Goodbye South Australia

Historic Adare House overlooks the township of Victor Harbour. After many ownerships it is now in the hands of the Uniting Church.
The church allows this magnificent building to be used for accommodation purposes.

Another of Victor Harbour's exquisite buildings dating back to the early 1800's

The two carriage train is called the Cockle Train and is normally powered by an original steam engine.
Due to the high fire danger now present in  South Australia, the steam engine posed a fire risk so a diesel engine is used.

Not quite the romantic atmosphere of an gone by era but it did get us to the quaint town of Goolwa.

The controversial Hindmarsh Bridge spanning the waterways of the Murray River.
The bridge was a political hot potato in the mid 90's as its construction was impeded by a group of Aboriginal women who claimed it impacted upon  sacred Aboriginal grounds and secret Aboriginal women's business.

An inquiry later found that the secret women's business was so secret no one knew anything about it either historically or culturally.

Boomer Beach near Victoria Harbour. The Cockle Train huffs & puffs along the edge of the coastline here and was the first public railway line to be used in Australia.

The old draught horse is called Misty and she faithfully clobbers along the jetty between Victor Harbour and Granite Island several times a day

One of the numerous limestone cave sinkholes that are scattered about Mt Gambier.

Mt Gambier is home to an amazing history of volcanic activity that was responsible for the development of the sinkholes.

This one is about 30 metres deep and is used by the cave diving fraternity. Cave diving was recognised as the second most dangerous 'sport' after base jumping. Last year alone, three divers met their death in the region.

Not very clear to see but the water is clearer than glass with no tidal movement even though it eventually finds its way to the ocean over thousands of years seeping through the limestone table.

It is a nippy 15 degrees.

I found it quite chilly in the cave.

Crater Lake, Mt Gambier.

The water turns a remarkable blue during summer after an interaction between the algae and limestone.

This is called Umpherson's Sink Hole and is quite deep. In its day in the early 19th century boats were used at the bottom to cater for the tourist trade but the water table has dropped dramatically since the 1930's and is now a picnic location.

The pre Federation homes are absolutely beautiful and are found all throughout Mt Gambier.

Unfortunately many of them have been constructed over the sink holes.