Thursday, December 17, 2009

Last glimpses of SA

This has been a very rushed visit to this lovely small state, on account of Christmas demands on our time. We had time to briefly visit the Clare Valley as the photo above shows, and we quickly sampled some of the great reds there. We had to give the Barossa and McLaren Valley a miss and I reserved the right to go there on another visit.

The Blue Lake at Mount Gambier. For reasons that scientist can't fathom, the lake turns blue in November and stays that colour until March when it returns to the normal colour of a lake. We were lucky to catch its blue phase. It is a startling blue as the photo shows.

This is the Umpherston Sinkhole also in Mt Gambier. The whole town sits on an extinct volcano and there are several large and small sinkholes around the city. The sinkholes were originally the source of water for the settlers. The Blue Lake is now the source of the city's water supply.

The Umpherston Sinkhole has been made into a very lovely garden. There is even a gas barbecue there.

This is the Cave Garden sinkhole in the centre of the city. During the winter, storm water run-off makes its way into the cave forming a spectacular waterfall. It eventually enters the underground water system which possibly feeds into the Blue Lake.

There is actually an eloborate cave system under the city and it is very popular with cavers.
Posted by Picasa

No comments:

Post a Comment