My hands hurt!!!

After leaving Salt Creek - which turned out to be a nice night, no wind or rain, we headed down to Mt. Gambier, the last town in SA before heading into Victoria. Wow, I never know how beautiful this section of SA is, also known as the Limestone coast. Lots of Volcanic action has happened in this area leaving craters, lakes, sinkholes and tons of caves. There are approx.600 caves in all of Australia and over 250 of them are in southeast SA! Unfortunately I am unable to get into the caves, so I will have to miss out on those.

I am trying not to let my broken foot hold me back though. In the township of Mt. Gambier there are 2 beautiful volcanic lakes, blue lake, and green lake. And yes, one is very blue, and the other is very green! Blue lake is spectacularly blue and actually turns color during the seasons from a dark blue to a turquoise blue. We kinda saw a bit of both as the seasons are changing. Blue lake is also the towns water supply. In order to get to the viewing area, I had to go down about 12 or so stairs, which I hoped down, then go through the underpass, and back up 4 stairs. I was determined to get a good view of the lake!! Sadly when I was going back up the stairs I had to let the geriatrics go first as I am slower; the last thing I need is to fall down stairs and break another bone.

We stayed in the center of Mt. Gambier at a caravan park, and thank goodness they had a nicely covered camp kitchen as it was very windy with scattered showers all night. After dinner we met some people, who live in Victoria, and gave us there name and number if we want a free bed. He works for a chocolate factory, and she makes her own soap, they live on an acreage, and have horses. We might just have to stop by for a visit...... mmmm, chocolate. I decided to have a shower that night which turned out to be a bad idea. As my cast is waterproof, most of the water drains out, and the rest is absorbed in the skin from natural perspiration. However, it was so cold and windy, I couldn't warm up much, and my cast was still slightly damp when I went to bed. Not good when the weather was so crappy and cold. I tossed and turned all night and still had cold toes when I got up the next morning. I won't be doing THAT again.

Today we left Mt. Gambier and made our way to Warrnambool, Victoria. We passed through Nelson and made a quick stop in Portland. About 22 km away from Portland where some coastal blowholes and petrified forests, as well as a cave. Rob wasn't too keen on going, but I wanted to see it. So off we went. It was a 200m jaunt to the blowholes and 100 meters to the forests. It was extremely windy - you have to remember we are approaching winter here in Australia, and the ocean looked mean. The spay was so big we got wet from up top. By the time I got to the blowholes my arms hurt, my side hurt and my hands hurt. But I wanted to see the blowholes. Unfortunately we couldn't see much, just an ugly ocean crashing against the coastline - which was pretty :)

Rob went ahead to see the Petrified forest, I hopped along behind him, but didn't make it all the way. My ear hurt from the wind, and my body ached, and Rob got a couple photos, so I was OK with that! We slowly made out way back to the car. By the time I got there I was exhausted!!

Our next stop was Tarrong caves, which thankfully I could see from the car. Rob walked up the hill to get a closer view, I rested and just watched! My hands still hurt and I will be looking for some sheep skin for my crutches so they don't rub as much. Not much open today though, it is Sunday an all, so I'll start tomorrow. As for my hands, I guess I'll just have to get used to it. There will be many times where it will be a bit of a distance to get to the viewing platform, I'll be sucking it up.

We made a quick stop in Port Fairy, got some ice cream and watched the surf, as well as a couple crazy surfing dudes surfing. It was pretty cold and I couldn't imagine how cold the water was, but they were there, doing what they do best. There are many ship wrecks along the coast due to the rugged coastline as well, but we haven't seen any yet. Plus, some of them are probably under water :)

We have arrived in Warrnambool and have our tent set up. The wind is just starting to pick up again and there have already been a few small showers. It may be another cold night. I guess that's what happens when you decided to camp in Autumn, along the coast. Oh well, we'll make the best of it. I may have to get some warmer clothes. Now that space isn't AS much of an issue, I don't mind having a few extra things. :) (good excuse to go shopping hey?)