Not having a computer to work with explains why this edition of the Gekko is so late - and talking about what happened at Christmas four or five months later just seems silly. Tantanoola Cave is a good example of the area with plenty of limestone decoration for a reasonably small cave, though the vault itself is probably 10 metres high. Decorations vary from the expected stalactites and stalagmites to pillars, flowstone, hollow straws and helictites which grow like tree branches. Some of the decorations still show breaks from eruptions at Mt Gambier thousands of years ago. It wasn't until we finally reached the Blue Lake at Mt. Gambier that we decided to ring people to tell them where we were.
Blue Lake occupies one of the extinct craters after which the city was named.
Every November the waters change from a dull grey to deep blue and remain so for several months. The circumference of the lake is over three kilometres and the surrounding cliffs rise to seventy six metres, forming a limestone bowl. The lake is the city's source of water. The volcanic district around Mount Gambier has numerous lakes, views and lookouts. We made the pilgrimage up the steepest path to Centenary Tower, which was opened in 1904.