Mount Gambier: Blue Lake and Sinkholes

Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Traveling Australia

On the way to the Great Ocean Road, we had one more motel to stay the night, in Mount Gambier. Mount Gambier is famous for its Blue Lake, caves and sinkholes. Blue Lake was unbelievably blue. But we were lucky because it’s blue only from November to March. The rest of the year its water looks like in any other lake. However, Blue Lake was formed by meteorite, and it is deep as well.

It is really blue, a stunning shade that captivates the eyes and draws you in. I took way too many photos to prove it, capturing the depth and vibrancy of the color from various angles and perspectives, ensuring I could hold onto this mesmerizing view long after I leave.

Later we went to the Umpherston Sinkhole, which had an English garden in the 1900’s and even a small pond inside of it. The pond went dry and when Mr. Umpherston passed away nobody took care of the garden. Luckily the sinkhole has been renovated and is a lush green spot in the area worth the visit. Only thing that spoiled the visit was the wood mill next to it. The exhaust fumes from the mill were really bothering me down in the sinkhole. Hopefully, it was wind direction and it’s not like that every day.

From sinkhole we drove to Little Blue Lake 15 kilometers away from Mount Gambier. To me the water looked more green than blue, but it was a fun place to visit and see the locals swim and dive from the cliffs. I was afraid even to look at the approximately 10-year-olds diving. I would never jump myself.

Dinner was at Casa de Tequila. Maybe they had good tequila, but the food was disappointing. Where were the spices? Staff seemed all be Asian. Maybe none of them had ever tasted real Mexican food or they hadn’t studied the recipes too carefully in the kitchen?

What surprised us around Mount Gambier, was the amount of pine forests. They seemed to go on and on. Pine wood is not indigenous to Australia, so they had all been planted at some point. Planting pine wood is understandable because building material is needed, and I guess pine doesn’t take over the indigenous trees and plants? We come from the land of forests, but we were still amazed by the size of the forests. Also, we get a fit every time we see an area with clearcutting in Finland. They are ugly. I’ve never seen clearcutting like this before. Once again, the size of it. But you have the landmass here, I guess? By the way Fleurieu Peninsula had large pine forests as well.

In morning we didn’t see any nice places for breakfast, so we hit the road. We didn’t see any cafes or restaurants on the way but around noon we couldn’t take it anymore and had to take a break in Port Fairy. Town was packed. We found out there was running event going on from short distances to kids to all the way to marathon. We were able to find an empty table. Food was disappointing once again. How can you ruin hamburger and fries, even if it was busy.

text credit Mara Sillanmäki

24 thoughts on “Mount Gambier: Blue Lake and Sinkholes”

  1. The blue of that lake is quite something, as are all the views. Sorry you had to go hungry for so long though!

  4. It is a pity that the sinkhole garden was marred by a timber mill so close. I could have been a magical place. I am so sorry that Port Fairys burger and chips failed. I went to a music festival there a while ago and the local cafes made good food

  5. Clear cutting always bothers me too. The blue lake color is amazing and how fun to create a garden in the sinkhole, then time for a swim in the smaller lake, followed by a nice meal. An all around lovely tour.

  6. wonderful photos and while the blue lake sure has that radiant blue, my favorite photo of the post was the organge flower that was set next to the what is a sinkhole sign – and maybe I liked that image so much because it fit so well int he post!
    also, not surprised to hear the mexican food was bad and that even burgers were not good – it seems we have encountered that so much lately and it is sad that food quality has gone down

      1. I heard about a food critic that retired because the food quality has gone down and his health was on the line. I think a big complaint was fake meats and then artificial stuff = hmmm and glad your cousins cooked some good stuff

  7. I’m glad you visited Mt Gambier. The blue lake is truly stunning.

    Sorry to hear you had some disappointing meals. It’s a case of hit or miss in some country regions, but the food in Australia’s capital cities is worth trying out. We have a multicultural and very diverse population, so you’re sure to get some authentic Asian food, let alone European and typical Australian food. We also have many African restaurants from the Refugees who have settled here.

    1. We did have few good meals, but unfortunately many were disappointing. I don’t doubt that you have good restaurants, but we mostly seemed to have chosen not so good ones. The food was ok but … Our last visit in Sydney, six years ago we had a great experience. So 😀

  11. A shame about the lack of good food, but the various sights seem worth putting up with that for. The blue lake in particular is stunning!

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