Buchan caves
In a limestone cave at Buchan,
I stand with my doubts and fears
And gaze at the marvels growing
One inch in three thousand years.
My torch brings the colours flashing
From column and stalagmite,
While shimmering starlets twinkle
From ceiling and helictite.
Deep in the age-old mountains
Where maybe the fairies played,
Whilst who knows what manner of fauna
Roamed in the forest glade.
But I’m here in the caves of beauty
Midst wonderful sights to see,
Shown in the torch-light flashes,
Beautiful, weird, I dree.
By Jack McMahon circa 1920.
This place I know.
This Place I Know by D Marsh. Edited by G Leeder.
There is this place I go, it’s mysteries I must know.
Fourth lunar cycle drawing near, it beckons every year.
With a spirit of adventure, car & trailer packed I venture,
Westward to this place I go, to meet old friends I know.
No trees nor mountains there, this place few can compare.
Listen as you’re drawing near, its breathing you will hear.
To seek its mysteries is no chore, this place I know, the Nullarbor.
This place seems abandoned, to dingoes and wombats remanded.
Nullarbor plain is deep and vast, concealing stories from the past.
We’re not the first to venture here, signs and other spirits near.
The caves hold secrets deep within, the darkness tempts us in.
Here are fossils and ancient bones, hidden deep beneath the stones.
I’m looking down at what has been a living, breathing thylacine.
Look out for the shingle back, warming on the hard dirt track.
Fiercely does the west wind howl or is that a dingo on the prowl.
Red kangaroo pricks up his ears, what is that foreign sound he hears.
Overhead an eagle soars and taking off the aircraft roars.
Locating caves with our eye in the sky, our pilot Ken loves to fly.
The rest of us search on foot or bike, finding caves is what we like.
There are times when we complain, confined to camp because of rain,
We survey caves, we map and draw, the things we find on the Nullarbor.
We gather all the cave’s location, to print in our local publication.
Work is done we can relax around the fire with drinks and snacks,
Telling others where we’ve been and the things that we have seen.
I hope I can come back once more to this place I love, the Nullarbor.
Nullarbor caves 