Limestone Coast Tour - around Mount Gambier

Our home for the next 4 days was on Lemon Gum farm. Our hosts Vanessa and Gene treated us well supplying plenty of homecured bacon, eggs (hours old) from their 'chooks' and nectarines, apples, pears, tomatoes, cucumbers and mulberries from their garden. (Haven't eaten mulberries for years and had forgotten how good they tasted) We also received a freshly baked loaf of bread each morning. 'Breakfast' ingredients provided more than enough for sandwiches at lunchtime and I cooked steaks on the BBQ as the sun went down.

The Limestone coast is famous for its caves - Naracoorte is a world heritage site and many rare fossils have been discovered there. These pictures are from a smaller site we visited just half an hour from Mount Gambier and reach by road or by boat from Nelson. Princess Margaret Rose Caves on the river Glenelg near Nelson - just over the border in Victoria

another cave .... more to come when we get to Naracoorte!

Not just kangaroos and koalas but wombats too! There are numerous signs like this along these forest bordered roads which stretch for 100s of kilometres.

At $55 a kilo (this one weighs nearly 4) we decided lobster sadly isn't on our menu! Rock lobsters from this coastline are abundant from December to April and are sent all over Australia but most of them are exported to China and Japan. They don't have huge front claws but the tails are very meaty - giant crayfish really.

Donovan's Landing - a picturesque little village perched on the cliffs above the River Glenelg

Yet another deserted white beach. The water behind Clive is fresh and bubbles up through the sands or flows down from the nearby Piccaninnie Ponds - a famous spot for cave diving

These old cottages are in Penola - home of saint Mary McKillop who founded schools for poor children and a place of pilgrimage for many. The town has several good wineries and many beautiful art galleries

Mount Gambier is famous for its Blue Lake. Yes... it really is this colour! Every late November - early March it changes colour from deep blue to a brilliant turquoise - This was taken on a slightly cloudy day and the colour is just beginning to change back.

Coonawarra is the centre of a wine region specialising in full bodied red wines - Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir - we tasted several! The old station has seen better days but was very busy before the new highways were built. (Clive is holding a picture of how it looked a few years ago but you need a magnifying glass to see it!)

These iconic wind pumps are found everywhere - from open pastures, bushland, and outback to people's back gardens.

Around Mount Gambier are numerous sinkholes - some filled with water, some rocky with trickling waterfalls but dry except in the rainy season and others containing lush gardens which are full of possums at night. We went possum hunting one night and lured a few out of the caves with overripe nectarines from the garden. They are hard to photograph with my little camera so you will just have to use your imagination!

Port Northumberland - the furthest point south in South Australia. A bit blustery but amazing views and the site of many ship wrecks in the past.