Aquifer Tour of the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier: Ron marvels at the lakes colour on the Limstone Coast in the South East region of South Australia
Generations of travellers have marvelled at the colour of Mount Gambier's Blue Lake at Mount Gambier. The mysteries of the deep blue are a feature of Garry Turner's daily Aquifer Tours.
Colonial artist, George French Angas was certainly captivated by the Blue Lake but years before he put brush to canvas, would-be pastoralist Stephen Henty stumbled across the magical expanse of water while herding sheep and cattle across the south-east of Australia. He later wrote of his experience: 'I was scarcely aware of my exact position until I reached the brink of an enormous lake - a sight I shall never forget - it being beyond my powers of description.'
While Garry Turner also waxes lyrical about the mysterious blue of the Mount's major tourist icon, his tour is all about bringing the history of the place to life - like the old heritage listed pumping station.
Built in 1883, it's both a working pump house and museum of early water engineering, especially the shaft that takes you down through the walls of a dormant volcano.
Garry Turner, Aquifer Tours: "The shaft that takes us down almost to water level was dug in the 1880s as the original bore shaft to supply Mount Gambier with water. The shaft is eight feet in diameter and it took five months to dig and two and a half months to stone up."
We emerge from the lift into an 80-metre tunnel, which leads to the highlight of Garry's award winning Aquifer Tour - a platform almost at water level. The lake is about seventy metres deep and only recently a team of divers took some amazing pictures of calcareous algal growths known as stromatolites at about the halfway point of this volcanic crater.
Garry Turner, Aquifer Tours: "Some of the stromatolites are up to 10 metres in size in basal size that is. And they've got a purple blue green colour appearance to them."
But for all who visit the real mystery surrounds the lake's change in colour - from light grey in winter to that shimmering blue in summer.
Garry Turner, Aquifer Tours: "Because water is fed through limestone there's a lot of calcium or calcium carbonate suspended in the water. What happens in the cooler months is that suspension of calcium carbonate makes the water appear cloudy or grey. During summer, when the water is warmer, the calcium carbonate precipitates or sinks to the bottom just leaving pure water. The colour of pure water is blue and that's why the lake is blue."
Garry Turner's Aquifer Tours leave from the Café near the entrance to the historic Pump House. Tours leave hourly from 9am or you can book on 8723 1199.
Aquifer Tours
Blue Lake
Mount Gambier
Bookings 8723 1199Published 7th September 2008
