Kentucky Down Under

A trip to the Land Down Under can take more than 30 hours on a jet and cost more than $1,000 in airfare. But you can enjoy an up-close encounter with kangaroos, exotic birds and reptiles, and other outback attractions at Kentucky Down Under and Kentucky Caverns — just a short hop away off of Interstate 65 in Cave City, Ky.

Kentucky Down Under, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2010, brings Australia to the Bluegrass. Take a 30-minute stroll and you can see three species of kangaroos and three species of wallabies. If you’re lucky, you may get to pet one.

You’ll also get to visit an emu and a black swan, meet the white ibis and find out why it can eat poisonous frogs without croaking.

At Camp Corroboree, you’ll be introduced to the Aboriginal culture in a 45-minute presentation. An interpreter will explain how the Aborigines adapted to their environment and gathered the resources they needed to live from nature. Visitors can find out exactly what a didgeridoo is and how to play one.

Another 45-minute presentation takes you to a woolshed, where you’ll see border collies herd sheep. You’ll view nine types of rams and get the opportunity to feed lambs or milk a cow.

At Terra Rosella, you’ll encounter Australian budgies and rosellas, and you can feed the beautiful birds with peanut butter and seed sticks. The Scales & Tales exhibit lets you come face to face with lizards like the bearded dragon or the blue-tongued skink. Other areas feature colorful lorikeets and the laughing kookaburra.

For a change of pace,  you can visit a different type of “down under” — a cave beneath the Australian exhibits. Kentucky Caverns, formally known as Mammoth Onyx Cave, offers 45-minute tours throughout the day. Discovered in 1799, the cave offers views of formations such as stalactites and stalagmites, cave popcorn and cave cauliflower. Your interpreter will explain about each formation.

Kentucky Down Under is open from mid-March until around the first of November. Kentucky Caverns is open year-round. Combination Kentucky Down Under/Kentucky Cavern tickets are $22 for adults, $13 for ages 5-14 and free for children 4 and under and are valid for two consecutive days. Cavern-only tickets, available from November until mid-March, are $12 for adults, $7 for ages 5-14 and free for children 4 and under. Group discounts and season passes available.

Hours vary from 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. from November to March; 8 a.m.–5 p.m. from April to Memorial Day and Labor Day to Nov. 1; and 8 a.m.–6 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The attraction is located off of Interstate 65 to exit 58, Horse Cave, Ky.

- by Bill Wolfe, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Bill Wolfe

Bill Wolfe is an experienced journalist with a broad background in writing, editing and photography. He has worked as staff writer at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and the Atlanta Journal & Constitution in Atlanta, Ga., covering beats ranging from consumer news to religion and business.