Clare to the Apostles [The Mad Nomads]

The week began visiting Seven Hill Winery at Clare. Established in 1851 by the Jesuits, it has a huge and beautiful Abbey complete with a crypt that is the resting place of the monks who have lived here and their alter wine is delightful.

There are grottos and a path from town that winds through the vines and along the old railway track. It is part of the Riesling Trail, great for walks and biking and runs many kilometers through the Clare valley.

It was a couple of hours drive to Mannum, an old river town on the Murray full of history and beautiful buildings… The poor caravan looked a bit squashed among the other vehicles on the ferry, which we crossed to camp at Bolto free camp, opposite the town.

It was here that a great young family came to visit us from Adelaide. Maxi, the dad, had been a valued volunteer during my 12 years managing Camp Quality in Sydney. He had done an amazing job working with our cancer kids and to see him with his own beautiful family is fantastic.

The camping websites told us the facilities were first class at Naracoorte Caves, and luckily they were. We were the only van there and we stayed two days exploring caves packed with fossils and speliothems and walking trails through beautiful bush country. The Mega Fauna that used to live here must have been totally scary and the depictions of those creatures in the displays on site are very interesting… Loved it.

On the way to Mount Gambier we stopped in at Penola to see the church and school house where our own saint, Mary McKillop, started her teaching. She certainly spread her wonderful gift far and wide. We had lived in Eden NSW for many years and the Catholic school there had links to Saint Mary, her interest there began after her mother was drowned in the wreck on the Lyee Moon off Green Cape.

She had also stayed at Clare’s Seven Hill Abbey during her excommunication where her brother was in residence. The Mary McKillop visitor center in Penola is lovely and the main street is picturesque.

Mt Gambier was packed with things to see. The first place to be named in South Australia is built around volcanoes and sink holes which have given the town the Blue Lake and two lovely cave gardens plus picnic grounds by crater lakes and walking trails in the most picturesque surroundings. The buildings once again are quite lovely but that’s the way it is all through South Australia.

In Mount Gambier we explored the Umpherston Sinkhole, which is 70 metres deep and inside the most beautiful, lush gardens flowered riotously and the massive ivy curtains spilled down the sides of the sinkhole, which was first beautified in 1886. They are flood lit at night and as is the Cave Garden in the center of town where we saw a fantastic light show full of history, beauty and intrigue.

The Blue Lake was glowing and next to it Valley Lake and its surrounding recreation areas had to be explored. They are beautiful in every way and packed with families having fun but huge enough that you can always find a quiet small crater to enjoy by yourself.

A half hour drive to Port MacDonnell winds through lush green country where a huge crater rises above the waving fields. When you get there the coastline is breezy and blue and we visited a Penguin Colony and Adam Lindsay Gordon’s cottage Dingly Dell where he wrote some of his famous poems. It was the perfect place to put anyone in the right mood for poeticising.

We saw Gannets at Point Danger near Portland and Geoff lay in the grass with his camera pointed at the sky shooting the big white birds in the nicest possible way.

Portland is the place to see lovely old buildings. Geoff had some business to do in town so I roamed the streets going ooh and ahhh and getting some great shots for a magazine article.

The Great South West Walk Goes through here. The guidebook says that it is 250 kilometres long and covers amazing territory, rugged cliffs and sublime bays, tranquil forests and a pristine river. Also running through town is a picturesque historic tram.

And then we hit the Great Ocean Road. Today we have seen the Twelve Apostles, the Bay of Islands and Loch Ard Gorge, a wild high coastline that has been eaten by the wild southern seas that pound and pound and roar up gaps in the rocks and thunder into caves so that you can feel the roar as much as hear it in the cliffs under your feet. It is the mightiest sound. But more of that will come next week!

Have you travelled to this neck of the woods before? What did you think of the beautifully decorated sink hole?