From Atherton to Mt Surprise, Qld: Thursday 27 Sept 12

Dave and I packed up our tent at the Atherton Big4 Caravan Park in perfect early morning weather, drooling as we worked away fitting everything back into its place in our trailer, because we could smell lots of delicious bacon and eggs being cooked for school holiday family campers who were staying there. We had enjoyed the same brekkie that we have every day; a bowl of muesli with a banana….very easy and nutritious and easy to store in our tent, but what we could smell now was so tempting.

Before we left this caravan park we joined up "the Big4 Club" which means we get a discount at any Big4 park. We should've been sensible and paid the $50 joining fee when we started our journey, as we have stayed at a few Big4 parks, due to them having the best camp kitchens and other good amenities, and the membership lasts for 2 years with good discounts. Well, never too late to learn, and we plan to be on the road for a while over the next 12 months.

We also told the nice lady running the Atherton Big4 caravan park that it has been the best prettiest big park, rating this high along with cute little Burra caravan park in South Australia. Very good camp kitchen and showers, lovely pool area and stunning rainforest around to see. And to think we nearly chose a dry dive of a caravan park that was going to charge us campers $1 coins to use the kitchen gas barbeques! Lucky we found a better place.

Last time I was in this part of Australia in 2004, riding around in my 10 weeks long service leave with 3 other motorcyclists, it was pouring with rain so heavily that we couldn't see any of the Atherton Tableland scenery, and the little towns we rode through back then were seen through a curtain of cold grey rain.

But this time as we rode along I could see all the beautiful scenery of green hills and mountains and fields in glorious spring sunshine, and the little town of Ravenshoe looked dry as if it needed some rain. This is Queensland's highest town. Funny how different places look in different weather.

Our next stop was at a dry little town of Mt Garnet. We were parched and looking for a coffee shop. No such place, just a couple of tiny stores that sold anything but food or drink, and there was an old pub there that had Aborigines coming and going from it. Well, when in Mt Garnet, do what the Mt Garnettans do, and so into the pub we went for a soda and bitters drink. The locals in there were friendly and said gidday! I had to tell the young backpacker barmaid to halve the ice in our glasses so we could actually drink our drinks when she poured them. This meant she had to open two cans of lemonade to give us more drink than ice….we woke up to that trick in Dululu pub on the way to Yeppoon back in July.

While we sipped our refreshing full glasses of drink we got chatting to three cute old gents who were sitting on the pub veranda discussing farming matters. They had big hats on and skinny white legs poking out of their shorts in the humid hot morning air. I asked them if the little building across the road was a 2nd hand shop and I was told it was….it had no sign on it but just ask a local. So Dave found some lovely green garnet rock specimens for $2 each there, what a bargain.

As we rode down the hill to leave little Mt Garnet town we saw a roadhouse that sold food to travellers, but we're glad we had our enjoyable break in the old pub with happy Aboriginals playing pool and cute little old men having their daily chat. The "normal" roadhouse would've been boring!

The country from here to Mt Surprise became more open forest, dry country and hotter. And there were lots of roadworks, with red traffic lights that took forever to change for us! We got hotter and hotter waiting as we were dressed in full riding gear. We ended up taking turns to make up songs about having to wait; we sang to each other with our helmet speakers. Lots of rude and naughty words were our ditties….I didn't realise Davey could think of such lines. If someone else was tuned into our frequency we would have scorched their ears off! Heh heh!

The traffic lights road works kept us on the roads for an extra hour, and we finally arrived at Mt Surprise starving hungry. A shed shop advertised "barista coffee" and we ordered that plus an all-day breakfast each of bacon and eggs, to make up for the mouth-watering aromas we had been sniffing while packing up earlier today. Soon we were feasting on a mountain of delicious food, probably not the right tucker recommended by the heart foundation, but it sure hit the spot, as we normally never eat like this and we were craving sinners.

We then booked into the Bedrock Caravan Park to put up our tent…a bit tricky with bulging bellies, but we did it, in the afternoon humid heat, being watched by a bevy of campers who were amused and amazed to see how all our gear came out of a little trailer and was soon up and big. This park has a swimming pool and a very good camp kitchen, so we were happily settled in for the next three days. We booked a tour for the next day to the Undara Lava Tubes, and spent a very happy evening chatting and comparing travel notes with all sorts of school holiday campers. A lot from Victoria and NSW here, as well as people from Cairns or Townsville.

Undara Lava Tubes at Mt Surprise, Qld: Friday 28 Sept12

We had to be up early ready to go on our lava tube tour at 8am. I said to Dave I don't know how I managed to get up to go to work much earlier for years, and now I find it a real struggle to get out of bed at 7am….this retirement office is hard work!

We had decided to do the Undara lava tubes tour from the Bedrock caravan park in Mt Surprise rather than camping out at the Undara camping spot, because local travellers had told us this was the best option, and I think they were right! We were driven in a nice air conditioned bus on a 110km round trip to the lava tubes, and the Bedrock caravan park is so much better to stay at from what we have seen. Our tour guide Jules was very funny, informative and the 40 minute drive there and back went like a jiffy as he pointed out wild life and told us funny yarns. Gullible me believed some of the stories he told till I saw Dave laughing at me.

The Undara Lava Tubes is the world's longest lava flow from a single vented volcano in modern geological time, and there is a system of intertwining lava tubes underground. I've been itching to see this place for years.

So here we were on a little bus; eleven senior citizens and one young tour guide, a whippersnapper at 42.

Jules led us up a walking track to Kalkani Crater which is a dormant volcano some 200,000 to 400,000 years old. Dave and I looked at each other; we were the only thin ones apart from the young Jules, the others looking like they'd left their gophers behind. We snailed along the hilly track and I was thinking that some of them would cark it, looking so overweight and unfit, but no, they all made it to the rim of the ancient crater, with Jules being very kind and helpful and stopping to give folk some resting points. And it was really good to be going slowly because Jules showed us lots of bush tucker plants, and his geological explanations of the countryside were excellent.

He also pointed out an old Cobb and Co track where bushrangers used to bail up the coaches to steal gold and Aboriginals used to attack occasionally, preferring Chinese miners coming along as they were the tastiest….I think Jules was telling the truth here when he said this particular group of blacks enjoyed Chinese takeaway to Europeans, because they had a different diet, better meat!

After a nice morning tea at half-time (home- made cookies and tea, not Chinese takeaway!) we were off in the bus again, this time to see some lava tubes, getting there via rocky paths with handrails and some ladders and steps. I was pleased to see all the senior cits made it, bravely climbing over dark basalt boulders, and we all listened to our tour guide's advice on how to step on some sections. He was so kind and patient and respectful to everyone, and this helped each person feel good.

It was stunning going inside the huge cavernous lava tube tunnels. So long have I waited to see this, and looking at pictures had made me keen. Well worth paying $76 each for this 6 hour tour, which included the long bus ride there and back and an entertaining commentary all the way. We also saw and smelled lots of micro bats in the lava tubes. Apparently when the bats fly out of the tubes in the evening there are tree pythons waiting to snap up easy meals in the tunnel entrances.

So Dave and I had a great day, enjoying the local geology and we had a cooling swim in the caravan park pool when we got back. This Bedrock caravan park also caters to road gang and railway workers who are on contract, so there are catered meals and extra cabins to deal with these. Campers here can have their meals with the workers if they wish, and most of the grey nomads enjoy this service. I had stayed at this caravan park in 2004 and since then the owners have done an amazing amount of work planting trees and putting in great amenities. Well done! They are smart to realise how many grey nomads and others are travelling along the Savannah highway, needing a decent place to have a rest.

This Friday evening, we went over to the local pub and had a meal there, just to see what the locals looked like. And we saw the real Santa! First we saw his big shiny knee high black boots stepping slowly down a fire escape stairway in the pub, followed by his baggy white holiday trousers, and he was wearing a bright yellow long sleeved shirt. He was puffing like the real Santa and his beard was long. We had to shove our food into our mouths to stop laughing out loud as we saw his legs appearing down the stairway. He was cute to chat to as well.

When we got back to the caravan park across the road there was a campfire going with a young guitar playing singing man, entertaining families and grey nomads with lots of Johnny Cash songs and other mournful country and western toons. Dave fell asleep on his air mattress in the tent while I blogged this story. We both find bush poetry and predictable country (and western) songs a tad boring. Different strokes for different folks!

Tomorrow morning I'm getting up early to explore the local gemstone museum across the road….I can't wait! It's surprising how much there is to do in the tiny town of Mt Surprise.

Bargain Gemstone day in Mt Surprise: Saturday 29 Sept12

A happy warm day spent looking at gemstones and rocks at the 2 rock shops in this tiny town. We bought some nice uncut aquamarine crystals from the gem fields here, had a go at a bucket of sieved soil and found some topaz pieces…..I wonder if the chappie had put these in to keep tourists happy? Also bought a good piece of multi-coloured fluorite crystal, and a lovely clear facetted crystal of rose quartz, which I plan to set as a pendant when I learn how to in Perth next year. I was surprised to see how this stone was a good low price; rose quartz is usually cloudy, not nice and clear, so I know a good specimen when I see one! Also this morning was "market day" in Mt Surprise, much to our surprise that such a small roadside town has such happenings on Saturdays. So I bought a topaz ring in sterling silver for $30 from a travelling caravan lady…yes real sterling silver and I do think it is real blue topaz.

We missed seeing the "World's Greatest Snake Show" this morning unfortunately. Would have been worth a squiz. The local snake showman owns the barista food shed place where we had the huge lunch when we arrived, and we are going to have their weekly roast meal tonight there. Maybe we'll see more of his snakes tonight…his big python is at the front of his shop, with a cage of "pet" white rats as the food (for the snakes) at the back of his shop building.

Off tomorrow for a cabin night at Croydon. We are going to stop for a while at Georgetown to see a great rock collection! Looking forward to this.

Rock Hound Trish