February 3 – Mt. Gambier and a Very Blue Lake

Time to explore Mt. Gambier.  Our first stop was the Blue Lake.  The lake is in a volcanic crater right in town.  It gets its name because it is a vivid, cobalt blue from December through March and then turns steel grey from April through November.  Scientists aren’t sure but they think the color change may be due to the temperature of the water.

There is a nearby Valley Lake that didn’t appear to be nearly as interesting.

We had lunch downtown and saw a few of the old, Victorian buildings. 

One of the other major sights to see in Mt. Gambier is the Umpherston Sinkhole.  The sinkhole was formed when a limestone chamber collapsed.  There is now a beautiful garden and a walkway down to the bottom.  It is like a teeny Butchart Gardens (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada).

There were several bees nests in the rock walls...

and some very interesting, very red flowers.

While walking the grounds around the garden we saw glimpses of a large black and red bird.  He certainly wasn’t easy to photograph among the foliage in the tree.  But we tried.  It took a lot of Googling but we are pretty sure it was a Crimson Rosella.  Beautiful bird with some blue feathers along with the black and red. 

We were back in the hotel by late-afternoon, so Mary headed out to take some photos of the grounds.  The roses are in full bloom and it is pretty spectacular.