5th Lap - Mt Gambier & Coorong National Park

THE FIFTH LAP

Mt Gambier & Coorong National Park

Previous:  On the Way to VIC / SA border

Photo Album:  Mt Gambier & Coorong National Park

After leaving Victoria through the quiet border on Edenhope road, the weather was becoming perfect, a marked departure from the forecast of wind and rain just 24 hours ago !!  

No complaint at all!

Soon the landscape all the way to the horizon, was vineyard to vineyard...as Sandi took us towards Mt Gambier.

And pleasantly, the 4G data service was strong and ubiquitous....why not in the more populous Victoria, I am scratching my head !  It can't be the terrain, can it?!

We arrived at the Mt Gambier town center with an hour to spare before sunset, and the weather couldn't be better!  Sandi went straight up to the lookout just a kilometer or so up the hill top.

 Let the drone aloft, is the only way to see the Gambier the twin crater lakes in their entirety, just!

So here we are, viewing the Mt Gambier Valley Lake and Blue Lake twins from the air.....

And a close up at the "coal" face....

It is worth noting that all is not what it seems.  The above twins are only part of a volcanic complex which includes a number of other lesser lakes in its entirety.  More information here: Mt Gambier Volcanic Complex State Heritage Area.  

Not far from the volcanic area which was formed about 4000 years ago, are two sinkholes (sunken caves), probably exposed because of the volcanic activities. 

The Umpherston Sinkhole Garden, where any rainwater just disappears into the never-never, is easily accessible from the roadside carpark.

Unfortunately, the Engelbrecht Cave is only accessible by a guided tour, and with our luck, it was the Wed we visited...

However, we did see this much !!  And the weather was starting to turn for the worse !

So Sandi continued northwards towards the coastal Coorong National Park with rains starting and winds gathering strength.  After all, the weather forecast two days ago did mention that, just that we had a good break yesterday!

By the time, we reached Beach Port it was pouring.  However with a brief break just after lunch time at a rest stop halfway to Robe, we were able to have some aerials of the coastal lakes between Beachport and Robe.  The strong wind caused a fair bit of anxiety as the drone was carried away until I brought it down to a low level to bring it in with high power. I left a fair bit of battery power as a precaution.

Lake Eliza

Lake St Clair with Lake George in the distance ( not too keen to get there !)

Lake Howden in the distance

By the time we rolled into Robe, it was too windy and rainy to get out, do we simply pushed on to Coorong National Park, which is further north along the coast.

More than ten years ago, in 2010, we took Langi, our maroon 80 series Landcruiser out on to the beaches and camped near the 32 Miles Crossing, it was a wonderful experience, with absolutely not a single other soul around for as far as we could see along the very very long white sand beaches.  But this time, the weather is not friendly at all.  Here are some old pictures.

But it definitely wasn't for the inexperienced, with deep soft sand on a very narrow and steep beach at high tide.

So, we stopped at Chinamans Well, for another lesson in history. The history of how, thousands of Chinese Gold Diggers started their 800Km journey towards the central Victorian gold fields during the mid 1800s.  Many of them ended up in the Bendigo and Ballarat region.

It is said that, after the Colony of Victoria imposed a ten pound (£10) per head tax on "certain immigrants", the snake heads took their Chinese gold seekers to this location north of Robe, and "dumped" them there, telling them to walk to the "nearby" gold fields.

Overtime, thousands of these Chinese gold seekers would have encamped here, trying to figure out where to go next, a small number would hire a local guide or even transports to carry their belongs etc., and commence their long journey, mostly on foot.

At Chinamans Well, it is said that they built the well for water.  However, it is unclear whether the well was built by them, as their priorities would have been to get onto the road, rather than building a well, plus the engineering of the well seems not casual, and where do they get the tools etc.

However, it was very remarkable, that a large group of strangers to the land, survived their long journey by boat to these lone southern shores, and then walked the 800Km to the gold fields.  It was a story of pioneering and perseverance in every sense.

Poor Sandi had a night of wind and rain, and we enjoyed a steam boat dinner in warmth, comfort, and complete silence.  Surprisingly, we did not need Starlink, 4G internet was very strong.

We continued into Adelaide through the M1 freeway after a brief stop at Murray Bridge for some grocery shopping and pickup up some fuel.

Through recommendations on Facebook groups, we headed towards Londsdale for a diesel specialist shop to have a look at the dreaded Eng Sys limp mode problem.  Fortunately, we were able to make it just before their closing time.  After some initial assessment, a booking was made to take Sandi there next week for a serious look.

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Gremlins:  The dreaded once/twic ae day "Eng Sys" limp mode problem surfaced very early in the morning, just above an hour of so after starting up.  The duration lasted longer than the usual 5 - 10 minutes.

Another, not sure if this is a related problem, when we descended the last section of the M1 Freeway from the Adelaide Hills, on braking, a strong shuddering of the truck happened.  This continued for a few more kilometers even on level roads, then it was all normal again.

Some mechanical problem(s) is/are definitely brewing, but what can be done now?!

Next:  Adelaide - a day of safari

Previous:  On the way to VIC / SA border