Mount Surprise, Queensland

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed towards Mount Surprise on the Savannah Way. We passed through Atherton again before heading South West to Ravenshoe. The road near Ravenshoe was very winding with steep hills. Took our time with the caravan and fortunately there wasn't much other traffic on the road. We stopped just past Ravenshoe at a windmill farm for a break and morning tea. We had stopped here on our previous trip but the wind farm had been shrouded in fog. There were 20 windmills which makes it the original and largest wind farm in Queensland.

We continued West after our break passing through Mount Garnet leaving the Kennedy Highway and joining the Gulf Development Road. The Development Road was mostly good but with some narrow bridges and sealed

sections. Luckily we didn't meet any Road Trains and was very little traffic heading West. We arrived at Mount Surprise and checked into the Mount Surprise Tourist Park. This is quite a small park and easy to miss as has a very narrow gateway/entrance. It took us a while to find a suitable site as quite overgrown and power/water connections not laid out in an organized pattern. After a few false starts we got setup on a nice shaded site with both power and water. We had the park to ourselves which was nice.

This is a very reasonable caravan park at $16/night for a powered/drinking water site. Also had a swimming pool which we definitely took advantage of! The amenities were basic but relatively clean. Unfortunately, the amenities were also home to a number of green frogs. Now I love green frogs as much as the next person, but I have decided I don't enjoy sharing a toilet bowl with them. I've got a really great story that I won't share on this medium! Perhaps we can reminisce over this one some day in person! Sadly, I will have to give a reduced rating of 2 for the amenity service based on my experience! The caravan park also is home to some miniature horses, exotic birds (caged), and an orphaned Emu. Quite an interesting little place and would definitely recommend as an overnight stay.

We took it easy on Tuesday and Wednesday with a bit of cleanup/laundry/blogging. We took a quick walk around Mount Surprise on Wednesday afternoon and covered all the highlights in about 20 minutes. There was an interesting Railway museum/display which outlined the history of the area and the Savannahlander Train. Also a couple of gem shops/displays, one of which you could rent fossicking gear. Topaz are the main gems located near Mount Surprise and there is a public area where you can fossick for them. Only require a $10/month license and some digging gear. Not really what interests Sandra and I, but might be for other travelers. We enjoyed a number of trips to the swimming pool to keep cool.

Around noon on Thursday the Ransleys arrived to join our adventure. They were pretty tired as had been doing some long travel days. Their trip North had also been marred by an ant infestation in their caravan and the door latch on the caravan giving out while traveling! We spent some time helping them address the ant issue before Happy Hour. Sandra and I had prepared a BBQ Chicken dinner for the 4 of us. It was a nice meal/evening but we all turned in early to catch up on some sleep.

Friday we had left free for the Ransleys to catch up on their rest/sleep. Unfortunately, much of it was spent attacking the ant problem again. They seem to be spawning in areas that have already been fumigated/cleaned. Was another warm day so we spent quite a bit of time cooling off in the swimming pool.

Saturday morning we were booked into explore the Lava Tubes at the Undarra Experience. This was the main reason we had included Mount Surprise in our itinerary. The four of us were up early to make the 45 minute trip back to Undarra in the Ransley's new Ford Ranger. Had an uneventful trip on mostly sealed road meaning we arrived with a bit of extra time. We booked in for our tours and had a bit of a visit before the 10:30 tour. The Lodge at Undarra is very nice and would be worth consideration if you are travelling through this way. Lovely Bar/Restaurant area with reasonably priced meals.

The tour began with a short bus drive into the National Park. The guide was very informative and stopped at a number of locations to describe the geography, wildlife, and vegetation. Got to see a large Wedge-tail Eagle flying down the track in front of the bus! Saw a large flock of Black Cockatoos as well.


We then left the bus to tour a couple of Lave Tubes. The walk was primarily on boardwalk through the Tubes/Tunnels and was well laid out. The "Archway" was our first stop and was incredible. Look at the colours in the rock patterns!

We then took a boardwalk through two different Lava Tunnels. Very interesting! The temperature was so much cooler and lots of moisture dripping off of the roof/walls.

Finished up our tour about 1 PM back at the Undarra Lodge. Had a quick break and drink of water before jumping into the car and heading to off to another area of the National Park. We had  a nice picnic lunch at Kalkani Day Use area. Very clean with covered tables and toilets. After lunch we completed a short 2.5 KM walk up to the rim and around the Kalkani Volcano. Was a bit of a climb but we got a great view of the surrounding area and Volcano eruption sites.

We returned to the caravan park and did a bit of housekeeping/trip preparation before Happy Hour. Sandra and I enjoyed a quiet meal of leftovers and completed some pack up for tomorrows journey. We enjoyed our time in Mount Surprise but wouldn't recommend it for more than a few days unless you are there for the fossicking. Undarra Experience was definitely the highlight and highly recommended.