Undara Lava Tubes

We're in new territory again.  From the Atherton Tablelands, we retraced our steps south on the  Kennedy Highway.  We're driving the Savannah Way on our route west to Darwin, so turned west at the Gulf Development Road.  We've driven past this intersection a few times and now we're camped at Mount Surprise, about 50km west.  We're back into the land of very limited WiFi and phone coverage, and no TV.

Our main reason for staying here is to visit the Undara Lava Tubes in the Undara Volcanic National Park.  The lava tubes were first documented by Ludwig Leichhardt in 1845, but were not really explored until the 1980s.  The Undara Resort was opened in 1990 with accommodation in converted railway carriages and tours of the lava tubes.






We booked into the 2 hour Archway Tour ($55 pp).  We really enjoyed the tour which was informative and entertaining.  Our guide, Tim, was very knowledgeable.






The lava tubes were formed about 190,000 years ago during a volcanic eruption which lasted some time between 3 weeks and 10 years.  The countryside here is quite dry with annual rainfall of only 700mm.  Tree roots can be seen in the lava tubes searching for water.  These "caves" were never used for long term settlement due to the lack of water in the area.