Advertisement
Published: September 6th 2010
Edit Blog Post
The locals
This was shot in 1953 - at 8.35 metres I would of used a cannon. Since the last entry on this very prestigious website, a number of rather note worthy events have happened. On top of the list (my list that is) are the Undara Lava Tubes and the Riversleigh fossil site. The Lava Tubes are probably what everyone wants to hear about so I’ll start with them. We went on a tour through some of the lava tubes where we learnt about them. Basically, when a volcano erupts and the lava flows across the ground and the lava gets cooler. The lava comes out of the volcano at around 1200 degrees Celsius and travels across the land until it cools enough to solidify at 700 degrees. Sometimes, however, a lava flow will form a shell of rock over the top of the flow and the lava underneath will be insulated and keep going. As the lava travels, it doesn’t only form a crust over it but it also eats through the ground on which it is traveling. And that is what we went to see on that day. The Lava Tubes at Undara are the longest lava tubes in the world and one of them stretches on for over 100 kilometres. The other event that
The Gulf
Dont stay in too long!! I wish to share would probably invite snores from most people. Yes everyone, it’ time for Lloyd’s Fossil Adventures! The subject today is the Riversleigh Fossil site, one of the most important and productive fossil beds in the world. When me, Mum and Lucy did the walk around the fossil track, we saw a few fossils, but not too many. The majority of the fossils had been taken to Mt. Isa for study to my great annoyance. However, we did see the remains of a crocodile, a turtle, a huge ‘thunder bird’ and about a thousand wasps that lived in the tourist centre. So it was still good, but not as good as the REAL fossils I’ll be seeing tomorrow when we go on a tour around the fossil lab! WAHOO!!!
Signed Lloyd Vernes Issell Esq.
P.S. Happy Fathers Day Opa and Grandpa and Happy Birthday Mare Mare!
21st September, Tuesday, hot-eugh, 36.8 degrees…..that was the day we arrived at Adel’s Grove Caravan park around 350 kilometres from the nearest other place in the other middle-of-nowhere. Our rating for our stay at Adel’s was looking pretty low, due to the lack of drinkable water, the dust-floored sites
Undara lava tubes
Currently not working. down in the grove and having to share the toilet block (which thankfully wasn’t pit-toilets) with a school-group of about 40 noisy grade fours. Over the next few days we were literally living in red dust and dirt. The camper trailer was filthy (luckily not on the inside!) Also every night when it got dark and we switched on the lights we were bombarded with swarms of bugs-usually moths. But looking at all the other built and natural facilities the park offered you wouldn’t have noticed the down-sides at all. About ten metres away from our site were a flight of steps leading down to quite a wide, very deep river. In the middle, a little pontoon floated-perfect for jumping off. Also hanging from a long branch was a rope-swing-stick-thing (which didn’t actually reach the bank of the river,) but was really fun the hang upside down off and then drop into the crystal greeny-blue water. It was beautiful-and the park even provided tyres to float around on. Also up from the grove near the front office was a pub and supply store with a wide variety of streets ice-creams.
On the second last day of our stay there we
drove about 10 kilometres down the road to Lawn Hill National Park. Lucy, Dad and I shared a three-man canoe and Mum and Lloyd shared a double and we all paddled down the river (at about 10 o’clock in the morning,) and then entered the most beautiful Gorge ever seen in the history of AC time (probably not the most beautiful, but pretty skilled anyhow.) The sheer, red cliff faces kept closing in and in on us until the space in between each side was nothing more than 30 centimeters, squishing us all to a slow and painful death…(except for Lucy who survived, got out, moved up to Alaska and started her own polar bear farm on a frozen lake.--Actually that didn’t really happen...so what we did do was spend the rest of the day stopping at little waterfalls along the way, swimming in the warm water, eating lollies, canoeing to other cool little rapids and creeks and waving our fingers above the water to the little Archer Fish who shoot water out of their mouths at bugs hovering above the water so the bugs fall in and the fishing eat them up-(luckily our fingers didn’t fall off-but then again
Riversliegh info 'cave'
Currently inhabited by a colony of wasps I don’t recall looking in the mirror and seeing a mosquito instead of me.) It just felt like a little tickle o us, but was probably disappointing to the fish, which must have been hungry. The only disappointing aspect of the day was that we didn’t spot any freshwater crocodiles or turtles! But altogether it was definitely one of the best days I’ve had so far alongside the Theme Parks and Whale-Watching. I hope no-one at home was been flooded and that you are all enjoying the rain and cold weather as much as we are loving the heat!
Ciao, Molly
Oh, my most exciting part at our stay at Adel’s grove was coming down with a red painful-stinging mark in my skin which was an infection in my blood which I would happily love to exaggerate and call “a rare blood disease”. Well no, it wasn’t serious, but if I had have left it a day we would have had to call the flying doctors and I would be in hospital with a “drip” attached to me. But hey, I’m ok (just had to take antibiotics for a while.) Still how many people can say they went on
Riverseligh
On the walk around the site holiday and came down with a blood disease that could have been serious….not many.
I put my toe in the Gulf of Carpentaria and almost got eaten by a 22.5 metre long crocodile. Luckily I had a tooth pick in my mouth so I stabbed it and we ate its liver for lunch. The End (not really)
Lucy
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0378s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb