We went back in towards Mount Gambier to view the Blue Lake, which is actually Mount Gambier\’s main reservoir. Rather like the Blue Pool in Dorset, the colour is due to suspended particles in the water scattering the sunlight falling on the water surface. Apparently, it\’s not warm enough for the lake to achieve its full blueness, but it looked pretty blue to me:

This is actually a volcanic crater formed around 5000 years ago when a volcano blasted through the limestone layers. This whole area is one gigantic mass of limestone.

Next up was the extraordinarily named Umpherston Sinkhole, caused by the collapse of a limestone cave thousands of years ago. It is named after one James Umpherston, and its history is actually quite interesting. Here\’s a pic of the great man:

It\’s been turned over the years into a really rather attractive and spectacular garden of sorts. Lots of limestone again, unsurprisingly.

We continued on our way to our destination for the next two nights; a small town which goes by the rather peculiar name of Port Fairy. Once again, this was named after a ship, and it makes a change to include a non-Wikipedia reference:

In the process, we crossed the border into the state of Victoria and time advanced by half an hour to reflect Eastern Australia Time. 

We sort of knew that the actual \”hotel\” we were due to stay at was self-catering, but we didn\’t realise how extensive the room was. Unlike the place in Mount Gambier, this has character, with full kitchen facilities, washing machine, tumble dryer and jacuzzi bath (!) included. 

Let\’s hope that any experience with the jacuzzi bath doesn\’t replicate the one up at Exmouth!

First priority (of course) was to get the washing on. These things are important, you know……

This done, we went for a wander around Port Fairy, booked a table at a restaurant called Gregory\’s, and got some essential breakfast comestibles at the local supermarket as we are not beholden to hotel timetables – hooray! A lie-in awaits!

The meal at Gregory\’s was excellent, but once again I couldn\’t finish it. Enormous portions. Great atmosphere – the place was full on a Saturday night, which was good to see and experience.

An early night beckons, as I believe the clocks go forward an hour tonight. Coupled with the half-hour lost earlier, we\’re going to lose 90 minutes of kip all told. Bugger. Oh, well…..