Here We Go Again - Chapter 40 - Undara Day 2

At 5.20am when I awoke from a most peaceful sleep all you could hear was the ringing in the ears from the tinnitus. All of a sudden there is a crack of bird calls, probably currawongs, breaking the silence then, as if the birds heralded the start of the day the noise of movement starts polluting the air.

The first birds simply chipped, they woke the Kookaburras and with them came voices. Its not that the serenity is broken, the movement signals man is here. Zippers unfold, allowing emerging campers the chance to get to the amenities. The staff are already on duty cleaning said amenities. I take the time to talk to one about life here, and although up to her armpits in cleaning materials waxes lyrically about life in this amazon place, suggesting we take in every walk and every tour on offer as they all have something different to offer.

She offers though, that some tracks might be closed today because the weather may make them slippery, but for now it is fine. Its cloudy but I can still see the moon and some stars. I snap some night shots and head back to the van. I wander down to the reception area where the only chance of some internet connection is available. I can get to my Google Drive but not my emails. The situation only gets worse as more people attempt to access the Wifi early as I have done.

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As the sunlight improves the other birds start to move. There are lorikeets and other colourful birds shrilly announcing their presence. From my vantage point, as people flock past heading out on sunrise walks, I can see wallabies in the panoramic vista.

My work done I head back for breakfast as we need to be ready for a 10.30am tour of the lava tubes.

Breakfast done, its back to the reception area for pickup. We are greeted by our guide. WE are all sure the person said their name was Les but as the day goes by, we increasingly fail to believe our ears for if this person was male they were awfully effeminate.. By the end of the tour we find her name was Liz and everything fell into place.

The bus takes us to a marshalling area inside the national park. Liz, a nine year veteran of Undara, is hugely knowledgeable about what we are travelling past and what we are about to see all the way. The trip alone is an educational experience. Discussions about Granite and Basalt, the differences in the soil around both types of rocks are eye opening. Some very technical data, dumbed down for her audience, ensured we were never “out of the loop” in the conversation.

In the marshalling area we are shown the difference in vegetation between the savannah we have been motoring across and the rainforest of the “tubes”. There are tracks in both directions. Because we are three small busses in number the expeditions are split in two with one taking one track and us the other.

Down the stairs and into the “creek bed” floor we stop just short of a massive archway. The picture in the brochure led me to believe the tubes were in an amphitheatre, but the amphitheatre is the tube. A spectacular cavernous tunnel in front of us is part of six kilometres which remain of the 120 kilometres of the lava flow that created what is now the tourist attraction from the adjacent Undara volcano.

If this first “tube” were not enough, we walk a little further into a darkened opening searching well into the ground. Inside this cavern has all sorts of things to examine, including copper pipes which are an early warning system to anything untoward occurring. The tunnel stops well away from the entrance. The tube itself followed the watercourse and at this point there must have been a small waterfall which the lava followed and the silt has closed up the end.

I take a panorama shot accompanied by my torch. An interesting outcome, nothing to write home about but still interesting.

Our third tube is another elongated cave. This one has water in the end of it. During the earlier part of the year, Liz tells us the water level can be up to her knees whilst she is standing on the railway. Today the water covers only the final few metres of the boardwalk.

The water is crystal clear which means any light shone on it, is reflected onto the walls. There is no need for movement in the water as the dappled structure of the walls makes for amazing photographs. Being one of the few to bring a decent torch I am of value to other budding photographers and after I have completed my attempts I am happy to stay and allow them to take theirs. These include Silver Leader and Rose. 

The time for the tour goes all too quickly and we are soon back on the bus, bug eyed at what we have seen. As we get back to the camp, my phone responds to many messages that could not be received whilst in the tubes. There are things that need immediate attention, so rather than indulge in a long lunch I am back at the reception area attempting to pick up the internet – to no avail. There are too many people using it and the laptop will not remain with a stable connection. I can get phone reception so I return to the van, hand write the instructions required by the clients, photograph the pages and SMS them to them. 

It will have to do for now. Perhaps this evening internet access will be easier. I expect to have to do another 5.00am venture to the reception to get the messages done.

Unable to complete the work any better, I clear the Cruiser ready for a trip to Kalkani crater. Just a few kilometres down the road, we head off. There are cows on the road and I am urged to stop  by Forbsy who winds down the window and yells “Trevor”. Four cows turn and look at him, obviously all named Trevor.

The walk to the top of the crater is some 600 metres. We head off and up. The inclination makes the heart race. At times I use the excuse of taking a flora photo as an excuse to stop. The track here is granite based and orange, at the top its basalt and black. We have no intention of continuing all the way around the crater. There is a slight shower heading in our direction, but this is not the reason for the curtailing of the walk.

We cant quite see all the view from where the granite track meets the basalt so we head up a little higher. All of a sudden all the phones are into reception mode. Each dings as messages materialise. I kick myself I didn’t bring the laptop so virulent are the messages. The womenfolk take the opportunity to make family calls. Forbsy gets a work call which he happily discards.

The womenfolk are relentless with the calls. Forbsy does what Forbsy does best – finds rocks and stacks them. Its an impressive construction and delights others passing by. We task a couple with suggesting to the womenfolk we are waiting for them. The passersby expect the message to be met with disdain it deserves.

On the trek back Forbsy is looking for a leaf which in its falling from a tree has decayed in such a manner as to become quite colourful. He is reminded of the tourist mantra, take only photos, leave only footsteps and the discussion from Liz this morning suggesting the environment is so fragile the removal of any vegetation could be the removal of a home for something so intricate to the area it may be catastrophic. At least he wipes it off, leaving any ants that might have been living all too briefly under it.

We return and relax prior to dinner. Silver Leader has booked a train carriage booth for dinner and we find our spot, order drinks and dinner and settle in to enjoy the meal. I have gone for the national emblem kangaroo. It comes and is as the Halls Creek version experienced so long ago. Cooked properly kangaroo can be as moist and easily devoured, this is in that category. Robyn has ordered the schnitzel and cannot finish it. Even though I have had my fill of kangaroo, its against my “religion” to leave it.

I could have called for a doggy bag and had it for breakfast but it looked so good on the plate where it was.

We stumble back to the vans, to hit the sack early for tomorrow we have a 500 kilometre plus trip to Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria