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Down the "dragon's throat" from the Temple of Baal you come to a small chamber. Here the guide will show you where scientists took samples of clay that proved the Jenolan Caves are the oldest caves in the world.
The clay illuminated by the guide's torch has been aged at 340 million years old. The astonishing crystal formations of Jenolan Caves thus began long before creatures evolved that could live on the land.
The guide also will show you fossils of ancient sea creatures embedded in the calcite walls of the caves including a very recent find that they believe is a trilobite.
For details on Jenolan Caves visit www.jenolancaves.org.au
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There are no kangaroos in Austria. We're talking about Australia, the world's smallest continent. That being cleared up, let's dive right in! Australia is a sovereign state under the Commonwealth of Nations, which is in turn overseen by Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. The continent was first sighted and charted by the Dutch in 1606. Captain James Cook of Britain came along in the next century to claim it for Britain and name it "New South Wales." Shortly thereafter it was declared to be a penal colony full of nothing but criminals and convicts, giving it the crap reputation you may have heard at your last cocktail party. This rumor ignores 40,000 years of pre-European human history, especially the Aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, an interesting explanation of physical and spiritual reality. The two biggest cities in Australia are Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney is more for business, Melbourne for arts. But that's painting in very broad strokes. Take a whirl around the panoramas to see for yourself! Text by Steve Smith.