Day 67: Fri 1 Jul - Mount Surprise

Day 67: Fri 1 Jul - Mount Surprise

16-24°, Light rain overnight, clearing to overcast in the morning with increasing wind until mid afternoon, then steady rain set in from 6:00pm. It's very unusual to get so much rain here in the dry season, but there has been nothing normal about the weather anywhere in this country this year. Greg and Wendy have been to Undara Lava Tubes three times previously, and there were no tour vacancies available from Undara anyway, so we had planned to save our visit for another time (we can't get into Cobbold Gorge either, so it wasn't a problem). However, while at Mareeba, I found out that this caravan park also running tours, so I enquired and managed to get two spots on a half day tour from Mount Surprise for Noeleene and I. As it happens only three licences to run tours through the Tubes have ever been issued; the family who owns the property where the Tubes were discovered, and the people who own the Bedrock Village Caravan Park where we are staying. There was a third in Cairns, but it never got up and running.

One of the wonders of Australia, the Undara Lava Tubes are reputedly the largest lava tubes in the world. Geologists estimate that the lava tubes were formed 190,000 years ago, and the lava flow covered 1550 square km of north Queensland. The Undara Lava Tubes were formed when 23 cubic kilometres of lava from one of the many (164) volcanoes spilled out over the land and travelled along a river bed. The tubes were formed when the outer layer formed a crust which protected the still-molten lava which continued to flow as though it was in a tube or a pipe. Geologists believe that the entire length of 160 km is the longest lava flow from any single volcano on earth.

Our 4.5hr tour, which included transport to the National Park and informative guided walk around the Kalkani Crater Rim and through the Tubes was apparently much more comprehensive that is provided from the Undara tours. It was a great tour and a wonderful experience - I would even consider returning to do a full day tour which includes other lava tubes. Afterwards, we returned to Mount Surprise at 12:30pm, just in time to see the arrival of the Savannahlander from Normanton. Afterwards, Greg and I ventured through some bush at the back of the caravan park to Elizabeth creek which looked a little out of place in this harsh setting. Back at the van after a few chores including topping up water for the next few days off-grid camping, our pre-dinner planning meeting/socials followed by dinner in our respective vans listening to the steady rain, ended another wonderful day of new experiences.

How Mount Surprise got its name: The area was first settled by Ezra Firth in 1864, after taking six months to travel from Melbourne. It's believed that at the foot of the mountain, aborigines were surprised when first sighting the white people, and they fled into the scrub. That night small fires were seen all over the mountain (apparently to ward off evil spirits), and that is how Mount Surprise got its name.

A 2.4km walk up and around the extinct Kalkani Crater that dates back around 190,000 years

Walk up the Kalkani Crater, the only part of the National Park accessible without a guide.

Kalkani Crater Rim Walk

Kalkani Crater Rim Walk - looking inside the cater

Kalkani Crater Rim Walk - The line of vegetation across the centre highlights the change in vegetation due to the Lava Tube below.

Kalkani Crater Rim Walk

Robert our very knowledgeable guide

We saw a lot of Cute Faced Wallabies and this little fella

Visiting the Undara Volcanic National Park does not allow for unguided visitors because of a combination of concealed holes where lava tubes have collapsed, high carbon dioxide levels in some of the tubes and a confusing landscape. The Kalkani Crater is accessible without a guide.

Typical vegetation

The first of three lava tubes visited

Entering the 'open ended' Wind Tunnel tube

Wind Tunnel tube

Lovely colours inside the Wind Tunnel tube

Moonscape in side the lava tube

Entrance

Showing the thin layer above the lava tube

Inside another tube

Inside another tube - the bones in the foreground are of a trapped animal

Entering another tube

More remains of another animal

Another tube

Amazing colours - the photos don't do justice

A long section of another tube

We came through the tube from the other end

The landscape

Back at Mount Surprise, the arrival of the classic 1960's 'Silver Bullet'; Savannahlander

The Savannahlander

Entrance to the Bedrock Caravan Park - very nicely maintained and a great place to stay. The owners have invested many years converting the basalt rock landscape into a lovely caravan park.