We left our camp at Dry Creek in record time, and headed directly for Mount Gambier. The objective was to walk around Blue Lake before it became too hot, and we caught some great vistas on our 3.7km jaunt.
Blue Lake
Blue Lake is an old volcanic crater, and is fed by ground water from the Mount Gambia basin in the limestone bedrock.
Mount Gamber is one of the few towns in Australia that feeds its storm water not into rivers or creeks, but rather into sinkholes or drainage bores.
It also draws its watersupply from the Blue Lake - its level determined by the ground water. The third largest freshwater storage in South Australia, a little part of me wonders how long it took them to realise what went down the drains eventually filtered into their water supply!
These days there is a very concerted effort to educate everyone regarding the importance of protecting the ground water - evidenced by the ornate man-hole covers (much to the retired water engineer father in law's delight)
After a delightful second brekky at a cafe in town, we visited the tourist information centre and then the National Parks office to purchase our Holiday and Camping pass. We were ready to hit the road again.
We called in at Beachport on our journey westwards. It was a completely unexpected little surprise. Ancient, friendly and incredibly beautiful, we didn't expect to find ourselves wishing we could spend more time here.
The long Jetty - is still only half its former length - was worth a look at, but we had come for other an other purpose.
Beachport Jetty
Beachport is home to a little salt lake reputed to be some seven times more saline that the sea. Even if you can't swim, you can float in the lake - and it apparently has theraputic properties. Good enough for us, so we changed into our bathers and took a dip in the Pool of Siloam.
It was a pleasant enough - but I didn't feel as bouyant as expected... We did make the most of the freshwater cold shower outside the changerooms and all had a good scrub before continuing on the Robe for lunch.
At Robe, the sea fog had blown in, and it was quite cool and eerie. Having been to Robe from the sea several times before, it was a pleasant change to drive into town, and I was surprised how busy it was. The waterfront was as pleasant as ever, although the fog did nothing for our photographs!
We diverted off the highway at Kingston S.E. as we continued on our way, and had a good giggle at the Cape Jaffa lighthouse. Having used it as a reference at sea, I was highly amused to find it was situated on a city street in Kingston S.E. It has surely got to be one of the most unusual locations for a lighthouse in Australia.
There is a popular free camp at Kingston S.E. but our destination was the protected wetlands of the Coorong.
The Coorong is a series of wetlands and lakes that is of great importance for many migratory birds as well as the Australian Pelican. It also has some great campsites and four wheel driving.
Our camp required the crossing of a salt lake - only open in the summer months when the lake level drops and the crossing opens. It was so flat you could actually see the curviture of the eath as you looked towards the horizon.
On the salt lake
We dropped off the camper, and dropped the tyre pressures, and drove over the dunes to the beach.
On the ocean beach - Coorong
You can drive on the beach all the way up to the mouth of the Murray River, however a few kilometres up and back was all we needed to do to see that the beach was not exactly a swimming beach. The boys were much keener to play on the sand dunes themselves, so we headed back and set up camp.
This lake was ringed by a thick layer of salt - crunchy to walk on and fascinating to look at.
The Little Fisherman at the edge of the salt lake.
The water was crystal clear, and the bed of the lake was not mud - but large salt crystals. It was simply fascinating. I have no idea how many tea spoons of salt would disolve in a cup of water, but this water was so saline that the salt was crystalising out of the solution - and the crystals in the lake bed were huge. Old chemistry and geology lessons were coming back now - ah, Doc Higgit and Tex Toppin, if you could see me now - I was awake in your classes :)
It was then off to play in the sand again... for the kids right?
On the back of the dunes
Mum did some great shots of the kids running down the dunes - and some spectacular stacks of course. I didn't get many shots of them because I might have been partaking in the great dune descent races too!
It was then time to return to camp and help the Little Helper celebrate his seventh birthday. For a family birthday we did alright as he declared it had been his best birthday ever!
It was time to move on from the Coorong - and the following morning we packed up and continued our journey along the coast, checking out Pelican Rookeries and other wetlands on the way.
We crossed the mighty Murray River near the historic ferry at Wellington, and headed to Goolwa, the old river port. It was frightfully hot and windy, but we found shade on the wharf near the old paddle steamer Oscar W. Behind the ferry was the causeway to Hindmarsh Island, a project that caused a lot of controversy in its time.
Goolwa was a fantastic town, steeped in history and worthy of a future re-visit. We resupplied before heading to Victor Harbour.
Victor Harbour is the seaside resort town of South Australia, and as a result has lost some of the charm of Goolwa. That said, the foreshore is pretty, and we checked out the horse drawn tram to Granite Island. Due to the heat, the horses were enjoying a day off, but we offered up two little by now ratty and tired boys to take their place for at least one crossing!
Reading about the Penguins of Granite Island
The horse drawn trams, minus horse
So we set off to our intended camp in Deep Creek Conservation Park. We wanted to camp nice and close near Cape Jervis. Like all good plans though, it was but a basis for change!
The sign says it all, Park Closed.
So we pulled out the maps, and made for a place called Rapid Bay. The large camp site was fairly full being a weekend and just over an hour from Adelaide.
Camp at Rapid Bay
After a quick set up it was down to the beach for a dip in the beautiful clear water. It was serene and very relaxing and we all felt so much better for it.
One, two, three... Relax!
Rapid Bay was the site of South Australia's first settlement, and is quite proud of its little piece in the history books. BHP later mined limestone here, however their mine and jetty is now closed.
Some of the houses at Rapid Bay
In 2009 a new jetty was opened, but it is unlike any I have ever seen. It has no bollards for ships to tie up to, just some stairs to the water at the end. It seems purely there to allow anglers to catch their dinner, or for people to learn to dive. The mystery was solved when we learnt the ex HMAS HOBART lies just offshore. With the beautiful clear waters, it must be an impressive dive site.
Unfortunately Rapid Bay was not our normal camping style at all. Being so close to Adelaide and a Saturday night to boot, there were several parties in progress. At least a shower of rain around midnight caused most of the partying groups to go to bed and turn their music off!
We got our revenge in the morning, pulling out of the ground just before 7.00am. We had a ferry to catch and a new destination to explore :)
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