To Mount Gambier

Well I have left Warrnambool, Victoria and headed along the coast road landing in Mount Gambier about 20 kilometres inside the South Australian border. I can now say that I am slower than the east coast because as I drove across the border the speed limit may have increased to 110km but time went backwards, 4.00pm became 3.30pm. 

Before heading out though I checked out Warrnambool. Its a pretty coastal town that has about 34,000 residents. This part of the world is known as the ship wreck coast and is home to the remains of 25 sunken vessels. They have retrieved many treasures from the wrecks and even used some of them to construct a mocked up maritime village called Flagstaff Hill. Examples of the salvage is on display at the local museum including an amazing piece of Minton porcelain now known as the Loch Ard Peacock.

The piece stands almost 5 feet tall and is incredibly delicate. It was sent to Australia for display at the Melbourne's great exhibition in 1880. The Loch Ard ship was wrecked when coming too close to shore in heavy fog losing the lives of 35 of its 37 passengers and crew. The peacock never made it to the great exhibition but in a subtle twist of history did manage to be displayed at the Brisbane Expo of 1988. It is currently insured for $4,000,000.00 to give you an idea of how prized it is.

The rest of the Flagstaff Hill was also diverting with old ships to view, Warrnambool's original fortifications, two light houses, the semaphore station along with lots of other items of social and historical significance. I spent a diverting couple of hours wandering around before dining at their on site restaurant, "Pippies", for lunch. I try to avoid cafes and gift shops at these types of places like the plague. Things are usually over priced and the quality is often questionable. After Tasmania, where the produce was always excellent, I was a little wary about trying my luck here. What can I say but I dined on Skippy, she tasted delicious, the price was reasonable and the service good. What more could you ask for?

After lunch I headed out through Port Fairy, on to Portland and then slightly inland to Mount Gambier. Calling Mount Gambier a hole would an accurate if cheap shot. Its not a hole, it's a series of holes. In the main Street there is the Umpherston Sinkhole, the Cave Garden (formed by a sinkhole) and the Engelbretcht Cave (accessed through a sinkhole). Nearby there is the crater lakes (holes of the volcanic kind) with the most famous of these being Blue Lake which serves as the cities water supply. So it's not unreasonable, but it is unfair, to call Mt Gambier a hole. 

The town itself seemed vibrant and prosperous. I walked much of the copious main street and saw only two empty shops. The first had a sign saying they were moving to bigger premises, the second was a restaurant who had a sign apologising to their customers saying that they were too busy providing catering at the local racecourse and would be closed for the weekend. I walked around the famous Blue Lake (a 3.7 kilometre stroll right on the edge of town). Plenty of the locals had the same idea and I met many walking their dog, jogging or just taking in the view. It was something I clearly needed to do because after my massive lunch  and the fact that I was about to go crazy at a local steakhouse, two or three laps were probably in order. 

I dined at a place called "The Barn", not a very promising name I'll grant you, but an excellent restaurant. It's also a function centre, has accommodation and houses the farm that supplies much of the restaurant's produce. They serve their own beef and took its production very seriously. I had some sort of Yugoslavian skinless spicy sausage (with a name I would not even try to pronounce) and then the eye fillet. You can check out the menu from the link above. If you ever passing through this way, this is the place to eat. Even though it was just me I couldn't get a table until 8.15pm (8.45pm real time). The place was pumping.

I headed back to the Motel and fell into bed, ready to attack the local district tomorrow. The plan is to check out the Coonawarra wine region then head in to Adelaide the following day. We'll see how that goes.