Round Australia Bike Ride - Day 109 - Mount Gambier

Day:  109

Date:  Sunday, 18 October 2020

Start:  Mount Gambier

Finish:  Mount Gambier

Daily Kilometres:  17 (click for Julie's Strava and photos)

Total Kilometres:  11297

Weather:  Cold, overcast and windy

Accommodation:  Motel

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs on toast

  Lunch:  Fish & chips/

  Dinner:  Spaghetti & meatballs/Chicken pops & vegetables, apple crumble & custard

Aches:  Nothing significant

Highlight:  Umpherston Sinkhole was an unusual and interesting sight.  A sinkhole (collapsed limestone cave) was developed in the late 19th century by a wealthy landowner as a sunken English-style garden, then fell into disuse before being restored in the late 20th century.  It was unique, like a terrarium nestled in a hole, with creepers forming a curtain around the sides and lawns, paths and exotic plants at the base.

Lowlight:  None really

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We had a day off in Mount Gambier today, partly as a rest and partly to await the scheduled announcement about the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria.  We are only 32km via our originally intended route from the Victorian border, but we don't want to go into Victoria, which has been fighting an extensive second coronavirus wave, unless we can get back into New South Wales (NSW) without undergoing two weeks of self-funded hotel quarantine, as is the case now.  [One hundred metres from our motel is another motel, temporarily-fenced and guarded by police and military personnel, with a row of neatly parked civilian vehicles outside, which we presume is the compulsory quarantine site for people entering South Australia from nearby Victoria.]

So, we slept in late, ate Julie's microwaved scrambled eggs on toast (delicious), watched (me) the Sunday morning current affairs programs on TV, and then rode our unloaded bikes to two of the local scenic highlights.  Firstly, we cycled up to the rim of The Blue Lake, a water-filled volcanic crater dating from just 5,000 years ago.  It was very impressive with sheer walls descending to the mirror-calm 70 metre deep lake, which apparently changes colour at different times of the year.   The rim trail also gave excellent views over the very green rural countryside and the large town of Mount Gambier.  We rode the 5km lap, stopping at various points to admire the views and take photos, before descending through the centre of the historic town and pedalling out to the Umpherston Sinkhole.

The Sinkhole was unusual and spectacular (see above), and we locked our bikes to a pole (which we later realised had a base plaque saying it was a heritage gaslight pole!) and descended into the exotic garden for a look around.  It was lunchtime by the time we left, so we rode back to our motel via the local fish and chip shop and supermarket.  After lunch, Julie did the laundry while I watched Australia get trounced by New Zealand in the second Bledisloe Cup rugby match on TV.  It's called division of labour!  Later, we returned to the supermarket to buy some microwavable dinner and other supplies, had dinner in our room, and had an early night.

Victoria did announce some easing of restrictions, but not enough to allow us to follow the coast through Melbourne back to NSW.  However, restrictions in regional Victoria, which already has looser restrictions, were also eased and there's some chance NSW might change its regulations to allow regional Victorians to enter NSW without quarantine.  In the absence of such a change, we will head north tomorrow, paralleling the Victorian border, for three days and then cross into NSW and head for home.  If NSW favourably changes its policy regarding entrants from regional Victoria in the next couple of days, we may turn eastwards and at least ride some of western Victoria including the Grampians and the Great Ocean Road before heading home.