190,000 years ago a volcano erupted spewing molten lava over this part
of Australia. The lava flowed for many miles taking the path of least resistance, which was often the dry river beds. A crust formed on the outside of the flow and this gradually solidified whilst hot lava continued to flow in the centre. Eventually the lava flow ceased and all that was left was a tube of solidified rock – hard on the outside and empty in the middle. For the next 189,800 years or so not much happened but when when European settlers appeared on the scene and started raising cattle questions started to be asked when stock suddenly started to disappear into mysterious holes in the ground – the tubes had been re-discovered. And thus Sandra and I 
appeared on the scene to explore The Undara Lava Tubes.
The tubes are amazing – I had expected them to be at most large enough for a man to walk through but they were immense – about 14 metres in diameter and some of them running for several hundred metres, often underwater and of course dark and inhabited by thousands of bats. There was evidence of other life forms both dead and alive – piles of bones were lying around of beasts which had found their way into the tubes but never left – including the almost mythical vampire kangaroo (see photo)
After several enjoyable days in Undara we set off westwards along the Gulf Developmental Road heading towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Passing through a number of small towns including Georgetown and Croydon we ended up at Normanton – the main town in that part of the Gulf region. With no national park camping available in the area we set up camp in the Tourist Park in the middle of the town – as well as being pretty cheap it had the added bonus of an excellent swimming pool and was near to the Purple Pub – more of which shortly.
The site owner, when he heard we were from Scotland, gave us his Scottish story. A friend of his in Normanton called Jim Whyte was Scottish and had a very strong Scottish accent. One night he was arrested by the local policeman resulting in the following conversation:
Policeman – “What’s your name”
Jim Whyte – “Jim Whyte”
Policeman – “Do you spell that with a “y”?
Jim Whyte – “Aye”
Policeman then charged him as Jim White (with an "i") and was not too happy when it was discovered the name was wrong. Well it sounded funny at the time!
The next day we took a trip to Karumba on the coast where the barramundi
fishing season was in full swing. The town was full of “tinnies” (small metal fishing boats) as was the sea, each tinnie with its 2-3 fishermen hopefully casting but not seeming to catch very much. Sandra has great difficulty trying to see what pleasure men get sitting in the baking sun and throwing a fishing line into the water – but there must be something going for it though as hundreds can’t all be trying to get away from their wives for a few hours!
Back in Normanton we discovered there were three pubs and decided to give them all some trade – we went on a pub crawl! The Albion Hotel
was set back from the road and had a homely but rustic feel to it – pleasant enough but we had other places to visit. The Central Hotel was next – set right on the main street, it had seen better times, probably about twenty years ago when Sandra’s sister Gill had briefly been employed as breakfast cook and general dogsbody. We sat on the veranda over looking the main street and watched the world go slowly by – Sandra sipping her chilled red wine, something she hasn’t got used to yet!
Finally the famous Purple Pub, so called because it is painted
– Purple - obviously the place to be and be seen if you are ever in Normanton. It was the busiest bar by far with what I assumed to be the usual clientele boosted by a posse of local politicians in town for a local government beanfeast and a large number of Indigenous People buying cartons of beer – Sandra reckoned it was probably dole day!
Our next destination was to be Lawn Hill National Park, the main attraction of which is a large, water filled gorge which was to witness the inaugural launch of our inflatable boat. As the campsite is very small, bookings are essential - however we had a problem as all mobile phone and mobile internet connections across Queensland were down. A further problem was our intended route via Burketown was closed due to flooding – large sections of the road had been washed away and police were turning back cars and even 4WD’s. An alternative route will have to be found.
PS Normanton is the place where, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest ever crocodile was shot. A scale model of said beast is in the main street – scary stuff!
of Australia. The lava flowed for many miles taking the path of least resistance, which was often the dry river beds. A crust formed on the outside of the flow and this gradually solidified whilst hot lava continued to flow in the centre. Eventually the lava flow ceased and all that was left was a tube of solidified rock – hard on the outside and empty in the middle. For the next 189,800 years or so not much happened but when when European settlers appeared on the scene and started raising cattle questions started to be asked when stock suddenly started to disappear into mysterious holes in the ground – the tubes had been re-discovered. And thus Sandra and I 
appeared on the scene to explore The Undara Lava Tubes.The tubes are amazing – I had expected them to be at most large enough for a man to walk through but they were immense – about 14 metres in diameter and some of them running for several hundred metres, often underwater and of course dark and inhabited by thousands of bats. There was evidence of other life forms both dead and alive – piles of bones were lying around of beasts which had found their way into the tubes but never left – including the almost mythical vampire kangaroo (see photo)
After several enjoyable days in Undara we set off westwards along the Gulf Developmental Road heading towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Passing through a number of small towns including Georgetown and Croydon we ended up at Normanton – the main town in that part of the Gulf region. With no national park camping available in the area we set up camp in the Tourist Park in the middle of the town – as well as being pretty cheap it had the added bonus of an excellent swimming pool and was near to the Purple Pub – more of which shortly.
The site owner, when he heard we were from Scotland, gave us his Scottish story. A friend of his in Normanton called Jim Whyte was Scottish and had a very strong Scottish accent. One night he was arrested by the local policeman resulting in the following conversation:
Policeman – “What’s your name”
Jim Whyte – “Jim Whyte”
Policeman – “Do you spell that with a “y”?
Jim Whyte – “Aye”
Policeman then charged him as Jim White (with an "i") and was not too happy when it was discovered the name was wrong. Well it sounded funny at the time!
The next day we took a trip to Karumba on the coast where the barramundi
fishing season was in full swing. The town was full of “tinnies” (small metal fishing boats) as was the sea, each tinnie with its 2-3 fishermen hopefully casting but not seeming to catch very much. Sandra has great difficulty trying to see what pleasure men get sitting in the baking sun and throwing a fishing line into the water – but there must be something going for it though as hundreds can’t all be trying to get away from their wives for a few hours!Back in Normanton we discovered there were three pubs and decided to give them all some trade – we went on a pub crawl! The Albion Hotel
was set back from the road and had a homely but rustic feel to it – pleasant enough but we had other places to visit. The Central Hotel was next – set right on the main street, it had seen better times, probably about twenty years ago when Sandra’s sister Gill had briefly been employed as breakfast cook and general dogsbody. We sat on the veranda over looking the main street and watched the world go slowly by – Sandra sipping her chilled red wine, something she hasn’t got used to yet!Finally the famous Purple Pub, so called because it is painted
– Purple - obviously the place to be and be seen if you are ever in Normanton. It was the busiest bar by far with what I assumed to be the usual clientele boosted by a posse of local politicians in town for a local government beanfeast and a large number of Indigenous People buying cartons of beer – Sandra reckoned it was probably dole day!Our next destination was to be Lawn Hill National Park, the main attraction of which is a large, water filled gorge which was to witness the inaugural launch of our inflatable boat. As the campsite is very small, bookings are essential - however we had a problem as all mobile phone and mobile internet connections across Queensland were down. A further problem was our intended route via Burketown was closed due to flooding – large sections of the road had been washed away and police were turning back cars and even 4WD’s. An alternative route will have to be found.
PS Normanton is the place where, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest ever crocodile was shot. A scale model of said beast is in the main street – scary stuff!
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