The Dark Jenolans

In a development which confirmed our unspoken, unmentionable fear of the great expanse that is the unpopulated mass of Australia- ancient, untouched and raw-, the Jenolan Caves have been discovered to be the worlds oldest open caves. They are three hundred and forty million years old.

Apparently the Aboriginals have long shunned the Jenolans, and their name for the caves translates to 'Dark Places'. Anyone who's read any of the works of H.P Lovecraft knows that this is a horrifying development, bringing the paranoiacs and the gullible (is there a difference?) among us one step closer to the Dark Ones.

For those of us who aren't prone to seeing such patterns, it's nevertheless a scary thought to consider that these caves have been around since the Carboniferous age, when no human walked the Earth; which is a good thing. I'm glad I wasn't around then, and you should be too. Scientists know a lot about the creatures from that age from their teeth. Seven meter sharks, the Rhizodont, swam in fresh water. Dragonflys with a wing-span of seventy one centimeters, flying around, and they were predators.

I'd very much like to visit these caves. Although, as Ian said to me,
"You'd probably just get there and say 'Oh, so this is the Jenolans.'.. "
Perhaps.