Warrnambool to Mt Gambier

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After the Grotto we decided to head on a more direct route to Adelaide and stray from the Great Ocean Road. We first took the road to Warrnambool and then cut in a more direct line towards South Australia (SA). We did not plan on seeing the Grampians on this trip, as most people do on the drive. They were too far out of the way and would cause us to lose almost a day getting to Adelaide. After Warrnambool we took the a shorter route to Mt. Gambier. For this it was my turn to drive, and I was excited as I have never driven in Australia before. Earlier on the GOR there were signs to stay on the LEFT. It would turn out to be easier than I though and adjusted pretty quickly. The weird part was just having the driver's side on the right side of the car...

As we made our way towards Mt Gambier we decided that it would probably be the best place for an overnight. It was approaching 6PM and Mt Gambier was a sizeable town with a lot of accommodation. Most of their business probably comes from travelers heading to SA. I had read about a cool backpackers place in town that was in an old jail, so we ventured to find it. It was not what we expected and it looked like a scene from the movie Hostel, but without the beautiful eastern European girls. It was pretty empty, and did not look like anyone had stayed there in a long time. They had the rooms in the old jail cells, which would be pretty cool if it was a lively hostel. They even had a toilet in the cells. After all three of us decided against it, we quickly got out of there and headed back towards the other choices. We ended up staying at a old-school hotel/motel above a pub, which was empty. It was a town mostly unaffected by the outside world obsessed with all the same chain hotels and restaurants....it had personality. However, Mt Gambier is definitely a one-night only stopover...not much to do there.

The main attraction was the Blue Lake...and since we were there we figured we might as well go see it. It was a crater lake formed from a volcano eruption, and is probably the bluest lake in the world. I mean this thing is really blue...it blows your mind when you see it. We assumed it to be nothing out of the ordinary. And that was pretty much it for good old Mt Gambier. On to Adelaide!

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