Day 6: Sat 18 Feb 23 - Ararat to Mount Gambier

 Sat 18 Feb - Ararat to Mount Gambier (Towed 235 km)

Yesterday was a stinker - both in temperature and the dramas with the wheels, but a cool front came through at about 2100 and it cooled down to a fresh 10 Deg and overcast by morning. It reached a more pleasant 25 Deg by mid afternoon at Mount Gambier. I was having a good sleep last night until about 0300 when two possums decided to continually leap from a nearby tree onto the top of our van. Every time I hunted them away, they jumped from a greater height and made even more noise. After packing up, we eventually got away by 0845, and stopped after 21km to check the wheel temps - relief - all was good. In fact the wheel that was overheating the most yesterday was now so cool, that the brakes are most likely not even engaging because we backed them off so much. I will need to get them adjusted again when we return home (or sooner if the opportunity arises). There are three others so it's not a priority. We made our way along some minor Victorian country roads via Hamilton (no stop) to Mount Gambier. The roads were mostly in good condition with some flood damage and quite a lot of road kill. We weren't too far from Stawell and Halls Gap, other places on our must see list in Victoria, but we'll do those on a separate trip. The views across to the Grampians  on the way today were magnificent and I'm sure I'll find other places around this area to add to the list.  We arrived at Mount Gambier by 1230 staying for three nights at the Pine Country Caravan Park about 4.5 km out of town. Its a nice clean and very quiet park with very large grassy drive-through sites. I was parked in set up in record time, and we were on our way into town by 1330 for a late lunch at a very nice cafe in the main street, before heading off to the information centre and a little sight seeing. After returning to the van, I jumped on the bike for a quick ride around the Blue Lake and up to Centenary Tower with 360 deg views across to the coast, overlooking the Valley Lake, Mount Gambier and the Blue Lake in the distance. Back to the van for a refreshing ale, dinner and a quiet night. The internet is terrible here so photos to follow (had to drive into town to load the photos on Sun morning).

Beautiful scenery driving past the Grampians

Roadside coffee stop along the way

The Blue Lake - Mount Gambier

Tourists at the Blue Lake

Incredible blue colour of the Lake

Looking out the window of our lunchtime venue in Mount Gambier

Outside the Visitor Information Centre

Lady Nelson - a 60 tonne sailing vessel built in 1799, was the first ship to sail along the coastline of South Australia

Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier



Mount Gambier


The amazing Cave Garden sinkhole in Mount Gambier (across the road from our lunch venue in town)

Cave Garden sinkhole in Mount Gambier

Cave Garden sinkhole in Mount Gambier

Cave Garden sinkhole in Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier


Mount Gambier


Afternoon ride around the Blue Lake

Afternoon ride around the Blue Lake

The Valley Lake in Mount Gambier

Ride ( and short walk) to Centenary Tower - amazing views of  the region

Valley Lake to the left, and the ridge around Blue in the background

Centenary Tower

Looking towards the coastline

Centenary Tower

Only one Bent spoke today....but very refreshing







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