Mt. Gambier and the Blue Lake

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We arrived in Mount Gambier late afternoon and headed straight for the Blue Lake - an old volcanic crater. We were both immediately amazed by the brilliance of the blue. It is absolutely beautiful. No one could really explain why it's so blue, but the best explanation we got (and the best I think we're going to get for now without a lecture on Chemistry) was on the guided tour the next morning down to the crater's edge. Apparently the water in the crater, having been filtered by the unique limestone that underlies this whole area, is about as pure as water can get. And, as we all know, pure water is blue!! Hmmm. That prompted me to ask, since this provides the water for domestic use also, would the water come out of the taps blue? Could I have a blue glass of water or a blue bath?? Of course, the reason you see the blueness in the crater is the sheer volume of water. Whatever the reason, we couldn't stop looking at it. Just don't go between April and the middle of November when it turns grey.

There's also quite a few caves and 'sinks' in Mt Gambier, many of which then feed the water through to the blue lake. We checked out the sink in the 'city' centre which has been turned into gardens (basically where the limestone has collapsed, creating a big hole in the ground). Similarly, there is also a cave garden. Both are open to the public for free. We also did a limestone cave tour at Engelbrecht which was quite interesting. We got to see some divers going down into the depths.

Oh, there is a green lake as well (The Crater Lake), but that wasn't as exciting.

All in all, a place well worth visiting for a day.

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Photos

The Crater lake
A green lake