Monday... 9 August

Kalkani Crater

Ok, so today we did the half day tour of the Undara Lava Tubes. First port of call was the Kalkani Carater. We walked up to and then around the rim of this 200,000 - 400,000 year old dormant volcano. This walk is 2.5km and there is a 600m incline to the rim. I made it to the top, but yep I was the straggler everyone had to wait for at each section, and the sad bit, I was not the oldest person in the group! The entire tour was fascinating and the guide was so informative. This bloke seriously knows and loves this area. We then moved on, and into some of the actual lava tubes. There was a rocky path with a rope handrail which got a bit hairy in places for me leading down into the chambers and tubes, but the outcome was well worth the effort. Beautiful large caverns which were formed by lava flow. Some chambers interconnect, others run parallel to each other and most are still inhabited by various forms of wildlife including some species of bats. Wasn't hard to find them, one followed ones nose to the bat poo pile!! The colors in the rock walls were magnificent and the bones of dead animals, (mostly kangaroos but we did see some dried out old cane toad skins too), dotted around some of them just added to the atmosphere. Thank heavens for the torches each person had and the non stop flash of cameras. I think it could become a bit scary down there in the dark without so much added light. On the way there and back in the bus the guide gave us a running commentary on the cattle stations we were passing through and how they are managing their land and stock. Our guide owns the caravan park we are in and is a fully accredited Savannah Guide, but he grew up in the area and worked as a stockman on many of the stations, so knows as much about the land as he does about its fascinating features.  A great day out and thank heavens we only did the half day tour, that took five hours and most of the 17 pax were exhausted by the time we got off the bus.

Tomorrow we will be a bit lazy and take a look around town, probably end up meeting all 60 inhabitants!!! There is a school which has 14 kids attending. Just over the main road from this camp is a gem shop so will see what they have and decide if we want to go and fossick ourselves for the various gems in the area . 40kms north is the O'Briens Creek Gemfields with stones including citrine, quartz, topaz, garnet, aquamarine and sapphires. Slim pickings now but always possible to find them if you pick the right little area to fossick in they say......