Day 9 - Farm to Mt Gambier

Matt and I went for a quick run this morning before we got on shifting things out of the farmhouse and back into the van. We left the farm about 10:30am which meant we were going to be late for Penola meeting.



We ended up getting to the meeting pretty close to the end but still had a lovely time of fellowship together and enjoyed lunch together.


After lunch we headed towards Mt Gambier.

Umpherston Sinkhole

First we visited the beautiful Umpherston Sinkhole, originally used as a cool summer retreat in the 1800's. It was warm in the full sun at the bottom of the 65m deep sinkhole, but around the edges in the shade, and behind the ferns and hanging creepers it was considerably cooler and still serves its original purpose. It's been beautifully landscaped in lawned terraces with hibiscuses, hydrangeas, camellias and other cool / shade-loving plants hedging each terrace.


One unexpected feature was the number of bees. Water still trickles down from the limestone walls and roof, and there are plenty of flowers nearby so the bees have a real field day! There were at least a dozen patches of honeycomb we could see clinging to nooks and crannies in the walls of the hole, and there was a pleasant quiet but constant hum as the bees went about their business, zooming in and out of the hole on their journeys for nectar. The air had a lovely aroma of a sweet honey smell.

 Blue Lake

After the sinkhole we went down to the Blue Lake, which was gorgeous and blue this time! Last time I visited was on a preaching weekend in the early 2000's and it was quite grey, but today it definitely lived up to its name!

The kids worked on a bit of an assignment on the Blue Lake - this is the sort of thing we get them to do while we travel to make sure they're still getting some education.

This is not a shot of trees with sky behind - it's the lake!

Overnight Stop

Once we finished there we headed to a free camp about 13km outside Mt Gambier. Hoping for a nice quiet nights sleep.

Here we are having our first meal in the caravan. Tuna mornay. Yummo! Our other meals we had in the farm house as this was just easier while we were there.

Gnarled tree at sunset