Our departure from Tantanoola was without event and we were soon on our way south through great areas of pine forest interspersed with pastoral farmlands. I was surprised to see new-born lambs amongst one flock near the road and could not imagine why lambing was occurring so late in the season.
We entered the city of Mount Gambier seeking a particular refrigeration service agent who was apparently the only Dometic service agent here about. On arriving at the said address, we found a doctor’s surgery, a pharmacy and a takeaway, but no refrigeration service agent. The business had apparently moved away over a year ago, and yet was still advertising this incorrect address on-line and in the Yellow pages we checked at the pharmacy; all very frustrating. On returning to the rig, we discovered that the front tyre on the driver’s side was almost flat, but with just enough air to allow travel around the corner to the local Shell Service Station. There we filled the fuel tanks with diesel and the tyre with air and made our way to the Family Parks caravan park in the centre of town, that which we are now settled into, rather than mess about weighing the pros and cons and weighing up the tariffs of all those in town. We set up with great haste and hurried around to Bucik Tyres where they soon repaired the delinquent tyre, remarking in the same breathe that all four could do with replacement in the near future. This we know and are deliberately holding off until the next vehicle service due in about a thousand kilometres, when we will fork out for that, new tyres and the insurance due at the same time. This will be a huge budget blow out but we do have time to brace ourselves for the horror of it all.
After lunch we rang the elusive service agent and found that he dealt only with refrigerators. We had noted the Jayco people were not too far away, so called in to see them. They were most sympathetic, but said their gas man was not back on deck until next week and was booked out for some time. But they did give us the contact details for an appropriate tradesman up in Horsham, Victoria. It seems after all that our raison d’etre for visiting this rural city is all in vain. Chris settled inside to watch the second day of the India / Australia cricket test and I dealt with the accumulated laundry. Checking out the excellent tourist booklet on Mount Gambier, it seems we will have quite enough to fill our time here even if it is as tourists rather than service customers as was our plan.
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| Blue Lake |
Mount Gambier has a population of 25,000 within the city boundaries, but services a regional population of over 32,000. It is situated half way between Adelaide and Melbourne, just four and a half hours from each, or four and a half weeks or months if you are travelling at our speed! The highest temperature was recorded at 43.6 degrees back on 16 February 1983 (Ash Wednesday) and the lowest at -3 degrees on 20 June 1950 and 2 July 1970; extreme variations!.
While it is not situated on a river, it does have excellent sources of water from underground, the main source now being the Blue Lake. Pine plantations, beef and lamb production, potatoes and other vegetables make up the principal industries of the area. Mount Gambier Limestone has been quarried since 1860 and is used for building or crushed and dried and used in the manufacture of glass bottles, water treatment, stock feed and agricultural applications. (I learned a new word today: ashlar. This is a limestone building block and is equivalent in area to ten standard bricks. About one hundred can be laid in one day.)
The area is made up of volcanoes and sink holes and a variety of other geological wonders, thus drawing those who are fascinated by such matters. Several of the mountains about have erupted in the last 10,000 years and embedded themselves in the “dreaming” history of the local indigenous people. In May 1897 an earthquake hit the region with the epicentre in Beachport, visited the day before yesterday, but in the context of the Christchurch earthquakes which have been rattling and rolling and devastating that beautiful city for the last eighteen months, a big nothing.
Mount Gambier was earmarked as a potential farming mecca in that magic year of 1839 by Stephen Henty from Portland, across the Victoria border, but it was not until eight years later that Evelyn Sturt, brother to the famed explorer Charles Sturt, purchased land here and building of the original town began. City status was granted in 1954 and the city seems to have progressed at a steady rate through the centuries.
(Apropos city status; I have been amazed how many small towns have this grand title. Chris says that in England, cities are called this if they have cathedrals and in New Zealand I do believe the population has to be up about 40,000 or so before a town becomes anything more. But then this is Australia and one should not compare; Australia is unique.)
This morning after much messing about doing domestic chores, we headed back to the Information Centre where we had only stopped to collect maps when we arrived, given the pressing need to have the tyre repaired. Today we spent twenty minutes or so watching a collection of short movies giving an overview of Mount Gambier, its history and attractions.
The Centre is also home to the Lady Nelson Discovery Centre, so named for the replica of the ship that brought Lieutenant Grant who was responsible for putting Mount Gambier and the mountain just south, Mount Schank, on to the Australian map. At the moment renovations are being undertaken on the replica and so the entrance fee to this mini-museum was heavily discounted to just $1 for Seniors and $2 for adults. Again, while not as good as say the Discovery Centre in Glenalg (coastal Adelaide), it also gave a good over view of the city’s history and at $3, we certainly had our monies worth, even if the Wetlands section was devoid of any of the promised critters. We were quite impressed with the use of holograms to recount some of the early history. The maritime museum down on Wellington’s waterfront (in New Zealand) has a similar exhibit, and is well worth a visit.
We then headed for the Crater Lakes, four lakes on the southern edge of the city, all volcanic maars, two filled with water, one a bit of a try-hard and the fourth quite dry. The recreational parklands around the edge of Valley Lake, and over the Brownes Lake, are quite lovely and during this holiday week, enjoyed by families, both local and tourist alike. There is a small wildlife park and boardwalk on the edge of the lake and we enjoyed wandering about this, but saw little but the wading birds on a small muddy island. The park lends itself to picnicking, so it was out with the eski to join all the others doing the same.
Back up out of this crater and we parked on the rim. The walk about the Blue Lake was lovely and served well to shake down lunch. This lake is the most amazing blue, almost turquoise, remaining so until the winter months when it apparently turns quite grey. This lake is the source of water for Mount Gambier and apparently has a capacity of 36,000 millilitres. The pumping system was first used in 1883, alterations having been down in 1923 and again in 1971. The water is apparently so pure that very little treatment is required. The lake has a surface area of 70 hectares and an average depth of 80 metres, the deepest section being 204 meters. The circumference is apparently 5 kilometres, a fact that baffles me given that we walked around this same lake, several metres back and high above the shore, a walk of only three and a half kilometres. Truly a mystery!
We called into Coles on the way home, stocking up the cupboards and fridge again, and spent the rest of the afternoon quietly in the caravan. At least I did; Chris washed the landcruiser and the caravan in readiness for our entry to Victoria in the next couple of days.
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