Well today was a very full one for our last full day in SA. It was mostly overcast, but thankfully the rain stayed away for the day and the mercury even got up to 17 deg.

We started at the visitor info centre where we picked up a map and got the recommendations from the staff. Our loose plans that we came with weren’t changed so we headed on our way. First stop was Umpherston Sinkhole. This sinkhole has a sunken garden inside it. Very lush and green – and lots of tourists. We went down into the hole and the scale was very impressive.

We then headed to our booked tour of Engelbrecht Cave. We went into two caves here. The caves are part of the aquifer pathways under the city and are still being mapped out by divers. Even though there is crystal clear water in these caves, there aren’t any of the standard formations that are often seen in limestone caves as they are ‘dry caves’ so there isn’t any dripping water to create stalactites etc. These caves are accessed via a sinkhole that was used by Engelbrecht to dispose of waste from his distillery. So effectively it was a town dump that was filled up by the late 1800’s. It took many volunteers a long time to empty the caves out to allow access.

Once we were out of the caves, we headed into town and grabbed some lunch before walking to the Cave Garden sinkhole – literally between adjacent buildings in the CBD. This one isn’t accessible at the bottom, however has a waterfall that flows in after rain. It was just dripping this morning.

Then it was time to head further afield. We stopped at Little Blue Lake which was the traditional town swimming hole, and is still very popular in good weather. The shallowest water here is 28m deep and it is a popular diving location as well.

We then took a quick detour on our way to Mt Schank via Goulden Waterhole where some divers had just finished a dive. Not as visually stunning, but still very impressive.

Then to Australia’s youngest dormant volcano. We hiked the rim of Mount Schank and really enjoyed the views in all directions. It was so windy when we left the car in the carpark that I didn’t bother with the drone. After hiking all the way to the top, the wind wasn’t as bad so after our rim walk Bob very kindly walked back to the car and grabbed the drone before climbing back up the mountain for some shots 🙂 . Extra exercise points for him today.

While in the region we headed out to Hells Hole where we were inside a cage over the hole to view its depth. Once again, mind boggling!

We headed back to town via the pine plantations. Very cool colours and lines for the photographer in me 🙂 .

Before calling it quits for the day we had a final diversion to Valley Lake. This lake is inside a very large crater and has been set up as a lovely picnic area. I can imagine people 100 years ago enjoying family time here. I also find it a little disconcerting that there are random holes in the ground everywhere. There really is no reason a hole wouldn’t open literally anywhere with anything above it. I guess people are used to it….

I am exhausted! A huge day following other huge days, following 4 huge months. This pace of lifestyle is not sustainable as a permanent way to live out of a caravan, but it has been what we’ve wanted to get the most out of our time off work. Each day it is getting a little harder to get out of bed….

Tomorrow we say goodbye to SA and head into Victoria for a few days. Will update with wherever we end up then.