Megafauna and Limestone Coast - Day 8

Springton - Murray Bridge - Dukes Highway - Riddoch Highway - Limestone Coast - Mount Gambier

The trip was going so good. South Australia has so much to offer just with Barossa, but we didn’t know we would be awestruck on way to Mount Gambier. Also, do carry a jacket! Gets chilly even in summers.

We left Barossa by 9 am, straight onto highway towards Murray Bridge - another big township on the way. Hook yourself onto Dukes highway crossing small town Tintinara, Terrapee, Tatiara. Then onto Riddoch highway to Willalooka. We had a coffee at a pub/servo/café there.

Limestone coast begins!! Hip hip hurray!

The first major stop is Naracoote. Naracoorte Caves National Park is South Australia's only World Heritage site. It preserves Australia's most complete fossil record for the past 500000 years. Plan your road journey in order to catch the fossil cave tours and other cave tours. Great place for kids.

After the fossil session, we were back on the road towards Mount Gambier. It was a beautiful drive as we drove into Padthaway wine region - First wine region on the Limestone coast. We drove past Accolade, Stonehaven, Dalmeny and heaps in a line. Didn’t do tastings here though, which isn’t a regret because then we entered Coonawara. Unlike Barossa, it's mostly plains here, so wine tasting gets easier and faster. There are a few good labels from this region thou the wines can get rough and full on. Known for its cab sauvs.

We had more than a few tastings and purchases here namely Katnook(cab sauv and pinot grigio), Hollick( temprenillo ), Zema, Bowan estate( shiraz). All were uniquely different though our favourite was Bowan estate and Katnook.

Limestone coast may not be as famous as Barossa but it has a strong hold on the wine share percentage in south Australia. There are a few more wineries on the way uphill to Mt Gambier like Brokenwindmill vineyard and Wrattanabully wine region. About 10 kms before Mt Gambier starts a massive timber forest. This forest is manmade for manufacturing timber which is one of the prime industries in Mt Gambier.

We reached our motel and were hungry as hell. After settling in we drove down to commercial street , which is one of the main streets in Mt Gambier. Along came an Indian restraunt ( blue lake tandoori express ). Everyone was drooling and we thought no more.

The food was fantastic and they have a good wine list. The host was warm and friendly. After the delicious dinner it was time to call it a night after a fun game of scrabble.