We left Ravenshoe with heavy hearts as we had
made so many wonderful friends and enjoyed this beautiful part of the
Tablelands in Queensland. However we
must move onto our next adventure which is going to explore the most amazing
Undara Lava Tubes and taking the Savannah Highlander train to Einasleigh.
We set off all excited not thinking of
doing a top up of groceries and alcohol shopping in Ravenshoe for our next
trip. We arrived at Mt Surprise and
checked in at the Bedrock Caravan Park and decided that we would support the
local shops and do some grocery shopping. We were
extremely “Surprised” at Mt Surprise,as not much was happening even as far as
getting groceries or alcohol. Things
were kept in fridges, and extremely expensive making us realise that we will
have to become very creative with our tinned foods. Luckily we did have some fresh food but
overall we were very startled to find that this area has a 6 monthly time frame
for tourism and when full summer arrives everyone literally leaves the area.
Our planned excursions were to go to the
Undara Lava Tubes and to do the train ride on the Savannah Highlander train
down to a little place (can’t even call it a town – population of around 30
people) called Einasleigh to visit the Copperfield Gorge.
Undara Lava Tubes
Considered some of the
largest and longest lava tubes on the planet, the Undara lava tubes, located in
Undara Volcanic National Park in North Queensland, have led to the formation of
some spectacular underground caves.
The Undara lava tubes were
thought to be formed by immense volcanic activity which occurred 190,000 years
ago. During this fiery episode, twenty-three billion cubic litres of lava was
estimated to have spewed forth from the Undara Volcano onto the surrounding
Atherton Tableland.
The resulting lava tubes
formed immense tunnels and caves, one of which is the striking Bayliss Cave,
which is approximately 1.3 kilometres long, 11 metres high and 20 metres wide.
Notably, it’s also been described as a “bad air cave”, as its carbon dioxide
levels have been recorded to hit 5.9%.
See photos below, don’t
think they will do these lava tubes justice as they are unbelievably amazing.
First of the 4 Lava
Tube we visited this one was called the “The Wind Tunnel”
Photo taken in one of
the caves, just look at the colours on the walls
Note
where the light is shining, these are tiny bats that live in these caves, again
take note of the different colours on the walls as the lava cooled
down.
Inside
the tunnels
Entry
into another Lava Tube or cave
One of the residents
in the caves
During
this tour our guide took us to their International airport, what a laugh ( note
the fire extinguisher behind the post).
Some
of the locals we saw during our visit to the Lava Caves.
Our
next excursion was on the Savannah Highlander train travelling down to Forsythe
dropping us off at Einasleigh photos below of the trip.
The
driver and the track ahead of us, travelling through large cattle stations.
Arrived at Einasleigh station (which is none existent)
In
this pub they had a room full of miniature objects, all the items displayed
where handmade by the father of the owner of this pub.
This
farm house is an identical replica of the original house still standing in
Einasleigh.
The
photos below showing a typical outback pub.
Next
trip was a short one to the Copperfield Gorge literally situated across the
road from the Einasleigh pub this was also very pretty and very small.
We
stayed at Mt Surprise for 5 nights due to the fixed timetable of the Savannah Highlander
only travelling once a week from Cairns down to Forsythe. Bernie and I were quiet happy to leave after
our train trip, we felt that the Lava caves were well worth the money spent,
however the train trip for us was a little disappointing for what we were
charged and what was actually provided.
Map
of our trip
Our next port of call is to Cobbold Gorge.
