INITIAL GUIDE TRAINING

C. Stiff, Superintendent, Wombeyan Caves, New South Wales

To present and correctly interpret caves to the public it is essential to have trained guiding staff. The selection and training procedure for cave guides has the following steps:

1. SELECTION OF PERSONNEL

A Committee of three officers should be formed to select from suitable applicants a person which the committee considers has the right qualities for the work involved in a guide's duty. The committee has to keep in mind that the person selected will be presenting caves to all types of visitors. At the same time he should have the physical qualities necessary to carry out cave maintenance and other improvements.

The time given to interviewing applicants varies with each applicant and all questions are on a general and specific knowledge basis, some dealing with caves, others covering construction work, schooling, last position held and the applicant's motivation to be a guide. From the reactions of the applicant, in conjunction with the written application and references if any, a decision is made as to the applicant most suitable.

2. INTRODUCTION

The selected person is informed of their appointment and when to take up duties. On arrival the new guide is met by the officer in charge, in our case, the Superintendent, or the Senior Guide at Jenolan, and is then introduced to other staff. Accommodation is arranged and after a short period of settling in, training commences.

3. GENERAL TRAINING

The training officer in this instance is generally the senior officer in charge of the caves. This officer explains the statement of duties to the new guide. At Wombeyan these duties encompass the following:

1. Guiding
   1. Conducts parties of visitors through the caves.
   2. Describes historical, botanical and geological features to the visitors.
   3. Answer questions on (ii) above.
   4. Collect caves inspection tickets from visitors and accounts to the officer in charge for same.
2. Reserve Maintenance
   1. Maintain roads, tracks, fire breaks and fire fighting equipment.
   2. Undertake construction and repair work involving stonework, cement work, carpentry, painting, bridge building.
   3. Plant trees, shrubs, flowers and maintain same.
   4. Grass down eroded areas, mow grass, take actions to prevent erosion.
   5. Clean water storage reservoirs.
3. Caves Maintenance - undertake cave maintenance work.
4. Miscellaneous
   1. Carries out duties as Honorary Ranger and polices traffic.
   2. Relieves his immediate senior officer during his absence.

I now wish to expand further on the "Guiding" section of the Statement of Duties.

The new guide is made familiar with the main cave inspections in the first instance. The training officer takes him through the caves, explaining the switching of lights, names of caverns and it is a good idea to have him make notes during these sessions. He then on a number of occasions joins normal parties for inspections of the caves. He is then allowed into the caves on his own. By now he has gained knowledge of the cave system, the things that make up the cave environment and their protection. It is a good idea to have him correct any damage and clean any litter from the caves.

During these sessions he is made aware of action to take in case of an emergency such as power failure or injury to persons. During training he would also learn about the historical, botanical and geological aspect of the caves and he would in the first instance be issued with instructions to guides which again give him an insight into his duties and responsibilities. For example, at Jenolan there is a Handbook for Caves Guiding Staff. In the case of Wombeyan, guides are instructed to:

1. Always be courteous to the public, but at the same time be firm in the application of regulations under the Public Trusts Act for the control and management of the caves.
2. Upon assembling the party, collect the tickets and count the number of persons comprising the party.
3. Before entering any cave always point out to the party that whilst in the caves, no person is allowed to smoke - also it is an offence to touch or deface any natural formation inside the caves or, in fact, on the area of the reserve.
4. In the case of a power failure, light the candle carried and wait a few minutes for the power to be restored. In the case of prolonged blackout, proceed to the nearest candle supply in the caves and upon issuing the necessary candles bring the party out by candlelight.
5. It is the guide's responsibility to count each party out of the caves.
6. Any unusual happening in the cave, such as power failure, broken formation, fall of rock, electrical faults, etc., must be entered in the Occurrence Book as provided. Any other matters which are noted as requiring attention should be entered in the book.

4. SUGGESTED MATERIAL TO BE USED IN COMMENTARY ETC

Ask - has anyone in the party been in any other limestone cave system? Take a few minutes to explain the history of the caves. Matters which should be mentioned in the case of Wombeyan Caves are contained in the handout on Wombeyan (appendix to this paper).

The answering of questions is an important function. The guide is requested not to give an answer to a question that is beyond his knowledge; it is preferable for him to say "I do not know; I will find out for you", than to give a wrong answer. It must be impressed on him that persons asking questions that seem to him to be silly or irrelevant should not be given answers that are in return silly or humorous. At all times visitors should be treated as persons of intelligence.

There is a need for guides to review their knowledge of caves on a continuous basis so that they can obtain a better appreciation of what karst resources are all about and so improve their ability to interpret the resource as well as to maintain it. This is the function of more specialised courses that can be provided in service by bringing together experts in the field of karst resources.

Recommended Reading

Australian Natural History, Vol. 18, No. 6, June 1975 (Specific issues on caves.) Published by Australian Museum, Sydney.

Karst, J.N. Jennings, A.N.U. Press, 1971.

The Limestone Deposits of NSW, J.E. Carne and L.J. Jones, Department of Mines, N.S.W., 1919.

Handbook for Caves Guiding Staff, B.T. Dunlop, NSW Department of Tourist Activities, 1967.

 

Appendix to Initial Guide Training by C. Stiff

WOMBEYAN CAVES

The limestone caves at Wombeyan were first discovered and notified in 1828 by John Oxley who was NSW Surveyor-General and John Macarthur. The party was in search of grazing land for John Macarthur. In 1828 they had left Berrima and travelled almost the same route as the road from Mittagong to Wombeyan takes today. On the fifth night out the party camped on the flat area adjacent to the Grand Arch and near the place where the kiosk is at present situated. During the night their horses strayed to the archway where they were caught the next morning. This led to the discovery of the Archway. The caves, however, were not entered at that early date. The first caretaker was appointed by the Government in 1865. His name was Charles Chalker and it is largely due to this man's efforts that the caves have been developed to the extent they are today. The Wollondilly Cave was discovered in 1865 and opened for inspection in 1885; Korringa discovered 1865, opened 1875; Junction, discovered 1890, opened 1906; Fig Tree was first entered in the year 1842 by Rev. Denning. Charles Chalker completed exploring it in 1865, open as tourist cave late 1860s or early 1870s, closed in 1928; reopened September 18, 1968. Mulwarree, discovered 1865, was one of the first upper level caves opened for public inspection; was closed (date not known) and reopened for public inspection 1962.

The caves were originally shown to visitors by using candlelight and magnesium flare, each visitor being issued with a candle and the guide using a magnesium flare. The caves were first lit by electricity in 1928 and the original system of lighting served until 1962/63 when the Department of Tourism rewired and modernised the lighting at a cost of $7,600. The caves at Wombeyan are considered to be the best illuminated in Australia.

In 1900 an accommodation house was built at the caves. It was burnt down in 1934 and has not been rebuilt. The Caves House was situated on the present office site. The cafeteria was constructed in 1955. Access roads by Wombeyan were established:

1. from Taralga in 1895, and
2. from Mittagong in 1900.

The natural history dates back very much beyond 1828. The limestone deposit was created from old coral reefs and was laid down in the Silurian period (about 330 million years ago) in the Palaeozoic era. It is thought this deposit was moved from below sea level to its present position by the uplift of earth surfaces. The limestone or marble was a mass of solid rock when reaching this level and it then became subject to water erosion through the jointing and bedding plains of the rock and by continued river action all the caves were formed. As the caves became air-filled the secondary formations began to occur in the form of stalactites from the roof and stalagmites from the floor of the caverns. Stalactites are formed from the slow seepage of water which allows calcium carbonate solution to form into a drip on the roof. Evaporation takes place which leaves the particle of calcium carbonate or limestone in the solution to solidify on the roof. Over a period of time a stalactite of great length may form. Stalagmites are formed by fast seepages of calcium carbonate which drip off the roof on the floor of the cavern. After evaporation, formations are built up. There is no way of identifying the age of these formations, as rates of growth are variable and slow. It is said that formations can grow at the fastest rate of a cubic inch in one hundred years and at the slowest rate of a cubic inch in a thousand years, so that formations in these caves are many centuries old stalactites and stalagmites, under certain conditions, meet and form a column from the roof to the floor of the cavern. Other formations seen in the caves are shawls or sheet-like formations draping from the angled wall; flowstones which are seen on the walls of the caves and helictites which are not prevalent. These helictites generally take the form of horizontal or twisted formations and for this reason are known as 'mysteries'. Shawls are formed by the solution following the same course down a sloping wall. Flowstone is formed by the flowing action over the cave walls. The age of the caves themselves, in general, is considered not to exceed half a million years. The rock, however, is considered to be 330 million years old

The colouration in the caves is caused by the mineral impurities in the limestone and the predominant mineral would be oxide of iron which gives the ferric colourings such as pink, brown and red. Mineral calcite is the base of all limestone deposits and is put to a variety of uses, e.g. marble for building and limestone for industrial purposes.