Georgetown and Mount Surprise

Saturday 6th August 2011: Travelling east from The Cumberland Chimney and Dam site to Georgetown we stopped for lunch and booked a guided tour, which leaves from Mount Surprise on Monday 8th August 2011, of the Undara Lava Tubes which are in the Undara Volcanic National Park 54 klms west of Mount Surprise. Leaving Georgetown we said goodbye to a lovely couple, Narelle and Bruce, who are also travelling Australia. We met Narelle and Bruce at Camooweal and then again at Clem Walton Park and have travelled with them from Clem Walton Park up to Normanton , Karumba and across to Georgetown. Onto Mount Surprise which is set on the banks of the Elizabeth Creek we spent a few days resting and had an interesting and informative day out at the Undara Lava Tubes. 190,000 years ago Mother Nature set to work creating one of the rarest and most fascinating volcanic phenomena on Earth.......the Undara Lava Tubes........one of the Earth's longest lava flows from a single volcano.

Looking down into the crater of Kalkani Volcano, which is a scoria cone. It erupted before Undara Volcano some time between 190,000 and 400,000 years ago.

On the track around the Kalkani Crater

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Inside the Undara Lava Tubes............the many colours of the solidified lava. We toured 8 Lava Tubes each one different. They varied in length from 25 metres to 682 meters. The longest 'Barkers Lava Tube' is the furthest away from the erupted volcano and you can only travel a short distance from the tube entrance depending on the amount of oxygen inside this lava tube. The entrance is from a hole on top of the ground and decends steeply into the tube and the wind flows across the entrance rather than flowing into the entrance where as the other tunnels the entrance is from the side and air is able to flow into the tube easily.

Walking through by torchlight

Elizabeth Creek - Mount Surprise