils from the caves was a 1908 collection reported by William Reddan from Specimen Cave. This collection was carried out largely without regard for the stratigraphic context of
1012-482: The east. Naracoorte was formed from the merger of two towns, Kincraig , founded in 1845 by Scottish explorer William Macintosh, and Narracoorte, established as a government settlement in 1847. The name has gone through a number of spellings, and is believed to be derived from the Aboriginal words for place of running water or large waterhole . It grew during the 1850s as a service town for people going to and from
1056-622: The extent of the national park was listed as a state heritage place on the South Australian Heritage Register with the name of the Naracoorte Caves Complex . The park is a visitor destination in itself, with a camping ground and caravan park, dormitory accommodation for groups, picnic grounds and a licensed cafe. The range of visitor activities is extensive. Show cave tours are guided by professional interpreters through highly decorated caves with some tours visiting amazing fossil deposits. Modern technology has been utilised to show visitors
1100-406: The floor, and then for the most part they shelve in as far as the eye can reach, leaving a wedge-shaped aperture nearly all round. This seems devised by Nature to add to the embellishment of the place, for in the space thus left droppings of limestone have formed the most fanciful tracery, where pillars of every shape wind into small groups like garlands of flowers, or stand out like the portico of
1144-746: The former act along with other statutes concerned with conservation . In 1982, the conservation park was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate . On 17 December 1994, part of the conservation park, being an area of 300 hectares (740 acres) was "inscribed on the World Heritage List" along with the Riversleigh fossil site in Queensland as the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte). On 18 January 2001,
1188-431: The fossil-bearing silt is up to 20 metres thick. Some of these areas are being preserved for future research when better methods of dating and reconstructing fossil records may have been found. These fossil traps are especially significant for tracing Australian megafauna . The latest research pushes back the date of the caves' formation to at least 1.34 million years ago. Naracoorte, South Australia Naracoorte
1232-624: The fossils, limiting the collections scientific utility. In 1916, the control of the portion of the forest reserve which contained many of the caves and which consisted of about 20 hectares (50 acres) of land was transferred from the Department of Woods and Forests to the Immigration, Publicity and Tourist Bureau who would manage it as a national pleasure resort under the National Pleasure Resort Act 1914 until 1972. The change of control
1276-588: The land was below sea level. Ground water since then has dissolved and eroded some of the limestone, creating the caves. The caves, such as the Victoria Fossil Cave and Blanche Cave , are often not far below ground, and holes open up creating traps for the unwary. This is the source of the remarkable collection of fossils. Mammals and other land creatures have fallen into open caves and been unable to escape. The fossil record has been preserved in strata formed from eroded topsoil washed and blown in. In some places,
1320-518: The man was shot near Hynam , or placed his shooting much nearer to the cave itself. However, this account of his death fails to address the state of the body: Woods described it as being "dried and shriveled", only slightly decayed, and stated that it had been there for many years without decomposition. In addition, the man appears to have died under an active flowstone , which caused parts of his body to become covered in limestone, leading Woods to describe him as being in an "almost petrified" state. It
1364-477: The many traces of beauty which Mr Woods describes. They are all going or gone. The floor is strewed with fragments of bottles and sardine tins. The smoke from tourists' fires has begrimed the walls. The graceful pillars formed by the meeting of stalactites with stalagmites have been knocked down for fun. The pendant decorations of the roof have been used as targets for after dinner sport with stones and sticks. One beautiful column, rising in some fantastic resemblance to
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1408-510: The members of the indigenous population. The first detailed recording of the cave occurred 13 years later in March, 1858, when Reverend Julian Woods wrote about his experiences at the site in the South Australian Register . He described the entrance of the cave in poetical terms, comparing it to a cathedral . The observer finds himself at the entrance of a large oblong square chamber, low, but perfectly lighted by an aperture at
1452-480: The normally inaccessible interior of Bat Cave, where thousands of southern bent-wing bats breed each year. Other opportunities include adventure caving, a selection of specialty tours and special events. The Wonambi Fossil Centre, the park's visitor centre, features displays of fossils and bones found in the caves and dioramas of extinct animals. The limestone of the area was formed from coral and marine creatures 200 million years ago and again 20 million years ago when
1496-408: The opposite end, and all around, above and below, the eye is bewildered by a profusion of ornaments and decoration of Nature's own devising. It is like an immense Gothic cathedral, and the numbers of half-finished stalagmites which rise from the ground like kneeling or prostrate forms, seem worshipers in that silent and solemn place. The walls are pretty equal in outline, generally unbroken nearly to
1540-453: The public through guided tours of the site. The cave contains a number of features, including, at one time, the mummified remains of an indigenous man – remains that were stolen twice in 1861 and never returned. The location has been the site for a number of events, such as, in the early days, annual New Years parties and, much more recently, it was featured as part of the Olympic torch relay for
1584-548: The remains be returned to the cave, only this time to be protected by iron bars, in spite of a call to have them moved to the Adelaide Museum . The suggestion that the remains needed to be housed in a museum for their protection proved to be prophetic, as Craig hid in the cave while the bars were being attached. After the workmen had departed, Craig removed the bars and stole the body once more. The remains were later described as being on display by Craig in Sydney , (along with
1628-454: The same as Channel Nine , Channel Seven and Channel Ten in Adelaide. Local commercials are inserted and some variations made for coverage of Australian Football League or National Rugby League matches, state and national news, and current affairs programs, some lifestyle and light entertainment shows and infomercials. Naracoorte has an Australian Rules football team competing in
1672-476: The smoking flame of their candle, a mode of disfigurement especially to be seen in the inner chambers. The correspondent continued his account by requesting that a guardian should be appointed by the Government or Tourist Board. Indeed, as the correspondent noted, this was likely to occur, and in 1885 the land incorporating Blanche Cave was given over to the South Australian Forest Board as part of
1716-411: The south-eastern end of the site, contains the old wooden tables and benches. The second, or middle, chamber has two "windows" – holes in the roof that permit light to enter the space – located at either end of the chamber, and which provide two of the three possible entrances to the cave. This area also contains a number of dry columns. The third chamber is also the largest, and is where the "Lost Exhibit"
1760-564: The stuffed crocodiles). From there they were next reported as having been sold at an auction in London in 1866, but it is unclear as to where his body went after that, in spite of unsubstantiated rumours that the remains were sighted in America around 1914. Subsequent to its disappearance, the site where the body had been found and the bars attached became known as the "Lost Exhibit". The cave consists of three chambers. The entrance chamber, located at
1804-566: The surroundings of the cave, growing ferns and ornamental trees , and he was involved in the installation of coloured electric lights in 1915. That same year responsibility for the caves was handed over to the Tourist Bureau, and Reddan resigned from the Woods and Forest Department (as it was then known) to take up a position with the new management. Reddan remained associated with the site until he retired in 1919. The cave has long been employed as
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1848-704: Was established to provide dedicated local governance to the township. In 1935 a cinema, the Austral Theatre, designed by Chris A. Smith , opened at 124-140 Smith Street. It was later known as the Rivoli Theatre. The Kingston-Naracoorte railway line was closed on 28 November 1987 and dismantled in September 1991. On 12 April 1995, the Mount Gambier to Wolseley line was closed, while pending gauge standardisation . Since 1993 Naracoorte has been locally governed by
1892-677: Was formerly part of Fairfax Media , with the Fairfax regional office located in the town on Smith Street. Since mid 2019 it has been owned by Australian Community Media, who purchased the Rural Press publications when Fairfax was bought by Nine. In 1912, a nearby publication, the Tatiara and Lawloit News (13 June 1908 – 15 June 1912), which also printed in Naracoorte, was absorbed into the Herald . In May 2020
1936-611: Was gazetted on 1 March 1917. The national pleasure resort's development into "an important regional tourist destination was greatly assisted by the discovery in 1969 in Victoria Cave of the largest known Australian Pleistocene vertebrate fossil cave deposit". On 27 April 1972, it was renamed as the Naracoorte Caves Conservation Park upon the proclamation of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 which repealed
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