Undara Volcanic National Park - 2 nights
We ‘unstitch’ a large part of our travel northwards today by heading in a southerly direction from Cooktown, toward Mareeba and Atherton. The Savannah Way kicks in about two hours drive out of Atherton and then its not far until we reach “The Undara Volcanic National Park.“
The Collins family, who manage this amazing place, were the first white settlers in the area and from 1862 to now, six generations of family have lived on the property. They were graziers and called the property “Rosella Plains Station.” They have always got along very well with the native Ewamian Aboriginal people. (pronounced your-amin). They are the traditional owners of the land and still have responsibility of care for the country. For generations, they managed the Savannah bush by burning off sections systematically to cause it to produce and sustain the wildlife in the area and consequently them as well.
The local Aboriginal people knew about the caves, but because they didn’t represent any water source, they never went there. By 1891 the lava tubes were well recognised and the Collins’ began guided tours in 1989. In an effort to allow as many people as possible to see the caves, the family finally convinced the National parks to manage the property. The Undara Volcanic National Park representatives now welcome and run tours of the remaining caves, which are still accessible, safely. The family still had their lease of the property from the Government and in return for managing access to the precious lava tubes, the licence allows them to welcome a maximum of 25,000 people annually. Tomorrow we will join a tour of the tubes and see for ourselves this unique experience.
We ‘unstitch’ a large part of our travel northwards today by heading in a southerly direction from Cooktown, toward Mareeba and Atherton. The Savannah Way kicks in about two hours drive out of Atherton and then its not far until we reach “The Undara Volcanic National Park.“
The Collins family, who manage this amazing place, were the first white settlers in the area and from 1862 to now, six generations of family have lived on the property. They were graziers and called the property “Rosella Plains Station.” They have always got along very well with the native Ewamian Aboriginal people. (pronounced your-amin). They are the traditional owners of the land and still have responsibility of care for the country. For generations, they managed the Savannah bush by burning off sections systematically to cause it to produce and sustain the wildlife in the area and consequently them as well.
The local Aboriginal people knew about the caves, but because they didn’t represent any water source, they never went there. By 1891 the lava tubes were well recognised and the Collins’ began guided tours in 1989. In an effort to allow as many people as possible to see the caves, the family finally convinced the National parks to manage the property. The Undara Volcanic National Park representatives now welcome and run tours of the remaining caves, which are still accessible, safely. The family still had their lease of the property from the Government and in return for managing access to the precious lava tubes, the licence allows them to welcome a maximum of 25,000 people annually. Tomorrow we will join a tour of the tubes and see for ourselves this unique experience.
The Undara Volcanic National Park is situated 275 kilometres southwest of Cairns just off the Gulf Development Road. The park was established in 2009 to protect Australia’s longest lava tube. Volcanos in this area are thought to be all less than 8 million years old with the youngest only 7,000 years old. The National Park is approximately 61,500 hectares in area. The climate is monsoonal and is generally hot and humid. It can be very wet from October to late March. The drier cooler months are April to August.
Undara is an Aboriginal word for 'a long way' called so because some of the caves are several kilometres long. As we negotiate the road into the property, we carefully manoeuvre around Brahmin cattle who graze beside the road - we really don’t relish a confrontation with an angry bull. I guess the land is utilised for tourism in the drier Winter weather and grazing and beef production in the wetter Summer weather. The National Park receives a total of only 700mls average of water a year, except for this year.
The volcanic activity that formed the tubes occurred approximately 190,000 years ago when the Undara volcano expelled massive amounts of lava onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland, covering about 1550 square kilometres. In total it was estimated that over 23 billion cubic metres of lava was released. 73 Volcanos existed in this National Park. The fissures in the volcano didn’t explode so much as ooze lava. As the lava is emitted from the vent area of the volcano, it spreads in the path of least resistance. The outer layers of the lava harden, while the interior forms horizontal conduits that channel the advance of the flow. These conduits are the beginning stages of lava tubes that serve to insulate the heat of the lava from the outside ambient temperature. This then provides a way for the lava flow to advance longer distances.
Undara is an Aboriginal word for 'a long way' called so because some of the caves are several kilometres long. As we negotiate the road into the property, we carefully manoeuvre around Brahmin cattle who graze beside the road - we really don’t relish a confrontation with an angry bull. I guess the land is utilised for tourism in the drier Winter weather and grazing and beef production in the wetter Summer weather. The National Park receives a total of only 700mls average of water a year, except for this year.
The volcanic activity that formed the tubes occurred approximately 190,000 years ago when the Undara volcano expelled massive amounts of lava onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland, covering about 1550 square kilometres. In total it was estimated that over 23 billion cubic metres of lava was released. 73 Volcanos existed in this National Park. The fissures in the volcano didn’t explode so much as ooze lava. As the lava is emitted from the vent area of the volcano, it spreads in the path of least resistance. The outer layers of the lava harden, while the interior forms horizontal conduits that channel the advance of the flow. These conduits are the beginning stages of lava tubes that serve to insulate the heat of the lava from the outside ambient temperature. This then provides a way for the lava flow to advance longer distances.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Science consider much of the park dangerous for unguided visitors because of a combination of concealed holes where lava tubes have collapsed due to volcanic activity, high carbon dioxide in some of the tubes and a confusing landscape. As such, visits to the tubes are by guide only.
For example, Bayliss Cave is the remains of a lava tube that was once over 100 kilometres (62 mi) in length. The cave itself is over 1,300 metres (4,265 ft) in length, 11 metres (36 ft) high and 22 metres (72 ft) wide. It is described as a "bad air cave" with measured carbon dioxide levels as high as 5.9%.
We visit the “Stephenson Cave” and the “The Archway” which are protected from any accidental damage by wooden walkways . Stephenson Cave is still slowly recovering from a once in ten year rainfall this year and so there is still water in the bottom of the cave which is quickly sinking into the sub-acqua-far. Our guide, Murray let us know that eight weeks ago, standing on the handrail of the walkway, he could only just get his head above water. The cooled lava forms a Basalt appearance with lots of air bubbles throughout it. This then assists with drainage. We walk up to our ankles in water and marvel at the clear beauty of the still water in this cave. He explains that this cave system won’t see that sort of water for at least ten years and will remain dry, apart from bat guano on the floor of the cave. The guano is so thick on the floor of the cave, that recently a friend’s little boy fell off the walkway and sank up to his neck in guano. The smell (similar to that produced by skunks in the US) had to be washed off him using tomato juice, such was the strength of the smell. A great incentive to hold on and avoid the edge of the walkway!
The caves have many small bats and we are told there are about seven species of snake which live up high in the walls where they fill their bellies with bats every night. We aren’t able to use flash photography in the caves as the bats are extremely light sensitive. Despite this, I hope some of my photos demonstrate the grandeur of this amazing place.
Our sunset tour of the Endeavour River yesterday, produced some delightful sunset photos and provided a wonderful farewell to Cooktown. You will also see a few photos taken of the Undara Bistro area and our guesthouse accommodation which has only been open for three weeks. We found all the facilities here, delightfully adequate and look forward to this evening when there might be some campfire singing! (If only chanting for the State of Origin!).
For example, Bayliss Cave is the remains of a lava tube that was once over 100 kilometres (62 mi) in length. The cave itself is over 1,300 metres (4,265 ft) in length, 11 metres (36 ft) high and 22 metres (72 ft) wide. It is described as a "bad air cave" with measured carbon dioxide levels as high as 5.9%.
We visit the “Stephenson Cave” and the “The Archway” which are protected from any accidental damage by wooden walkways . Stephenson Cave is still slowly recovering from a once in ten year rainfall this year and so there is still water in the bottom of the cave which is quickly sinking into the sub-acqua-far. Our guide, Murray let us know that eight weeks ago, standing on the handrail of the walkway, he could only just get his head above water. The cooled lava forms a Basalt appearance with lots of air bubbles throughout it. This then assists with drainage. We walk up to our ankles in water and marvel at the clear beauty of the still water in this cave. He explains that this cave system won’t see that sort of water for at least ten years and will remain dry, apart from bat guano on the floor of the cave. The guano is so thick on the floor of the cave, that recently a friend’s little boy fell off the walkway and sank up to his neck in guano. The smell (similar to that produced by skunks in the US) had to be washed off him using tomato juice, such was the strength of the smell. A great incentive to hold on and avoid the edge of the walkway!
The caves have many small bats and we are told there are about seven species of snake which live up high in the walls where they fill their bellies with bats every night. We aren’t able to use flash photography in the caves as the bats are extremely light sensitive. Despite this, I hope some of my photos demonstrate the grandeur of this amazing place.
Our sunset tour of the Endeavour River yesterday, produced some delightful sunset photos and provided a wonderful farewell to Cooktown. You will also see a few photos taken of the Undara Bistro area and our guesthouse accommodation which has only been open for three weeks. We found all the facilities here, delightfully adequate and look forward to this evening when there might be some campfire singing! (If only chanting for the State of Origin!).