Limestone Coast

I had a very slow start to the day. I got myself organised and then decided that I'd do some washing before I left. I also wanted to have coffee with Gaye and Evelyn so I decided to combine the two. I had a coffee while my clothes washed, then I had another while my clothes dried. The ladies are sisters-in-law, having coffee with strangers while their husbands fished.

Some of this trip was backtracking from the previous week when I was anxious to avoid the heat and settled instead for cold, wet and windy! I stopped first at Millicent - lots of very old buildings and a very modern looking Catholic church, with the photo of Mary MacKillop which I have come to expect in this corner of Australia.

When I'd driven through before, I noticed signs to the Tantanoola caves and was pleased to find them only a hundred metres from the road and almost flat and easy to get around. (I had booked later for the Engelbrecht caves in Mt Gambier thinking that I could probably manage the 147 steps down - but changing my mind later when I considered that I may be feeling fit now but if I can't drive for a week afterwards it may not be a good idea.)

I booked into the Central Caravan Park which was the same price as the 'cheap' parking at the showgrounds - and had hot showers etc. Right in the middle of town is a sunken garden and cave. I had been there during the day but wanted to see the sound and light show of the local indigenous history on the cave wall at night. So I rugged up, tracksuit, coat, hat and gloves and strode off up the street.  There were about 50 people there for the light show so obviously a lot of tourists in town for the school holidays.

Mt Gambier

Mt Gambier is the second largest town in South Australia but it is not what you'd expect of a largish city. The whole area is built on limestone caves and even in the middle of town are sinkholes and sunken gardens and limestone caves.

Only about a kilometre from the city centre are crater lakes. The smaller one shown gives an idea of the size of the whole crater as the photo is taken from a lookout at the top. It probably filled the crater at some time. The larger is the Blue Lake which is a brilliant blue from about November to March then reverts to normal wintery looking grey as the weather changes. It is supposed to be past its best now but the photos I took are fairly impressive.  Half an hour from town is the Small Blue Lake which is actually polluted with blue-green algae and is almost green in colour. It is about a tenth the size of the Blue Lake but is perfectly round and gives an idea of the geological history of the area. It may be a sinkhole rather than a crater lake.

Back in town, I visited the Umpherston Sinkhole garden. About a century ago, the original owner built walkways and terraces and gardens to provide an oasis on his property. At the time, the water table was higher and half of the base was a lake with a boat. Not any more, but it is still a very attractive area, set in a large shady park and administered by the city. At night they are floodlit.



The view from the end of the jetty
 may be unchanged
from Mary MacKillop's time

I took a drive to Port MacDonnell, checking out the jetty where Mary MacKillop set off for Adelaide to set up schools there. If you are looking for a MM relic, this may be the place to go. I am sure the jetty hasn't been replaced or repaired in all that time. The boards are worn and unevenly spaced and railway tracks run down the middle. Photos of women on the jetty about 150 years ago, show not much has changed. This is the centre of the lobster fishing area of SA and I had hoped to shout myself to a lobster tail or a lobster entree at a hotel or cafe. At $65 a serve, I discovered that I have as much Scottish heritage as Irish and contented myself with garlic prawns for lunch.


I almost detoured on the way back to town to see Adam Lindsay Gordon's cottage but changed my mind. Those heritage cottages are like the Spanish identical twins - seen Juan, seen Imal!