Mt Surprise – We’re on the Savannah way!

Bel and I left Atherton and began our journey along the Savannah Way, a route that crosses the top of Australia, from Cairns to Broome, passing through 15 National Parks and 5 World Heritage areas. If you follow the proper track (there are lots of “alternate routes”) the road is a mixture of rough and paved covering 3700 Kms – should be lots of fun. 

The first part of the drive was very hairy. We drove through the rainforest mountains to Ravenshoe along narrow winding roads, with rain coming down, fog descending, and strong winds gusting. Such a big contrast to the dusty, rocky tracks we had just left. 

We made it to Ravenshoe safely and dropped in for a quick look around. The main landmarks were the pub – the highest pub in Queensland!

And the shoes nailed to posts as you enter town. I’m guessing it’s a play on the town name?

Back on the road and our next stop was Innot Hot springs, a creek bed fed by natural hot springs. In our guide book it suggested you swim either up or down stream from the source as it is up to 60 degrees Celcius. Bel obviously didn’t read this and she walk straight into the hottest part, and then straight out again screaming how hot it was – very funny to see😂. Not really hot enough to scald you but painful. 

After a quick paddle (downstream) we were back on the road passing through country that changed from rainforest to harsh rocky eucalyptus scrub. And lots more termite mounds, but they’re now shaped like big pumpkins! Not quite as stylish as the guys up north. 

We reached our destination early afternoon – Mt Surprise. A tiny town with a population of only 65, but with a great campground  that had been recommended a few times called Bedrock. The whole park is Flintstoned themed and is a beautiful oasis in the middle of very harsh country. 

The region is covered in basalt rock from local volcanoes (the reason we are stopping here) and the owners, Jo and Joe, over a 20 year period have painstakingly removed the rock from their 9 acre block  and replaced it with grass and trees.  They tell a bit of their history here in their welcome book, describing how the park came to be, it’s a great story. 

After setting up we did a walk around town – it was very quick as the isn’t much! The town has a lot of history as a major point on the telegraph line, and also as a stop on the Savannahlander train. 

The original telegraph station/post office had been restored:

And the local pub is for sale – maybe we should buy it! Na we’d drink the profits.

The big attraction here is the Undara National Park. The park is primarily made up of inactive volcanoes that many years ago formed giant lava tubes – listed as one of the 7 wonders of Queensland. 

The next morning we were up early and on a tour to the park – about a 45min drive. First we climbed the Kalkani crater and walked around its edge – there were great views with volcanoes in all directions. 

Next we headed to the lava tubes – just amazing. These giant tubed caverns were formed by flowing lava that cooled and hardened on the outside while molten lava still flowed through the middle. Once the eruption finished (it went for many years) the lava flow stopped and left a giant network of worm tunnels.  Quite a sight. 

Unfortunately, without a tripod they are very hard to photograph due to low light,  so none of my photos do it justice (so I borrowed the first one off the web). 

During the return journey to camp our guide told us a lot about the local cattle stations, how they operate, and the different methods they adopt to try and deal with the harsh conditions. A very interesting talk and gave us a great insight into how hard life can be on the land up here. There is adversity around every corner, and even in a good year they can be smashed by a poor market for beef and still lose. 

Us city slickers really have no idea what true hard work is. 

Once back at camp we threw some chicken wings on the BBQ as a late lunch and relaxed at camp. After dinner we headed over to the communal fire where we were lucky enough to find one of the owners, Joe, playing guitar and telling bad jokes. 

We spent the rest of the evening by the fire listening to his stories with a drink in hand. It was a lot of fun and a fantastic way to finish our visit to Mt Surprise.