Monday, April 23, 2012

Limestone Coast, South Australia

We’re back on the road again after four weeks at home doing all the usual stuff – bus service, paperwork etc.
Mokes at Straun House
We got away just before Easter heading for South Australia and luckily we were able to join Moke owners from South Australia and Victoria gathering at a bush camp outside Naracoorte. Thanks to a local Moke owner we were given access to the Naracoorte Historic Vehicle Club display rooms and also to an historic house which is not normally open to the public at weekends as it is the local Dept of Primary Industries Office.
Giant wombat - imagine hitting that
 with your car!



Once the other Moke owners went home we went to the Naracoorte Caves, an area of over 400 caves formed by erosion of layers of the limestone causing cavern formation. There are several cave tours and we chose the fossil cave where skeletons of ancient marsupial mega-fauna have been found – giant tree eating kangaroos and carnivorous “lions” which preyed on them although the lions seem more like giant muscular Tasmanian Devils.
Garden in a sink hole (collapsed cavern)
within Mt Gambier township 


Our next stop was a free camp at Mt Schank, a small volcanic cone and we used this as a base to look around nearby Mt Gambier and Port McDonnell on the coast then on to Beachport for a few days. From there we moved to Wright Beach half way between Robe & Kingston and spent a couple of days exploring Robe and enjoying another relaxed bush camp.

 




The Obilisk at Robe, with coastal erosion
 it will eventually fall into the sea
This whole area is known as the Limestone Coast and due to the nature of the stone it is easily eroded by wind and water so that the coastline is sculpted into dangerous undercut cliffs and crazy shaped islands, headlands and offshore reefs which have claimed many shipwrecks and lives.

No comments:

Post a Comment