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.