As we were packing up and preparing to leave the Atherton Tablelands we were both hoping for some warmer weather and a little less wind. Well as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for! For as we descended gently from Malanda the land and air got dryer and the temperature rose. There was though a stark beauty to the landscape that didn’t seem to have been watered in a long time.
We arrived at Bedrock Caravan park in Mt Surprise and could immediately see why the place got such good reviews. It came recommended even though there is actually very very little in Mt Surprise itself. No pub and no shop just a couple of petrol stations. The campsite though was shaded (except for our site) and although it was fairly busy everyone was spaced out and there were plenty of facilities for everyone.
The main attraction near Mt Surprise is the Undara Lava tubes which are in a privately run national park. Unfortunately this meant that no dogs are allowed due to it being a National Park but the campsite we were staying at offered to dog sit Griff for the day while we went and explored.
We had to go on a guided tour of the caves and when signing up there were 2 options and we opted for the longer tour which required you being “moderately fit”. I was a little worried that I would end up holding the group back but it turned out I needn’t of worried as the pace was very slow and apart from climbing down some rocks it was a very gentle stroll.
We were lucky with our guide who was a geologist and kept us entertained for the 3 hrs with great explanations as to how the lava tubes were formed. Volcanoes erupted and then the lava flowed down valleys and the roof of the flow crusted over, the lava continued to flow out leaving a hollow tube. These tubes stretch for tens of kms over the area but we only had access to 2. While pretty short they were impressive to walk through and Sarah got to show off all of the IPhone’s fancy photo settings which was great fun.
The first tunnel, not very long but the patterns on the walls were quite unique 
The view down to the second and much longer cave tunnels 
The view back up to the entrance to the caves 
Walking through the lava tubes was amazing 
The floor is flat due to the sediment build up 
All along the walls were these great patterns formed by the heat of the lava 
Sarah took all these photos without a flash in the pitch black 
Back at the campsite we both settled back into a relaxing afternoon and as we were positioned right at the back of the campground we were able to look out over the bush. While it was pretty hot (33 C) there was a breeze blowing and it was incredibly peaceful and enjoyable sitting back in the shade. Unbelievably in amongst all this dryness there was a flowing stream about 1km away through the bush and we enjoyed lying in the cool flowing water in the afternoons.
It’s funny because we thought we would just stop for a couple of nights at Mt Surprise but it was so relaxing that we ended up staying for 5 nights doing very little but recuperating. There were a couple more hikes we wanted to go on but a combination of the heat and me feeling a little tired meant that we gave them a miss. I think I definitely needed it as while we have been conscious that I am meant to be recovering it has been difficult to strike the balance between pushing myself and making sure I get better. I have never been the best at sitting still and relaxing but this was a lovely setting to sit back for a few days…so we did. T