Undara v's Chillagoe

Submitted: Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 10:32

ThreadID: 36884 Views:7074 Replies:9 FollowUps:3

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harry1

I have been trying to research the Undara Lava Tubes on this site and others, as I read a bad review in a caravanning magazine a while back.

What I have found is there seems to be a 'love it or hate it' type attitude towards Undara. Many say it's fantastic and well worth the trip. Others say give it a miss and go to Chillagoe Caves instead.

Rather than a repeat of that, what I'm after is something more specific to help me decide.

Why didn't people enjoy Undara? Why are the Chillagoe Caves better?etc....

I think the initial article was written from a family point of view and reported that the Undara tour was too long and boring for children. Any comments welcomed.

Also a tip on where to camp around there would be great, as the Undara campground has also received mixed reveiws.

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Reply By: Member - MrBitchi (QLD) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 10:56

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 10:56

Well worth a look IMO, but not as fantastic as some rave about.

The campground is a bit squeezy, barely enough room to squeeze my camper and car onto a plot. Facilities are OK, swimming pool was FREEZING, camp fire tales from an ex ranger, but the place can get very busy with tour groups. I'd find somewhere else to stay (not sure where but must be something around as there were a few doing this when we went last year) and just do the tubes as a day trip. The guided tour (only way you can see them) took about 2 hours from memory.

Didn't get to Chillagoe, still on the "to do" list :-)

AnswerID: 189639

Reply By: pmacks - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:09

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:09

Hi Harry

we went to Undarra in may this year and thought it was ok not great but ok and glad we went.
We stayed at Innot Hot Springs about 75 klm north of Undarra and can recommend this place as a good base, not the flashes caravan park but cleen & tidy with plenty of warm to very hot pools to swim and relax in and around the $20.00 per night for a powered site.
Also a couple of good things to see around here like the old tin sluice in the river about 10 klm's away and some preety water falls.

hope this helps
pmacks

AnswerID: 189641

Reply By: GoneTroppo Member (FNQ) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:26

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:26

Harry
We went to Undarra and felt is was one of the worst managed places we had ever been too.
The place was filthy dirty run like a dump with a couldn't care less attitude food was inedible and SLOOOOOOOw in coming.
Plus everything costs you megabucks because they have you as a captive audience.
All in all a prime example of how NOT to run a national park attraction.
As far as I know there is nowhere to camp other than their campground or on the roadside as a rough bush camp.

Spent 4 days at Chillagoe in January and loved it. Small town with a heart and soul, locals very friendly and enthusiastic.
Any number of guided caves tours of different lengths at reasonable cost. plus lots of self guided ones. The smelter ruins are well worth spending a couple of hours at. Plenty of camping options availble.
Definately a place we'll go back to as we didn't have time to see it all.

I'd give Undarra a wide berth and go for Chillagoe.
Regards
Chris

AnswerID: 189645

Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:52

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:52

We've been to both, with a great shortcut road between them :-), and i must say that while the prices at Undarra are not cheap (actually very expensive), the food was great. It depends on when one goes, as we were there during the week, and it was somewhat quite.

Chillagoe has a great feel to the town, and we have been back several times.

Two completely different places which cannot be compared to each other.

Andrew

FollowupID: 447119

Reply By: Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:34

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 11:34

Hi Harry

We were there June this year, but only went on the 1pm tour for 2 hours. We had spent 2 nights at Mt Surprise ( Bedrock caravan Park...very friendly people. They run tours out there or you can drive yourself, about 40 kms to the turnoff to the tubes. Also there is a place you can go and fossick for topaz if you are into that sort of thing. We are and had the best time..kids still talk about our find as a highlight of the trip)
Went to Undara on way back towards the coast. We thought it was well worth the money,( $112 for a family), kids did not get bored, but I think any longer would have been pushing it especially for the 5 year old. The best bit was the guide! He was a very knowledgeable "Older" man and taught us heaps about the whole area. It is hard to believe that the tubes stretch more than 160km at one point, "one of the longest lava flows from a single volcano on Planet Earth in modern geological times" You would never know standing on top and looking around that there are so many tubes running underneath you.

Haven't been to the Chillagoe caves- Sorry not much help there! Hope you have fun whatever you decide to do.

Jen

AnswerID: 189646

Follow Up By: harry1 - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 12:11

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 12:11

Hi Jen,

We will have two three year olds, a five year old and a 9 year old.

We realise that on our trip round Aus there will be some tours that the whole family won't go on, either due to price or just not being suitable for three year olds.
Do you think this might be one of them?

We would be very keen on looking for Topaz. Do you have any further information on that?

Thanks again.

FollowupID: 447123

Follow Up By: Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 13:36

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 13:36

Its is always difficult trying to assess whether a certain tour will be suitable or not...we have had many headaches over the years!!! We just say to ourselves " we'll just have to come back again when they are older!!" Not always possible I know!
My 5 year old daughter coped quite well on the tour, the first part is easy as it is on the bus to get to the tubes! Then comes the walk, it is easy, they have built boardwalks and stairs etc. Kaitlyn got tired fairly quickly and Andrew ended up piggy backing her most of the time.... you'd have fun with 2 !!! I guess only you know how your kids go with walking etc. Also there is a fair bit of listening to do to the guides and some kids may find that boring to have to be quiet for others to hear! I have a brochure here I could send you if you want? My email addy is under our rig profile if you want to send me your address.
As for the gem fossicking, well where do I start?!!! We had the BEST morning, albeit hard work and I found out I had muscles I never knew existed! ( and I didn't even really do the hard digging.. I left that to my very capable husband!) The guy that runs it has a shop called "Mt Surprise Gems & Fossicking". Website is www.mtsurprisegems.com.au
This will give you lots of info.
We had a great morning out and managed to find the most clear topaz anyone had found on a tour this year!! Peter ( the owner) was going back to the spot that afternoon to see if we had left any!! Well worth our money and a great way to spend my birthday! The kids had a ball digging and sieving, and generally getting dirty and dusty! Just the things kids love to do really. Even BigKidz!!

Hope this helps!

Jen

FollowupID: 447129

Reply By: The Landy - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 12:59

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 12:59

As someone mentioned, difficult to compare the two as they are completely different. And as the saying goes, one man's dream, another's nightmare.

We've been to both and both are worthwhile destinations within there own right. My experience of Undara was good from a natural history perspective, and the tour was fine. The place does not appear to be managed as well as it could be, and this manifested itself to some extent in the service received. Can't comment on the meals as we did our own thing.

I'd take the Innot hot spring option, a great place to stay.

Also if in the region...take a drive down the old cattle track to the coast at Kennedy. Kennedy is just north of Cardwell. It is very scenic route that takes in a fantastic waterfall and a is a highlight of this region.

Cheers

AnswerID: 189653

Reply By: Member - Ross (NSW) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 14:43

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 14:43

We have been to both areas. Undara in 1995 and Chillagoe in 1998. We took the day tour with a lady by the name of Val Speedie...what a hive of information. It's the best tour we have ever been on. Chillagoe caves were very interesting as was the town, the mine and the marble pits that surround the town. Got some great photos. Agree with others comments on the prices at Undara but the tour made up for this.!MPG:10!

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AnswerID: 189666

Reply By: tdv - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 16:02

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 16:02

Agree with others that they are hard to compare. I did Undara with kids (4 and 2)12 months ago and they were difficult to manage (ie keep quiet while the guide was talking). They spent 2 hours on something I reckon could easily be done in 30 minutes. Also it is expensive and run by private enterprise. You could stay in Mt Surprise at the bedrock....great people and nice spot.

Chillagoe has a great pub for meals as well as nice camping facilities. The cave tours are great (run by parks and wildlife rangers) and are more kid friendly in my opinion. They can climb through little passageways and get to carry a torch etc.

I'm glad i've been to Undara but wouldn't go back, however I would definitely go back to Chillagoe.

AnswerID: 189671

Reply By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 20:15

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 20:15

just to add.....we did the undarra tube trip and were surprised after the guide demonstrating the test for CO2 levels using a lighter (will not light), he said we will go in a bit further none-the-less. What gives? you have a (crude) test for safety reasons, and then you break your own rules. We had to lift the kids up off the ground at that point as the levels were bad down low. People were getting headaches and there seemed to be no safety procedures in place.

Didn't instil confidence in his tour party at the time.

Andrew

AnswerID: 189706

Reply By: Richard W (NSW) - Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 21:34

Friday, Aug 18, 2006 at 21:34

Haven't done Chillagoe but did Undara 4 weeks ago.

Found it very commercial but OK for a day or two. We were camping and the campsites were quite good if you are used to camping on the dirt with each site having its own fire pit. Amenities were in easy walking distance.

The van area was pretty crowded.

Cooked my own food although a mate and his family had the communal camp breakfast which he said was good. Sing along around the communal camp fire was OK as well.

We did the 2 hour trip which was quite adequate and interesting and there was no issues with C02.

If you go there make sure you book a few days ahead as it is pretty popular.

As mentioned Innot Hot Springs are worth an overnight stay.

AnswerID: 189720