Mt Gambier
Trip Start
Jun 18, 2008
1
39
72
Trip End
Ongoing
Mt Gambier,
Australia
Saturday, September 6, 2008
South of Adelaide, there was more endless kilometers of agricultural areas, with few attractions for the impatient tourist that is Darren. We followed the coastal road down through large lakes, some shimmering pink due to algae in their waters. At times of the year this area is full of all sorts of birdlife, however on a sunny yet cold spring day, there were few about.
Mt Gambier is around 400km from Adelaide, and is in an odd place, as it was once an active Volcano area. The hills all around are extinct Volcanoes, and in Mt Gambier itself are a number of lakes which are in the craters of the Volcanoes. Very interesting indeed. It's the areas main attraction, and in summer I'm sure it is a great place to walk, cycle and dive in
Swamphens
. However with the temperatures being pretty low, we settled for a nice walk around some of the lakes. Now this in itself is pretty average, and not worth talking about too much. However it was the sheer amount of wildlife we saw that gets the mention in this blog. Kangaroos? Check. Parrots, Cockatoos and Rosella's? Check. Those cool, loud and purple Swamp hens? Check. We even saw a lone, shy Koala Bear very high up a tree. No need for petting zoo's here. No need to hold a Koala for $10 a photo. Well impressed.
And that brings our adventures in South Australia to an end. 20km down the road is the border with Victoria, and after that the Great Ocean Road and on to Melbourne.
I've enjoyed South Australia. It was nice to be back in the land of green fields and actual towns and cities. It strikes me as a very gentle place, populated mostly by farmers and old people. It was nice just to drive through the countryside, or kick back in grungy pubs in Adelaide. Sure, it's not on the top of the active travelers list, but it's been fun. Which was the whole point of the trip.
