The end of a Lava Tube
On the day before I left Undara, I had the option to go on either the two-hour The Archway Explorer tour, or the four-hour Volcano Valley tour. Thinking that the four-hour tour would be better since you’re supposed to be able to see more of the lava tubes, I chose that one. I wish I had picked the two-hour tour instead. Why? Well, mainly because our tour guide kept telling us how much better the two-hour tour is (it goes to different sections of lava tubes that are supposed to be more “magnificent”). But also because we didn’t get to see that much on the four-hour tour and it was more standing around listening to lecture-style talk than anything else; we didn’t get to walk much.
The first tube we went down is called Misplaced Arch and it’s really tiny. Many sections of the lava tubes are caved in or inaccessible so the places you do go are usually just little short arches of tube that’ve stood the test of time. It was nice to get out of the sun and into a shady cool area, but there wasn’t much to it. We stood around and listened to our guide talk about the area, the varying thicknesses of lava tube, and the animal bones that were found in the lava tube. It was informative in that I learned things like how the wallaroos have a sharp bone protruding out of the front that they use to cut grass, but most of the time we had a hard time following what the guide was saying. The tour was lecture-style and we tourists were like students trying hard to learn but having a difficult time paying attention and were too chicken to ask the teacher to repeat what he had just said. There were a few times when we (literally) whispered to each other “what did he say?” “did he mean …?” “No, I think he was saying…” The poor kids on this tour were yawning.
The next section of lava tube was equally disappointing. This is when I thought “Oh shit, I’m going to have to write a bad review of this tour and they’ve been so nice to me!” We listened to the guide talk more about the varying thicknesses of lava tube and he finally explained how lava tubes are formed (I had been waiting for an explanation but was too chicken to ask).
The third section of lava tube in the Wind Tunnel Complex that we visited
Finally we came to the third section of lava tube and I breathed a big sigh of relief and smiled. THIS is what I’d been waiting for! An actual tunnel long enough to be dark on the other end! 
I tried really hard to listen to the guide and even took notes, but I must’ve zoned out when he told us not to touch any of the walls because when I did a couple of my fellow tourists whispered that he said not to and reminded me that the guide had barked at them for stepping over the stones at the other tunnel (I think they zoned out too when he told us not to walk over the stones). Whoops!
The third tunnel had a big dome in the ceiling, creatively called “The Dome.” People speculate that it was created by hot gases rising up from the molten lava. It looks pretty cool and so do the multi-layered walls with its different colours ranging from earthy red to chalky white. We saw things like the candle wax effect on the walls from lava that had spat up and dripped down sections of the walls, and itty-bitty frogs in little holes in the ground.
After that, we had a nice coffee / tea break with scones at the picnic area near Kalkani Volcano and headed back.
I can normally take some lecture-style tours if I really feel like learning about the subject, but when it’s lecture-style combined with some of my greatest tour peeves (guides that keep telling you how much better the OTHER tour is and repeatedly saying that they don’t know anything about the topics they just brought up because not enough research has been done), I can’t say I’m a fan.
All in all, I’m really glad I got to see a real lava tube at Undara (you just can’t go to Undara and NOT see one), but I’d recommend going on the two-hour tour instead of the four-hour (the guide made that one sound really good).
Tips for Travellers Touring the Tubes at Undara
- Bring a high power torch if you can. You can’t see much without one nearby.
- Have a coffee before going. You’ll learn more if you’re awake.
- Wear closed toe shoes and dark socks (or sandals if you’re ok with washing them afterwards). You walk through some areas with a lot of dusty red silt and it’s really hard to wash out the stains from white socks.
- The Volcano Valley Tour says it requires a moderate level of fitness. You don’t need to be in great shape and you don’t do much walking at all on it. You must be able to stand around for long stretches of time though and I wouldn’t recommend sitting down on the rocks in the tubes because they’re covered in red dust. One girl had white shorts on and made the mistake of sitting down.
