Youngs' travelling adventures: Undara Volcanic National Park

The road to Undara was approximately 100klms of dirt road. We had to give way to cows and emus along the way and cross 2 streams. The road was quite good with very little corrugations ( Unlike Litchfield. Nothing happened inside the van this time) but it also had a range of different surfaces (rocky, muddy etc) which made the drive more interesting for Todd.

We arrived at Undara in the afternoon and booked a tour through the lava tubes for the following day.

Our tour left at 10.30 in the morning and we were told that we could swim through a lava tube if we wanted to because they still had water in them. ( Top end of Australia has had the wettest wet season on record this year.) Our guide took a group of us to the lava tubes in a mini bus. ( The only way to see the lava tubes is by a guided tour.) Todd, Alanna, luke and another man were the only ones who swam through one of the tubes with the guide. ( The rest of us watched from the steps. )The water was Chest deep on Todd and it was dark as they rounded the corner in the tube. They were gone about 10 mins before coming back. Alanna was happy because she saw a little bat.
After everone quickly got changed it was on to another tube which we could all walk into.
The word Undara means ‘a long way’ in Aboriginal language. One of the lava flows from Undara extends over 160 kilometres (or 100 miles).

Boardwalk to the Lava tubes

Archway

Archway- Part of the tubes roof has collapesed.

Lava tube flooded

Flooded lava tube.

One of the tubes we walked into

Inside looking back out.

As we left Undara National Park we stopped at Kalkani Crater and walked around the rim.
In the distance many other extinct volcanoes could be seen. Volcanoes can erupt in different ways. Some explode like a shaken up bottle of fizzie while others flow like milk boiling of in a saucepan. This is how Undara erupted over many months or years. (The experts aren't really sure.)