Name: Undara Lava Tubes
City, State: Savannah Country, Queensland Australia
What's it like?
 Some day, probably not tomorrow, but some day, the Undara volcano in Queensland's Savannah country will erupt and flood the land with molten lava, profoundly changing the natural environment again.
If you happen to be nearby at the time, head for the granite outcrops that rise above the basalt plains. These outcrops are the high points that the lava flowed around last time the volcano erupted, leaving them high and dry. If you're lucky, you might escape the lava flow there. But considering the temperature of the lava around you will be approximately 1,200 degrees Celsius, you'll have to be tough to survive.
The inevitability of another volcanic eruption is part of the tale told to guests at the Undara Lava Lodge to bring to life the significance of the nearby lava tubes in the heart of Undara Volcanic National Park.
The tubes were formed in the last eruption of the Undara volcano 190,000 years ago. The volcano erupted for six to 12 months, spewing out 23 cubic kilometres of fiery molten lava (enough to fill Sydney Harbour four times) and incinerating the landscape.
Spilling out like boiling molasses, the lava was channelled into the riverbeds and gullies. As these lava rivers coursed along, the outer layers of lava quickly cooled to form an encircling basalt crust - a tube through which the lava continued to flow, until it spilled out the end, leaving the tubes empty, and up to 100km long!
The lava flows have now become basalt plains, supporting a rich growth of savannah grasslands. Beneath the plains, the lava tubes have survived as gigantic underground tunnels, which are accessible only in spots where the roof has collapsed into the tunnel below.
The collapses are marked by sheltered rocky depressions in the midst of the lightly wooded Savannah country. These depressions are so rock-strewn that they escape the bushfires that regularly sweep across these grasslands. As a result, each depression supports its own patch of green vine thicket. This provides a sheltered habitat for local plant and animal populations which add interest to the site.
We found this when we took the Wildlife at Sunset Tour on our first evening at the Lodge.
The highlight of the tour was a visit to the Barkers tube to see the insect-eating microbats emerge for their nightly feeding.
We sat waiting at the entrance, assured by our guide that the microbats would emerge when it was dark enough.
Sure enough, thousands of the tiny creatures poured out of the dark cavern, just brushing us with their wings. They could have been moths if not for the sense of purpose in their sonar-powered flight.
Our guide mentioned that there could be a snake or two hanging in the trees across the entrance, hoping to catch an evening meal on the wing. We didn't see any in the gloom.
On the way back to the lodge, a 100 mile swamp was pointed out to us and its significant history explained.
"Back in the pioneering days when there were no signposts, the 100 mile swamp near Undara was a landmark for new settlers," our guide said. "They had been told that the swamp was exactly 100 miles from their starting point at Cardwell on the coast. So they headed for the swamp, and took their bearings from here."
The next morning we signed up for the half-day tour to the Wind Tunnel tube, several kilometres from the Lodge.
On the way, our guide pointed out how the plant life changed as we crossed the basalt plain, and how many of the local tree species had adapted to regular burning.
We also came across a wallaby or two, many galahs and an impressive flock of black cockatoos. Our guide explained that black cockatoos are the only parrots with beaks strong enough to crack the large gumnuts of the northern woolybark tree which litter the ground at Undara.
Soon we were at the tube entrance and torches were distributed before we followed the guide in single file down the tube, clambering over huge basalt rocks that had once been the roof of the tube.
Not all the tubes were so difficult to access. Some had boardwalks, steps and seats for the less agile and there was even a wheelchair lift at the entrance to one tube.
Unlike a limestone cave, the floor of the lava tube was quite flat, having been built up from silt deposits over many years. The tubes all seem to be a consistent depth with the floor, about 20m below the surface.
We were shown the ancient flow marks of the lava on the walls and told how the lava flow had sloshed up going around corners - just like water in a pipe.
In the torchlight, we saw cave-cockroaches that were completely white, a frog that hibernated for years until a very wet Wet season - and lots of bats in the ceiling.
We were told Undara was one of the youngest of the 164 volcanoes in the McBride Volcanic Province that covered 5,500 square kilometres in the Gulf Savannah.
"The Undara eruption was the last significant volcanic activity in the area," explained our guide. "If there had been another eruption in the area since, these tubes may not have survived it."
To help minimise degradation in the tubes, the guides urge visitors to avoid touching the walls and to stay on the path.
For the same reason, there are government restrictions on the amount of human traffic through the tubes. Only 200 visitors a day are allowed there, all of whom are on guided tours from the Lodge.
Some visitors just come for the day, but most stay overnight in the range of accommodation available at the Lodge.
Top of the range are the beautifully restored, turn-of-the-century wooden railway carriages, which have been converted into very comfortable family and single units.
The Lodge also has swag tents with a wooden platform floor, lighting and beds and caravan and tent sites with cooking and laundry facilities.
There is also a licensed restaurant and a recreation centre at the heart of the resort, built very creatively from converted railway carriages.
For overnight guests, the day starts with a Bush Breakfast at a site far enough from the resort to make the meal a real Aussie outback experience.
When we arrived for breakfast, about 30 guests were sitting on a circle of wooden logs around an open campfire where Undara staff members were frying bacon, sausages and eggs to go with the cereal and juice. Above in the branches of the gum trees, a family of kookaburras waited for a chance to snatch a bacon rind or sausage from an unattended plate.
It was a novelty to brown our toast the old way - on wire forks held near the campfire. We also drank billy tea brewed in a fettler's kettle: a billy with an open pipe through the centre so the water heats quicker.
Around the breakfast fire, we discussed the history of the Undara tubes and the Lodge.
The Undara lava tubes are a recent addition to Australia's famous natural features. They remained unremarked and unappreciated until about 20 years ago when scientists realised their scientific significance.
Even the Collins family who had raised cattle in and around the tubes for six generations had no particular interest in them until their significance was brought to light.
The publicity surrounding the tubes generated sufficient tourism interest for the Collins family to open the Undara Lava Lodge in what had been a remote part of their property, about 20km from the station homestead.
Soon after, the area was declared a national park, but the Collins family continued to operate the Lodge under a lease negotiated with the National Parks Service.
The park is now managed from the national park ranger station, which is housed in the former homestead at Yarramulla Station, about 9km from the Lodge.
The third organisation with an interest in the care of the lava tubes is the Savannah Guides movement, a network of professional guides concerned with protecting the tropical savannah of northern Australia.
Undara is one of 13 Savannah Guides stations across the north. All six guides at the Lodge are involved in the Savannah Guides movement.
Assistant General Manager at the Lodge, Bram Collins (a fifth generation family member), sees the Savannah Guides as the spirit behind developments at Undara.
"The Savannah Guides are about preserving our cultural and natural heritage, interpreting and sustaining the remote regional communities in the tropical Savannah so we can all benefit and survive out here," he said.
"If we can share with our guests something of that spirit, then the Undara Lodge will continue to be a success."
The Undara Lava Lodge is four hours drive west of Cairns. An interesting alternative for travellers with time to spare is catching the Savannahlander train from Cairns to Mt Surprise and beyond, and taking a bus connection to Undara (this trip takes more than a day). For someone in a hurry, Undara has its own airport.
For more information:
Tourism Tropical North Queensland
Tel +61 7 4031 7676
- By Chris Davidson
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