Advertisement
Published: March 22nd 2015
Edit Blog Post
We had become concerned for a friend after a phone call. A road side stop for morning coffee on the way to Beachport saw us looking at maps and considering alternative options for the next few days. A supportive visit to Hamilton in Victoria was feasible and the decision to change our plans was quickly made.
A few phone calls later and everything was arranged - we were off to Hamilton. So instead of Beachport we travelled to Mount Gambier for an overnight stay.
On the drive to the caravan park we were surprised to see that we were driving right past the famous Blue Lake, our destination was only a short distance away. This made it easy to fit in some site seeing.
In the morning our drive saw us passing through lots of pine forests in various stages of growth. There is something quite imposing about extensive forests. The B class road had little traffic and we made it into Hamilton in time for lunch. In the afternoon we purchased some flowers and did our best to put a little sunshine into our friend’s day.
Our friend
was not well enough to have visitors for too long so the next day allowed us to replenish our supply of clean clothes before we again spent time with her. We got back to the caravan that evening confident that this diversion had been worthwhile.
On the way back to South Australia we had one objective – to visit the Princess Margaret Rose Cave. It turned out to be more practical to drop the caravan off in Mount Gambier before driving out to the cave.
We arrived at the cave 10 minutes after a tour time so had to wait 90minutes until the next tour. As we had not yet had lunch we decided to indulge ourselves and kill a little time. Indulge is probably overstating the situation. With only 4 options on the menu the choice was pretty simple. You could have a beef pie, a traditional pasty, a vegetable pasty or a muffin. And this was Friday lunch! Our pie and pasty tuned out to be quite tasty, washed down with a can of Solo.
Time passed and we were finally on the tour. This cave is not particularly
big being one long chamber but it features some stunning formations. Being an active cave meant the occasional dive bombing by drips of water. Later we took the nature walk locating the tree whose roots grew into the cave. When walking around above ground it is pretty amazing to think such a large hole with such intricate formations is just metres below.
Except for a rock collapse this cave would be open to the limestone cliffs above the Glenelg River passing nearby. The National Park is a popular kayaking location with camping spots at regular intervals. It could be lots of fun one day!
Cruising back into Mount Gambier the scenery looked unfamiliar. We found ourselves heading to Naracoorte. How? No idea! This kind of threw us a bit as we planned to visit the Umpherston Sinkhole Garden on the way. Eventually we were back on track and at the garden. This garden, originally established as a private garden, now free to the public is just amazing. You work your way down steps and terraces through beautifully manicured lawns and garden beds. Curtains of ivy hang from street level into the garden. Beehives cling
to the limestone walls and palms grow from the base well into the park above. Surprisingly this garden had no fences, gates or security that we could see. Greg suggested that turning the sprinklers on regularly at night time would be sufficient deterrent for many people.
Tomorrow we head to Naracoorte and the Lucindale Field Day.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.048s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0275s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb