Seven sinkholes

Today we have travelled from Mount Gambier to Port MacDonnell, normally a distance of about 25km. For us it was quite a bit longer because of all the sinkholes we had to visit. We began with another viewing of the Blue Lake (not a sinkhole) after leaving our lodgings in which we neither smoked nor trashed anything.

Kilsby Sinkhole was the first on the itinerary, but it is on private property and stern signs warned us off. You can visit only on official diving tours, or for gin parties. I phoned to ask if we could go in just to look but were politely refused

Kilsby Sinkhole – no entry without a booking!

Sinkhole #2 was an unnamed shallow one with grass and weeds growing in it. But #3 and #4 were more impressive – The Sisters, a pair of adjacent sinkholes that are frequented by cave divers.

Sinkhole not sunk enough to deserve a name

One of the Sisters Sinkholes

Along Sisters Road we passed an extensive area of exposed limestone pavement – you can see it on Google maps as pasture doesn’t grow there.

The limestone pavement area

We then took a bumpy track to the Little Blue Lake, a popular tourist spot. I had a swim – water temperature very pleasant.

Little Blue Lake

Gouldens Sinkhole was next (#6), another cave diving location not far from Little Blue Lake. They all have signs indicating that diving permits and qualifications are essential.

Gouldens Sinkhole

Next stop was Mount Schank where we climbed up to the top of the crater, just in time to observe interesting weather approaching from the west. We retreated to the picnic shelter for lunch and a cup of tea while we waited out some drizzle and a shower of rain. The shelter offers an electric BBQ but no table or benches, just brick paving to sit on.

Mount Schank picnic shelter – lacking some essential facilities

We departed but had to shelter again from a gusty squall at the Mount Schank Tennis Club (table and bench available here!) The temperature dropped, the wind increased, more rain fell, so we abandoned the scenic route and took the main road to Allendale East where we found Sinkhole #7, aka Allendale East Cave, which is right in the middle of the highway. Perhaps the smallest memorial arch in Australia is just nearby – needs a bit of retouching.

Allendale Memorial Arch

We are now in Port Macdonnell where it is freezing and blowing a gale. We met a cyclist, Antony (Irish of accent but a resident of Stockholm), at the Victoria Hotel. He has ridden from Perth and is heading to Melbourne.

Victoria Hotel, Port Macdonnell