Tubes, Gorge and the Outback

This post is a merge of where we went just before Cobbold Gorge and the week following Cobbold Gorge.

Undara Lava Experience

The Undara Lava tubes are ancient lava tubes formed from several volcanic eruptions tens of thousands of years ago. The lava from these eruptions travelled away from the volcano slowly enough for the outside of the lava to cool and turn to rock. As the lava then flows out, it leaves a “tube”. Over the years, the tubes have collapsed in certain places so you can walk inside them.

They designed the restaurant / bar area to represent the Archway tube (above):

In the evening, they lit a couple of campfires and there was a fabulous musician playing songs from the 60s and 70s that we sang along and danced to. It was a great night!

Forsayth & Einsleigh

After Cobbold Gorge, we drove south on a dirt road for two days towards Porcupine Gorge. On the way, we stopped at the town of Forsayth and stayed at a free campsite along the Einsleigh River.

More photos of our free campsite at Einsleigh River:

Porcupine Gorge

After two days on the dirt roads, we finally made it to Porcupine Gorge National Park and the Pyramid campground. We decided not to walk down into the gorge but we took a walk to the lookout and then along the rim. We also had a little kangaroo come and visit us in the evening.

Dinosaurs

After Porcupine Gorge, we headed to Hughenden and then on to Richmond. These two towns are where the edge of an inland sea used to be 110 million years ago, so it is full of dinosaur fossils. There is a fabulous dinosaur museum (Kronosaurus Korner) in Richmond that displays dinosaur fossils that were found around the area.

Outback Roads

Driving on all these dirt roads was definitely an experience! The road to Porcupine Gorge (The Kennedy Hwy from The Lynd Junction) was paved, and then dirt, then paved, then dirt, etc. This meant that we had to keep putting the tyre pressure down for the dirt and then back up for the pavement. Thank god we carry a spare battery and a pressure pump in the car! I thought I would give you a couple of photos of what this experience is like (and remember these roads go on for hundreds of kilometres!)

Free Camping and Scenes from the Outback

On our way west to Katherine, Northern Territory we spent about a week camping in free campsites in the outback across Queensland and the Nothern Territory. This consisted of a basic parking spot in the desert, possibly a campfire, long drives each day (5 hours) and possibly a cattle station (farm) along the way… Here are some photos of this section of the trip:

And then there’s the flies…

After we crossed the Northern Territory border, one of the places that you come across where you probably need to refuel (petrol stations are about 300 Kms apart around here) is the Barkly Homestead, a little oasis in literally nowhere and the most expensive petrol/gas we’ve seen so far at $1.95 per litre!!

Daly Waters

Daly Waters is a funky little place where tourists stop over to check out or stay for a day. Once upon a time, it was a stopover point for Qantas international travel as a place where planes had to stop and refuel and customers got a meal and a drink. Later, during WWII it became a place where planes and the military could re-stock. Now, it’s a place where you stop for a drink (or possibly overnight) at the pub. It’s an eclectic town will a lot of strange decorations, but the pub is still central.

Mataranka

We finally made it to Matranka where we stayed at a place that was fantastic (Little Ropers Stock Camp)! WikiCamps gave it a high rating so we thought we’d give it a try… It was full of travelling families like us! It was great to meet them all and see what phase of their travelling life they’re in. This was one of the kids’ favourite caravan parks. In the evening the owner let the kids feed the glider squirrels (live worms and crickets) and in the morning he made Johnny cakes (similar to scones) and Billy Tea (just normal tea where the water is boiled over a fire). The “playground” was just a bunch of bales of hay and there were a few animals for the kids to feed – they loved it!

It was such a great park that we would have stayed here longer, but there was no phone reception. So, off we went to Katherine, an hour further north.