Lava tubes and Cumberland Gold.

A short bus ride took us to the Lava tubes this morning- a series of caves formed some 200,000 years ago when a nearby volcano erupted, and spewed lava over 100 miles down creek beds and any depression in the ground that it could find. Tubes formed when the upper lava cooled before the lower lava, which continued to flow. Since then much of the roof has collapsed, but in places it has left large caves which as they are basalt do not support stallagtites or stallagmites as most caves do. However many roots grow down through the roof, and where it has fallen the rainforest has taken hold in the depressions.

One of the few animals we have not seen here is the dingo, but today that was rectified. As we were driving out of the park he was there, just at the side of the road,and we managed to get a good shot of him.
He has rather a bad reputation nowadays, in the seventies he is reputed to have taken a baby (Azalia) from a tent at Uluru, as well as attacked other children. Be that as it may, he is the only wild dog that belongs here, and he is protected now.

Seeing the Name Cumberland in relation to a chimney that we were passing alongside the road between Georgetown and Croydon we just had to stop. The chimney is the remains of a gold crushing plant that Cornish miners had built during the gold rush here. How the name Cumberland came about is not recorded, but the area was a sizeable town in the 1880s when the whole area was being mined

Most of the day today we have been travelling on single lane roads with graded verges. This means that should a vehicle aproach from the other direction we have to put our nearside wheels off the road, as he does also. However if a road train approaches, we make damned sure that we give him plenty of room and get off the road altogether!
But the views are terrific, a photo on here cannot do them justice, at times we could see for many miles from the tops of hills.

Tonight we are in a small country town called Croydon, just one pub, a shop and a filling station. Oh and a campsite. However it has a nice heritage area, and I took off to look at it while Anne was sorting the washing. I did the old police station, with a jail in the rear, the police Sergeants home, and then went into the old court house.

Unfortunately, while I was listening to a case  the warden came along and locked up with me inside! I banged and shouted, but he probably couldn't hear me over the case going on. Eventually I had to open a few bolts to get out, and catch him up as he was locking up the jail a few doors down. Nearly another Bailey adventure!

Something very special tomorrow to report- don't forget to look in!