Mt Gambier SA

We arrived at Mt Gambier trouble free, set up camp and went into town for a look and see, yes you guessed it of to the tourist info centre. Now as far as info centres go this one out shines them all. We pulled up and out the front is a full scale replica of the sailing ship the Lady Nelson. Lieutenant James Grant was on the Lady Nelson we he sighted Mt Gambier. The Lady Nelson was also the first ship to navigate the South Australian coast. That's not all once you get all your info stuff you are then directed to through the discovery centre rooms.
 The first room has the skull of a Simosthenurus an extinct large species of Kangaroo and for kids and grownup kids alike they can take a selfie with the cartoon painted one on the wall just like little Johnny did.


As you move on to the next you room you pass what looks like a light display to show how volcanoes are formed until the noise of the explosion as it erupts, scares the crap out of you.

The next room is a tunnel laid out as cave with a glass floor so you can see bones, fossil and rocks, there is even a cave explorer looking down at you from the roof.

The last show is a holographic story of Christina Smith who was a teacher and a missionary who was born in Scotland in 1809, and came to Australia in 1833 with her son Duncan after her first husband died. She later married James Smith and had eight children in this marriage. The Smiths moved to Rivolli Bay in 1845. She was not happy the way some Europeans treated the Aborigines and went to the trouble to learn the Buandig language and their ways. She and her eldest son soon became interpreters and negotiators between the locals and the white man. The story explains the history of early contact between the settlers and Aboriginal people.

Monday came along as it often does so we played tourist and saw a lot of things. Due to the porous limestone there are a number of sink holes,  Umpherston Sinkhole is one of them. James Umpherston had purchased a property at Mt Gambier in 1864 and it had this sinkhole on it and James made it into a garden in 1884.The sinkhole originally had a lake at the bottom and James would organize boat rides for the people. James passed away in 1900 and his garden fell into disrepair. In 1949 the South Australian woods and Forestry Department purchased the property and established a sawmill nearby. As the water table dropped as a result of agricultural activity the lake disappeared. By 1976 the garden was all but a rubbish dump. The staff of the forestry Department decided to restore Umpherston's legacy and planted the same plants that they had seen in photographs. So the beautiful Ivy, hydrangeas and tree ferns were planted to mimic as close as possible the original design. in 1994 they handed it over to the city and in 1995 the garden was added to the S.A. Heritage register. The garden is open everyday and remains open until late evening where you have the opportunity to feed the possums fruit as they emerge from shrubs and rock crevices.






In the centre of town is another sunken garden, not as large or as impressive as Umpherson's but none the less just as pretty. It was initially used as the towns water source until 1850. In the 1890's the first plants and seating were added and the formal garden was constructed between 1906 and 1910. The garden now features a scenic walk as well as viewing platforms. In wet weather the drains at the top create waterfalls that flow into the caves.

Centenary Tower is built on the highest point in the area. The foundation stone was laid in 1900 to commemorate the 100 years since Mt Gambier was sighted and named by Lieutenant James Grant aboard the Lady Nelson. The hike to see the lookout is worth it, but man is it steep, fortunately there are three strategically placed seats along the steep uphill climb and we used everyone of them on the way up, but the return trip was so much easier.




From the tower you can see Valley Lake and it is a lovely pale green, next to it is Leg of Mutton Lake so called due to its shape that resembles a Leg of Mutton, it is a dry lake unless you get a week of storms and then it fills briefly. The most amazing of the three lakes is Blue Lake, between December and March it is a vibrant cobalt blue, the rest of the year it is a steel grey. Boating, swimming and water skiing is permitted on Valley Lake but not on Blue Lake.





Needless to say we didn't rise and shine early on Tuesday morn. We dragged ourselves out of bed sometime around 8.30. After a cooked breakfast to give us strength. Refreshed and full of good tucker we jumped in the truck and drive south to Port McDonnell, according to the locals it is the Lobster Capital of Australia, and went for a walk along the jetty.
As usual we drove the scenic route of the magnificent coast. As usual the ocean, rock formations and the amazing views were all there. We saw where the original light house built in 1858 was before it was demolished after it was in danger of collapse. A new light house was built in 1882 built and is a bit further back from the coast line. We also went to the most southern tip of South Australia.




On the way back to Mt Gambier we went to another tourist thing to do that was suggested by our lovely Canadian tourist adviser as a must see. Mt Shank is an extinct volcano and like fools we climbed to the top just to prove we could. What didn't help was we were joined by a Dad and his three kids who just passed us on the climb up like the Road Runner and his chicks. The pictures will once again speak for themselves, and to prove we did it the Dad took a photo of John and Me standing on the rim, apparently here in S.A. we don't need no stinking safety barriers!





We made it back to camp, started organizing tea when the retiring camp boss came over to tell us that the new managers were going to be at a just wing it unplanned concert. One of the campers fancy's himself as an entertainer. After a bit of a slow start he got a little better, or it could have been something to do with the wine as everything is better with wine isn't it?  Anyway we had a late tea and hit the sack.

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