Today’s journey was not a particularly long one so we took it easy. We left Cobbold Gorge and drove out along the dirt road – the last time for the vans on dirt!! There are literally hundreds of cattle congregating in groups throughout this whole area and they  are totally unafraid of cars – we passed one nibbling a bush at the grid on the road – she did not blink an eye as we squeezed past!

Back on the highway we drove on to Mt Surprise over river beds with some water evident in them. It was interesting to hear at Cobbold Gorge that they get their water from the Robinson River – at the moment it looks like a dry sandy bed but they have a pumping system that accesses the water below which is still running at about 20 feet below the surface!

Mt Surprise held no surprises…

quite a few road trains stopped along the road – the Pearl was dwarfed by one…

we grabbed a coffee and sat in the shade – and a bloke whose name was Lester came over and sat down for a chat. He was a local and told us a lot about himself and his life….Gordie got the opportunity to share his faith with him as he was having a difficult time having just lost his brother 3 weeks ago. We left him with a Bible and some reading material, and then Gordie prayed with him before we got back on the road…. Maybe this brief encounter will be used by God to change this man’s life!

Arriving at Undara we checked in, went for a swim in the pool….

The local wallaroos were enjoying the green patch of grass next to the pool…

Gordie had to adopt an unusual swimming style to keep his arm dry as the toilet roll holder wound was still healing…much to Kerry’s concern as he had a lot of trouble keeping it clean and dry as he could not resist any opportunity to get into the water!!

The property has been owned by the Collins family for 6 generations. When the lava tubes were discovered and the significance o them understood, the Collins family who were cattle farmers, also started a tourist business using old railway carriages bought in the 1980s for over 1.5 million dollars which they turned into accommodation and facilities.

The buildings were amazing and the whole place was very well designed and kept. That night we ate dinner in the railway carriage restaurant – very enjoyable although some could not resist their technology….must have been having withdrawals!!!