Blowholes & Sinkholes

We almost had a new travelling companion when we left Yambuk this morning.  If it hadn't been for Roly Poly Rob distracting us with his farewell, we would surely have been nursing an injured Major Mitchell cockatoo in the caravan for the remainder of the trip.  But alas, as we chatted with Big Rob while he signed a Jenga block, the little cockatoo limped away into the bush.  Probably for the best really.

We took the scenic route to Mt Gambier today.  With homework well underway in the back seat, we enjoyed a leisurely drive around the Cape Nelson Peninsula.  We stopped at the Cape Nelson Lighthouse to check out the view.

This area is at the western end of what is known as the Shipwreck Coast.  It's not difficult to understand why so many ships have been wrecked here.  It's beautiful and forbidding.  Atop a sheer drop we watched the sea smashing angrily against the foot of the cliff 40 metres below.  The sea seemed almost as angry as Jarrah who was having issues with completing his homework!

The lighthouse itself was built in 1872.  It would have been tough being a lighthouse keeper back then.  Tough in 2015 also.  Apparently earlier this year, some ice-crazed nutter went on a frenzied rampage, smashing up the lighthouse, lighting a fire in the cafe and trying to force his way into the light keeper's cottage with a block splitter.  He was caught some time later, rambling about "stopping the Germans invading" and was charged with this and about 50 other offences in the area.  A very scary modern day horror story!

Next it was on to the beautiful and secluded Cape Bridgewater, which was once a volcanic island.  On the western side of Cape Bridgewater we checked out the Blowholes, which gave us another great feel for the ferocious power (and the icy winds) of the Southern Ocean.

The Petrified Forest is short walk from the Blowholes.  Although one might think that the Petrified Forest was created when the advancing sand engulfed an ancient coastal forest, petrifying them for all time, that's just not true.  They're actually caused by a collection of hollow tubes of limestone eroded by millions of years of rainfall.

They look pretty cool though.  The ancient rock formations with the Cape Bridgewater wind farm as a back drop.  Both majestic in their own way.  The wind farm is the second stage of Pacific Hydro's four-stage Portland Wind Energy Project (PWEP) in southwest Victoria, its 29 wind generators producing enough energy to meet the annual needs of 35 000 households.

After a picnic lunch it was straight across the border into South Australia, and before we could say "expelliarmus" we had arrived at our destination - the Mt Gambier showgrounds.

Unpacking, cricket, hacky sack, getting to know the locals and an early dinner ensued.  Later in the evening we headed off to check out Umpherston Sinkhole. 

Mt Gambier has many such sink holes, but this one, which was first established as garden in 1884 by James Umpherston, is particularly beautiful.  A sink hole is created from a cave that has been formed when parts of the Mt Gambier limestone dissolve.  When the top of the cave collapses, the pit that remains is called the sink hole. 

Umpherston wanted to create for the people of Mount Gambier “a pleasant resort in the heat of summer”.  So he set to work clearing the existing vegetation off his property and from within the sinkhole. He carved a path in the side of the rock and erected a set of wooden steps so people could comfortably enter his sunken garden, which he planted with all sorts of ferns, shrubs and flowers.

The garden was an immediate success and became quite famous. People from Mount Gambier and surrounding districts would frequently come and visit. The sinkhole originally had a lake within, and a boat was used to enable visitors to enjoy the view from additional vantage points.

James Umpherston died in 1900, and his garden fell into disrepair in the following years. In 1949, the South Australian Woods and Forests Department purchased the property and sadly, Umpherston's magnificent nineteenth century residence was demolished to make way for the Mt Gambier State Sawmill.

Umpherston's gardens with the stinky sawmill in the background.

 

By 1976, the garden was nothing more than a ruin and a rubbish dump.  However, with many thousands of hours of volunteer labour and much planting of many species of native and exotic plants, the garden has now been restored to its former glory.  Umpherston's original vision of the sinkhole as an attractive and popular recreational area is once again a reality.

To me the sinkhole had shadows of Paronella Park and Hanging Rock.  Majesty and mystery.  Romance and ruin.  As the sun went down we spent some time enjoying the lush gardens while the boys wrestled on the lawn.

Eventually the cold drove us away.  Home to a nice warm communal campfire and some toasted marshmallows.  Yum.

Author's Note:   Apparently at some point today we crossed the border into South Australia.  You may have noted the absence of a photo of us standing proudly under the "Welcome to South Australia" sign.  That's because there wasn't one!  Alas, just a couple of quarantine signs and fruit disposal bins to mark this final johnstonstouraus milestone!