Happy Faces covered some serious ground this week and ticked off heaps of tourist attractions which were high on the to do list :)
First up was the drive on the infamous Savannah Way, a beautiful stretch of road which connects Cairns in QLD to Broome in Western Australia. The Savannah highway stretches an impressive 3501km across Australia and we joined the track just North of Mount Isa.
First up was the drive on the infamous Savannah Way, a beautiful stretch of road which connects Cairns in QLD to Broome in Western Australia. The Savannah highway stretches an impressive 3501km across Australia and we joined the track just North of Mount Isa.
Along the way we stopped at the Cumberland Dam, an area of QLD renowned for its variety of bird life which congregates here at various times of the year. It’s always beautiful to see out of place lakes in the middle of the desert but we were most fascinated by the termite mounds which engulfed the surrounding area. These termite mounds have been known to grow up to 30 meters in diameter and in Darren Fittlers (http://www.darrenfittler.com/) spirit of curiosity we had to learn more.
It appears that the structure of termite mounds can be very complicated. These little fellas essentially build great cities underground which is pretty cool. They build ventilation systems in the mounds which consist of numerous gallery chambers as well as a central nest and some mounds have even been known to feature chimneys. Termites orient their mounds North to South, a feat your average human struggles to achieve without the aid of a good compass so Happy Faces were suitably impressed.
 | What’s even more interesting is that termites have clearly defined social classes. There are the workers, smallest in size, completely blind, wingless and sexually immature. These little fellas have to slave away feeding and grooming the dependant castes as well as building and maintaining the mound and carrying out all the repair work. Then you have your soldiers. Soldier termites are responsible for protecting the colony and often have to sacrifice their lives defending the colony from unwanted predators. |
Finally, we have the reproductives. This includes the king and queen of the termites. The queen spends all her time eating, mating and resting and can grow up to six centimeters long while the lower classes are held back to less than 1 centimeter.
We think the working class termites need to campaign for some equality. Termite revolution anyone?
To this day professors in animal physiology don’t fully understand how termites collectively work together to achieve these formidable architectural structures. Here's a good article on the mystery from National Geographic:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140731-termites-mounds-insects-entomology-science/
OK...we have gone a little termite mad...moving on...
Next stop was Undara Volcanic National Park, famous for being home to the largest lava tubes in the world. Undara is an aboriginal word meaning long way.
We think the working class termites need to campaign for some equality. Termite revolution anyone?
To this day professors in animal physiology don’t fully understand how termites collectively work together to achieve these formidable architectural structures. Here's a good article on the mystery from National Geographic:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140731-termites-mounds-insects-entomology-science/
OK...we have gone a little termite mad...moving on...
Next stop was Undara Volcanic National Park, famous for being home to the largest lava tubes in the world. Undara is an aboriginal word meaning long way.
We have now arrived in Atherton Tablelands, which has to be one of the most postcard perfect places in Australia. Rolling green hills, spotted with windmills (happy faces LOVE renewable energy), beautiful lakes, waterfalls and the most incredible curtain fig tree are just some of Athertons treasures.
There are several tours to chose from at Undara Volcanic National Park. They range from sunset cave tours were you can enjoy a spectacular sunset with sparkling wine and cheese to the active explorer which includes rock scrambling and hiking through trickier parts of the lava caves. We opted to climb to the top of the 190 thousand year old Undara volcano. The view was 360 degrees and spectacular.
It’s advisable to book ahead for the Undara experience, curious travelers can book direct via:
http://undara.com.au/our-history/collins-family-history/
One of the highlights of the trip was a day drive turned midnight safari. We spotted curlews, huge kangaroos, owls, a huge australian bustard, iguanas, tree frogs, herds of cattle and horses. But the cherry on the cake was when we stopped on a bridge on the outback road to Atherton. It was pitch dark outside, and we started to joke that there may be crocs in the river beneath us. Our no fear Wigan Warrior leans over right away with her phone torch and yells out "omg crocodile". We laugh, and look over the edge of the bridge and sure enough, an ACTUAL crocodile, maybe 1 meter long just hanging out by a rock. Amazing. He didn't like seem to like the spotlight though as he swam off in a matter of seconds. But WOW. Good spotting Rach ;)
It’s advisable to book ahead for the Undara experience, curious travelers can book direct via:
http://undara.com.au/our-history/collins-family-history/
One of the highlights of the trip was a day drive turned midnight safari. We spotted curlews, huge kangaroos, owls, a huge australian bustard, iguanas, tree frogs, herds of cattle and horses. But the cherry on the cake was when we stopped on a bridge on the outback road to Atherton. It was pitch dark outside, and we started to joke that there may be crocs in the river beneath us. Our no fear Wigan Warrior leans over right away with her phone torch and yells out "omg crocodile". We laugh, and look over the edge of the bridge and sure enough, an ACTUAL crocodile, maybe 1 meter long just hanging out by a rock. Amazing. He didn't like seem to like the spotlight though as he swam off in a matter of seconds. But WOW. Good spotting Rach ;)
If we could stay in Atherton forever, we would.
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