Mount Gambier

• Summary
• Weather for Mount Gambier

Where else can you tour limestone caves beneath city streets? Where else can you explore majestic gardens created in sinkholes, feed possums under the glow of the moon, or voluntarily spend the night in the cell of an old jail? This thriving city located half way between Melbourne and Adelaide offers all of these experiences and more.

Mt Gambier boasts all the appeal of its metropolitan counterparts, with shopping centres, museums, art galleries, cinemas, historic pubs and a strong café society providing an eclectic mix of art, history and culture. Country charm does, however, prevail, with picturesque parks and gardens, colonial buildings, century-old churches, and quaint antique shops providing plenty of escapes.

The Blue Lake is the principal attraction of Mount Gambier that occupies one of the craters of the extinct volcano after which the city has been named; any explanation of the mystery of its intense blue colouring has yet to be successfully proven. Early in November, the sombre blue, which is in evidence during the winter months, mysteriously changes to an intense deep turquoise blue almost overnight. The colouring remains until late in February, when it gradually changes. From late March, it returns to a distinct sombre blue colouring that remains until the following November.

The circumference of the lake is a little over 3km, while the circumference of the crater at the rim is 5km and the scenic drive completely encircles this area.

A newly constructed pedestrian walkway also encircles the Blue Lake crater rim.The surrounding cliffs average about 70m high and form what is virtually a limestone bowl.

Water is to a depth of around a further 77m, although soundings have been taken from 43m up to over 197m in one particular hole with a diameter of 36m. These soundings disproved earlier theories that the lake was bottomless.