Undara Lava Tubes

As we continued our journey towards Julia Creek we made sure that we had a night at Undara Lava Tubes.  Everything that I had read about this place gave it a glowing recommendation so it was definitely on the list of places to visit.

We arrived quite early as it was only a short distance from Innot Hot Springs and proceeded to the check in counter.  We stood waiting for almost half an hour while the two girls at check-in dealt with  two customers.  As far as we could ascertain (from our eavesdropping) was that both "customers" were not customers at all, just folks wanting information.  When we were finally served it took us a whole two minutes as we had pre-booked and paid and all we had to be told was where our campsite was!
The campsite was a short walk from the main buildings and quite lovely with lots of big gum trees offering a lot of shade but the khaki burr was everywhere!  Anyone who has ever had any experience with this particularly bad weed would know how it gets into everything.  It is picked up on shoes, car tyres, mats....everything!  It can be killed with round-up or hot water and I think the groundsmen should be making it a number one priority because there is not a hope of walking anywhere without shoes.  Young Bailey, who was travelling with us, found out the hard way...

Our fellow companions and in the distance our camper

We all set up camp fairly quickly and made our way to the pool for a refreshing swim.  It was a small pool and quite crowded but nonetheless, very enjoyable.

We had pre-booked all our tours and the first one was a sunset tour.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a very informed tour.  We hiked to the top of a stony knoll to enjoy cheese, wine and biscuits as the sun slowly sank in the west.

Cheese and Wine whilst waiting for the sun to set

The next morning at 9.00 am we met in the carpark for our second tour that would take us to the Lava Tubes.  They were not as impressive as I thought they might have been but nevertheless very interesting.  Once again we had a great tour guide who brought into perspective the age of mother earth and just how short a time Homo Sapiens have inhibited this wonderful planet.

A short walk into the Lava Tubes

The Archway

I understand that there are numerous lava tubes that the guides can take you to but they will only visit them when it is deemed safe to do so. 

We enjoyed our time here but would we go back.....probably not.  Don't get me wrong, the infrastructure is fantastic.  The original owner had a love of trains so they are used extensively as accomodation, dining areas, reception area and they really do look fantastic.  The gardens are well maintained (apart from the Khaki Burr!) and are quite lovely. The lava tubes were a little disappointing but maybe we just weren't taken to the most impressive.  Who knows.