I love sinkholes. I realise that sounds weird, but I love them because the fact that the ground can just open up is an oddly comforting reminder of our irrelevance in the broader scheme of things… that we lack any real control.
As it happens, 95% of Australia’s sinkholes are in a 20km radius of Mt. Gambier in South Australia (land of the Bungandidj people). I recently had a four-day trip there, focused on snorkeling at Kilsby Sinkhole (pic above), and visiting as many other sinkholes as I could get to.
I drove to Mount Gambier via Ballarat – only mentioning this because I stopped at Tim’s Toasties for lunch and had a sensational pulled beef, jalapeno hot honey mayo, rocket and cheese toastie. So good and totally worth going off the highway for!
Arrived in Mount Gambier; checked into The Lodge; and began plotting my sinkholes itinerary. But more on that later – I was there for Kilsby, and it exceeded all of my expectations (and that’s saying a lot because I have done some ace things on holiday this year).
An absolutely magical experience, and I didn’t want it to end. The sun shone into the sinkhole, and because the water is unbelievably clear, it creates a shaft of light that reaches the bottom (some 27 metres deep). Swimming in the light was like swimming with a mirror-ball. Even better, was looking at the light from a distance. The photo below is not one that I took, but it is absolutely true to what you see.
Also at Kilsby, they have a gin distillery (making use of that pure, pure water). It would have been rude not to get some.
So, to the other sinkholes I visited. First up, Fossil Cave (above) and Pines Cave (below). Both look unassuming but the staircase down to each reveals crystal clear, very deep water and the entrance to caves that form a large cave-diving network.
After that, it was two-for-the-price-of-one at The Sisters (a double sinkhole); Umpherston, that was converted into a sunken garden in the 1870s; Hell’s Hole, which featured an algal bloom when I was there (!); and the very pretty Caroline Sinkhole.
I didn’t swim at the glorious Little Blue Lake (below), but enjoyed watching people learning to free-dive, and the cave divers who were gearing up as I was leaving. Note that I have no intention of ever free-diving (still traumatised by this documentary) or cave-diving – simply too dangerous in my opinion.
I managed a few decent walks while I was in the area – around the rim of Mount Schank and around the perimeter of Mount Gambier’s famous Blue Lake.
After a couple of days in Mount Gambier I headed back to Victoria, for a stay in Warrnambool. I picked Warrnambool for the sole purpose of vising the Deep Blue hot springs. It was lovely – not a huge complex but numbers were capped and most of the time I had a pool to myself. I soaked and read my book – heaven!
The next day I had a seaweed scrub at Deep Blue, and then a long walk along the coastal path, before hitting the road back to Melbourne.
For a four-day break, the whole trip was outstanding – I saw lots, and felt wonderfully rejuvenated. I’ll be going back to Kilsby (might even dive there), and my next trip will include a visit to Ewens and Piccaninnie Ponds, where you can also snorkel (unfortunately it was closed when I went as water levels were low).
