The Savannah Way is the road across the top of Australia. It runs east-west from Cairns to Broome and gets its name from the countryside around the Gulf of Carpentaria, termed Gulf Savannah. Everything is brown or dusty coloured - rocky, sandy, flat land with trees no more than two metres high. We joined the Savannah Way at Mt Isa and followed it east, although at Normanton it takes a detour north to Karumba (as we also did). After our week in Karumba, we continued east through the savannah towns of Croydon, Georgetown and Mt Surprise. As well as caravan parks and free-camps (where our solar panels provided all the power we needed – there’s no end of sunshine up here), we stayed on a farm called Pinnarendi near the Undara National Park, about 200 kms west of Cairns. The farm owners have set up a little side-business offering camp sites to caravans, and it was a delightful place to spend a few days, surrounded by nothing but bush.
Undara was only recently designated a National Park because of its unique past, which involved some substantial volcanic activity. About 190,000 years ago, a series of eruptions sent lava flowing down creeks leading from the volcano. These rivers of molten rock solidified on the surface while continuing to flow beneath. Today those streams of lava have turned into gigantic tubes in the rock that criss-cross the Undara plains that are dotted with extinct volcano craters. Some of these lava tubes have revealed themselves by collapsing inwards, allowing them to be explored by thousands of tourists, and would-be geologists, like us. It was a fascinating day’s exploration.
Heading still further east, we entered the Atherton Tablelands and the countryside quickly changed. The height of trees increased from two to ten metres, the grass went from lifeless brown to vibrant green, the flat horizon disappeared into rolling hills, and the road was anything but straight. More importantly, the land is taken up with crops of all shapes, sizes and colours. Green should never be taken for granted. The total absence of it over the past month has made us miss Tasmania.
Leaving behind the outback, it has left several lasting impressions on us - a total lack of water, clouds, green grass and tall trees, but an abundance of sunshine, roadkill, caravans, straight roads, and immense road trains over 50 metres long. And as if kangaroo, wallaby and emu weren’t enough, cattle roamed across the road from unfenced farmland. Carnivorous hawks and kites feed on roadkill, and their soaring presence is visible from many kilometres away. Caravans and motorhomes dominate the oncoming traffic. Grey nomads must be a huge portion of the travelling public.
Water, or lack of it, is the key. The hot topic in the national news at the moment is drought relief for farmers in western New South Wales and Queensland. The Federal Government has given several million dollars, and even Tasmanian farmers have donated stock feed that the Spirit of Tasmania will transport across Bass Strait at no cost. Seeing this drought first-hand, we can understand the dire consequence of it not raining. It is depressing to see.
Undara was only recently designated a National Park because of its unique past, which involved some substantial volcanic activity. About 190,000 years ago, a series of eruptions sent lava flowing down creeks leading from the volcano. These rivers of molten rock solidified on the surface while continuing to flow beneath. Today those streams of lava have turned into gigantic tubes in the rock that criss-cross the Undara plains that are dotted with extinct volcano craters. Some of these lava tubes have revealed themselves by collapsing inwards, allowing them to be explored by thousands of tourists, and would-be geologists, like us. It was a fascinating day’s exploration.
Heading still further east, we entered the Atherton Tablelands and the countryside quickly changed. The height of trees increased from two to ten metres, the grass went from lifeless brown to vibrant green, the flat horizon disappeared into rolling hills, and the road was anything but straight. More importantly, the land is taken up with crops of all shapes, sizes and colours. Green should never be taken for granted. The total absence of it over the past month has made us miss Tasmania.
Leaving behind the outback, it has left several lasting impressions on us - a total lack of water, clouds, green grass and tall trees, but an abundance of sunshine, roadkill, caravans, straight roads, and immense road trains over 50 metres long. And as if kangaroo, wallaby and emu weren’t enough, cattle roamed across the road from unfenced farmland. Carnivorous hawks and kites feed on roadkill, and their soaring presence is visible from many kilometres away. Caravans and motorhomes dominate the oncoming traffic. Grey nomads must be a huge portion of the travelling public.
Water, or lack of it, is the key. The hot topic in the national news at the moment is drought relief for farmers in western New South Wales and Queensland. The Federal Government has given several million dollars, and even Tasmanian farmers have donated stock feed that the Spirit of Tasmania will transport across Bass Strait at no cost. Seeing this drought first-hand, we can understand the dire consequence of it not raining. It is depressing to see.
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