DAY 58 - 16/04/2010 - Mount Gambier, SA & The Granites, SA

Early this morning we went to see the Cave Garden. It's right in the middle of town and we have driven past it several times without realising it was there. It used to be the towns main water supply in early settlement. When it rains a massive waterfall cascades into it but it was dry as a bone today. I can see how impressive it would be when there is a waterfall, but without it, I am sorry, but I thought it wasn't even worth a look. To top it off there was a shopping trolley dumped at the bottom of it.

The Cave Garden and the Aussie Trolley

So off we went, back to the Umpherston Sinkhole for a daytime view of the garden. It looks very different from last night. Everything was so bright and colourful. Guy, Vicki and their girls also came here this morning too.
 
 

On our way to the Sinkhole

It was a very beautiful garden, a fairytale sort of garden. I could picture a little girl having a fairy birthday party here. We got some great photos here.

The Umpherston Sinkhole

Lilly

Warren & Alicia

Warren, Alicia & Lilly

Taylah (bottom centre)

Checked out of Mt Gambier and off to Robe for lunch.

We found the best posi in Robe (thats right...Robe's not famous for Robe's) to have lunch. Right on a rocky cliff, beside the Obelisk overlooking the beautiful bright blue water. It was a gorgeous day and there was no place we would rather be other than right here right now.

The girls enjoying their hotdogs

Too close for my comfort. "but wait let me take this photo first"

Thats the Obelisk

Robe, SA

We couldn't drive past the giant prawn in Kingston without getting out and having a closer look.

 

 

We found a free stay place in Camps 5 not far from here called the Granites. Not sure what to expect but off we go.

Wow, wow, wow, what a great spot to camp for the night. Glad we chose this place. The Granites is a secluded beach with enormous granite bolders coming out of the water. There were 3 other caravans there set up for the night when we arrived and one of them, you wouldn't read about it were our neighbours Deb & Rick from Exhibition Park in the ACT. They were the couple from North Lakes.

As soon as we got there the girls ran down onto the beach to play on the granite bolders. While they were playing on them the tide came in making it difficult for Alicia and Taylah to get off without getting wet. They came back still fully clothed and saturated.

The Granites, SA

We had parked our vans opposite from each other so we could socialise easily. We had Indian for dinner, a couple of drinks and a good laugh with Guy and Vicki. They are such easy going people. It feels like we have known them for years not days. The kids also had a ball playing together and finished a great day and night with a movie night under the stars, except for poor Lil who was in bed fast asleep. Poor Lil.

DAY 57 - 15/04/2010 - Mount Gambier, SA

Day 2 in Mount Gambier involved school work in the morning then site seeing and grocery shopping in the afternoon.

It was time to properly check out the crater lakes. We were not aware of Mount Gambiers volcanic history so we were extremely intrigued by it. First we went to look at the Blue Lake from the viewing platform. It looked just as blue as it did late yesterday afternoon maybe a little bluer because it was earlier on in the day. Here, Lilly decided to chuck a wobbly so Lilly and I returned to the car while Warren, Alicia and Taylah continued their visit.

Blue Lake Crater, Mount Gambier, SA

Taylah reading up on the facts of Blue Lake

A very short distance away is the Valley Lake Crater. Its water is green and not blue like Blue Lake. So strange to be so close to each other and part of the same volcano but yet look so different.

Valley Lake Crater, Mount Gambier, SA

There is also a smaller crater close by called, Leg of Mutton Lake. Its just a big dry hole with trees in it. Blue Lake is by far the more spectacular crater lake. We also found out today there are random holes around the town called sink holes which have been converted into gardens or sunken in caves.

We returned back to camp to organise an early dinner. The girls played with their newly bought playdo while Waz and I played some tennis.

Lilly loves her new Playdo

This afternoon we met a lovely family from Cairns who had just arrived and are camped across from us. Guy and Vicki and their girls Maddison and Rhianna. From the moment we met them we all got along so well. They too are travelling around Australia but they have been doing it for a lot longer than us. They mentioned that they were going to visit the Umpherston Sink Hole tonight and that it had a night garden. We thought we would also go and check this out as tonight is our last night here. Lilly was excited because we told her that we were going to see Iggle Piggle from the Night Garden.

So off we went to visit the night garden. When we got there the only disappointment was that it was not as lit up as we expected it would be but it still looked pretty good all the same. There were some low voltage lights scattered here and there but not enough to take photographs. Although the reflection the plants had off these lights onto the rock wall was unreal. The first thing I noticed when climbing into the sink hole was these huge vines cascading down the side of the hole like a waterfall which was quite a sight.

The kids enjoyed themselves here exploring the maze of plants in semi darkness. We decided that we would also go and see it tomorrow in daylight and take some photographs of it.

 

DAY 56 - 14/04/2010 - Killarney Beach, SA & Mount Gambier, SA

We woke up early at Killarney Beach. The sound of crashing waves nearby helped me sleep well. All there is here is a few powered sites, an amenities block, a kids playground and a large sports oval. Nothing flash but I found out that they offer free use of washing machines here, which is a first. You can pay anything from $3 to $5 a load anywhere else. So before we left I got my washing done.

Today we will be crossing the Vic border over to SA. Before we do that I wanted to visit Port Fairy. I have been told it is a place to see.

We pulled into Port Fairy. Everybody was right. It is such a pretty town and full of character with all the 19th centuary houses and buildings. Huge pine xmas trees line the streets. A river runs thru the town and there are houses, picnic areas and restaurants on either side of this river. There are old timber fishing boats docked along the way. A timber boardwalk and old fashioned light posts line the river. There was a fish and chip shop overlooking the river that had a big sign which read "Voted best fish and chips in Tourism Vic" in so many years running. So we had to try some didn't we. It was nice, but not the best I have ever had. Coffs Harbour was and will be hard to top.

While we were eating lunch we overheard someone say that a tall ship, Endeavour was due to sail in at 1.30pm today. We drove up to the beach to see it sail in. The weather had turned a little and the water was becoming quite rough. Finally the ship came into view.

Port Fairy Beach

Waiting for the tall ship....

taadaar

Then we drove back to the port to wait for it to come in there. It seemed to take for ever for it to sail into port. When it finally came into view it was a great site. It was huge. They let off 2 canons which totally took us by surprise.

the Endeavour sails into Port Fairy

We left Port Fairy and later crossed over to SA but not before disposing all our fruit and vegies at the quaranteen bin just before the border. I nearly cried. I had so much to throw out and didn't want to risk the fine. As it turns out, the checking point was not far from the border and it was CLOSED!  errrrr. what a waste of food. No more dwelling.

By late afternoon we arrive in Mount Gambier and we set up camp at the Big 4 Blue Lakes Caravan Park at the top of the mountain which we find out today is a dorment volcano and better still we are beside 2 water filled craters, Blue Lake (hence the name) and Valley Lake. I was gob smacked at how blue, Blue Lake is. It looks like a person has thrown a trillion blue loos into the water. Its really amazing. We will take a closer look tomorrow earlier in the day.

DAY 55 - 13/04/2010 - Torquay, VIC & Killarney Beach, VIC

We left Torquay early in the morning and started our journey along the Great Ocean Road. The scenery is amazing. We kept stopping at various lookouts along the way to take in the view.

Its a long drive but a very enjoyable one. Some parts of the road takes you down into a valley so your driving right along the beach then it winds back high up in the mountain along the cliff face and your over looking the ocean and then back down again and a small coastal town appears. At some parts, the road takes you away from the coast where you take in the beauty of the Otway Ranges, where everything is so green and flourishing.

We took a detour while driving thru the Otway Ranges and drove to Cape Otway to see the oldest lighthouse in Australia. You couldn't see it from the carpark. Here we found out that they charge a family $50 to look at it. Yeah  right.....I'll Google it. We hopped back in the car to head back to the Great Ocean Road. Along the way we noticed a lot of koalas in the trees so the girls got out for a closer look and had fun spotting koalas.

The Great Otway National Park meets the ocean

driving thru one of the small towns

We came across our first limestone stack which was called the Gibson Steps.

The lookout at Gibson Steps

Gibson Steps

The cliff faces near Gibson Steps

We arrived at the 12 Apostles and the view was nothing but spectacular. Nothing like I have ever seen before and probably nothing like I will ever see again. We were in awe of the view.

The 12 Apostles

Cliff faces at the 12 Apostles lookout

"smile"

Next landmark was the Loch Ard Gorge. What a site! We were able to appreciate this site from various view points. There were various lookouts high above the gorge and you could also walk down a staircase onto the beach itself where there were caves and grottos to explore. We had to take turns walking down onto the beach because someone had to stay with Lilly. The beach was a little dangerous for Lilly and she would probably want to go in for a swim. Warren and Taylah went down to explore the beach first while Alicia, Lilly and I went to the lookout. Then we interchanged and Alicia and I went down. 

Standing on the beach and looking up you realise how high and intimidating the cliff faces really are. Alicia and I decided to do some exploring and we climbed some rocks to get into a cave for a closer look. Half way there we noticed the tide was coming in and coming in fast and if we didn't act quickly we would get soaked by a wave or fall in. For one our footwear wasn't too appropriate for rock climbing as we both had ugg boots on and it was quite a cold day and getting wet would only make it colder. So we made a run for it and made it back to the beach dry. When I told Waz what we did, he said that he had seen a women get soaked from head to toe doing what we were doing. Lucky!

Loch Ard Gorge cliffs

Loch Ard Gorge

You can just make out the 2 half way up the sand dune is Warren and Taylah

Views from the Loch Ard Gorge lookout

Views from the Loch Ard Gorge lookout

The Razorback

We got back in the car and made our way further along the coast and stopped to view the Arc, London Bridge and Finally the Grotto. The London Bridge was a spectacular site.

The Arc

London Bridge

London Bridge

The Grotto

It took us about 5 hours to drive and look at all the sites. It was quite late in the afternoon and we didn't know where we were going to stay tonight. We found Killarney Beach Campground in the Camps 5 book and it wasn't too far away. The Camps 5 book is the best book I have ever bought.

We stopped off for dinner and fuel and finally got to Killarney Beach. It was dark when we got there and couldn't really see anything other than the amenities block. Its been a long day so everyone had an early night.